Protecting Yourself from
Scams and Frauds
By
Dean Berry, Ed. D.
www.commoncorecurriculum.info

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Meet in groups and discuss the characteristics of
gullible people and skeptical people.
Do you know anyone who is easy to trick? Do they tend to
believe things that most people would never believe? Are
they an easy mark for a scammer? If they are, we refer to
them as gullible. A person who is not easily convinced is
considered a skeptical person.
1. What are the characteristics of a gullible person?
2. What are the characteristics of a skeptical person?
3. What do you do when you are told something that
seems odd or possibly incorrect?

What is the message being communicated by
the author of this cartoon?

How many Americans out of a 100 do you
think would fail the gullibility test?

Gullibility can be best described as a "tendency to
be duped / deceived / defrauded, repeatedly". Being
gullible means that you are ready to believe the
best about all people. You listen carefully to those
that you do not know. In the case of a scam, the
scammer asks you to hand over your money and/or
other bits of information like your credit card
number or bank account number so they can
directly deposit large sums of money into your
account.
If you think of it in a different way, gullibility is a
trust issue. You are placing trust in the other party
without sufficient evidence that he can be trusted.

A trusting person gets a call from an individual who identifies
herself as a bank security analyst. She proceeds to explain that the
trusting person’s bank card may have been fraudulently used. She
asks for account numbers and a pen number. Within seconds the
bank account is drained and the scammer is gone.

What point is the author of this cartoon making?

Weight loss pills promise amazing results without
supporting, scientific evidence. Unfortunately,
some people are desperate for easy results and
become susceptible to believing in a quick fix.
However, being skeptical and researching the
efficacy of pills is a smart move.

Who doesn’t love free stuff? What
does this cartoon suggest?

What is the motivation of the person who
posted this sign? What questions would you
have?

What is suggested by these two images? Why do you think
the creator used silhouettes in this portrayal of seminars?
How does the cartoonist on the right use satire?

What is house flipping? Why are these two web
sites promoting house flipping? What’s in it for
them? Ideally, what would you need to become
successful in flipping houses for profit? Could you
lose money?

Do you know anybody who is making $389.00 a
day or $7500.00 per month working from their
home for an internet company?

Have you ever seen email scams pop up on your
computer or cell phone? What do they ask you to
do? What are the risks involved?

Examining how some scammers work their
persuasive techniques can offer protections. First,
they use something intriguing to capture your
attention. Once you bite on the hook, they start to
reel you in by promising you more and more stuff.
They try to please you in a variety of ways. This is
all in preparation for the scam.
There will often be fake training, fake negotiation,
fake testimony, fake earnings reports, and other
sorts of evidence that are either faked or written in
vague or misleading language. This can come in
several forms, but most often is presented to
overwhelm you with information so that you can't
separate the lies from the partial facts.

Scammers are dangling bait in front of you all of
the time. Will you be skilled enough to avoid the
manipulations of the unscrupulous scammers?

Avoiding scams requires evidence based decision
making. A scammer will claim that they can triple
your money, help the poor, free your kidnapped
granddaughter, or help you become a millionaire.

When someone asks for your time or your money
and presents a claim, what kind of evidence should
you ask for before you act?
When we hear someone making a claim such as, “I am giving you a great opportunity
to make a large sum of money.” “I am holding your granddaughter hostage and you
must make an online payment immediately or you will never see her again.” “I am
calling from the Internal Revenue Service and you will need pay $2,000 immediately or
your bank account will be frozen while we initiate court action”. The claims that are
being made should include very specific, credible evidence. For example, if the issue
requires immediate action, you should be presented with very clear evidence that the
claim is accurate and believable. If your granddaughter is being held hostage, viewing
her speaking to you on a cell phone would be acceptable evidence. If the IRS demands
money, get a case number and call the official IRS phone number to discuss the issue.
However, it is important to remember that government agencies never request money
over the phone.

Meet in Groups and Analyze this Situation
You receive a telephone call from someone who
identifies herself as an officer from the California
Department of the Treasury. She informs you that a
distant relative of yours died several years ago and
$26,000 was unclaimed from the estate. She tells you
that you need to send a cashier’s check for $250. made
out to Marvin Burns, Treasurer, at P. O. Box 1638,
Sacramento, California. Once your check is received,
you will be sent your inheritance of 26,000.
What questions should you ask?
What clues are there to suggest that this is probably a
scam?

Do you have the skills to avoid being
manipulated by scammers?

One of the most important skills is the ability to ask
specific questions that clarify issues and determine if
evidence supports the claims that are being made.

These are the kinds of questions that should be
asked before taking a new prescription.

Meet in Groups and Discuss the Following
You have been feeling depressed lately. Things haven’t
been going very well and you are pretty stressed out. Your
doctor suggests a new medication that should make you
feel much better. The medicine is fairly expensive, and
you are wondering whether or not you should try the new
prescription. You are aware that the efficacy of some
drugs on the market is not always clearly established. In
fact, you are aware that pharmaceutical companies are
more concerned about profits than how well a drug may
actually work.
Discuss and agree upon a list of questions that you should
ask before you decide to pay for and take the new
prescription.

Quick Write
If a new medication is recommended by
your doctor to help you with a serious
disease, what questions would you ask
before beginning the new pills? Explain
why asking these questions will be
important?

Ernest Hemingway said it best: “Every man should have a built-in automatic
crap detector", and it starts with the questions you ask. Scammers overwhelm
you with crap information. So how do you spot crap information and turn on
your "crap detector"? You can start by asking the following questions:
Do you clearly understand exactly what was said?
Who said it and what was their motivation? Was it
written and shared on a credible website?
How recent was the evidence that was used to
support the claim?
Is the claim a logical statement supported by
reasonable evidence?
Does the argument employ a logical fallacy?

You get a call from the IRS. The caller claims that you owe the
government $2,000. and must pay within 24 hours. What kind of
questions should you ask to determine if the caller
is legitimate?

The Internal Revenue Service collects federal income taxes from all Americans.
Those who fail to pay their fair share of taxes, will eventually receive letters
from the IRS threatening audits, and demanding payment or explaining court
action. However, some people use the fear of the IRS to call Americans and
impersonate the IRS as they demand immediate payment over the phone and
threaten punitive action. Why do you think people fall for the IRS
scam and send hundreds of dollars?

In some cases, callers who are scamming use a device
that has an official name such as the IRS or police
department that shows up on caller ID. These calls can be
very slick and official sounding.
Your defense is to tell them you are going to hang up and
call a general number(not the number they give you) to ask
about their call.
Do not give them any information about you. If they are
legitimate, they already have your information.
If they are the IRS, they should be able to read your social
security number back to you or tell you exactly how much
your tax was for last year.

You'd think that human beings, after having evolved for so
long, would have evolved beyond scamming each other.
Unfortunately, old scams such as pyramid schemes simply
find new ways to express themselves with modern
technology. One such example is fraud spread via the
Internet, which can arrive in variety of forms, a new
sweetheart, a Ponzi scheme or congratulations you have
just won …
What sort of people are vulnerable to scams?

You get an internet message on your phone. You
have won a free vacation in Hawaii. All you have to
do is to pay the advanced booking fee of $75.00
using your debit card. What will you do?

Many elderly people fall for schemes and scams. They
tend to be more trusting and can be easily confused by
fast talking manipulators. They often send money
without clearly knowing to whom the money is going.

Why do you think so many scammers
target the elderly?

If you read something surprising on Facebook and then
see it tweeted over and over, is it likely to be true? If it is
important, what should you do to determine the veracity
of the story?

Quick Write
How would you go about
determining the veracity of
stories that you read on social
media and the internet?

Homeowners, especially the elderly, are often easy targets for home
improvement scammers who make verbal promises, over charge for
inferior products, or provide shoddy workmanship. A building project
that should cost $4,000. ends up costing $ $6,000. A project that is
supposed to be high quality turns out to be very poor quality. What
can a homeowner do to protect themselves from
cheating home improvement scammers?

Homeowners should always get oral agreements about a proposed job in
writing. If it is not in writing, the contractor does not have to do it! Every
detail about the job must be in a written contract that is signed by both
parties. Before selecting a company, get the contractor’s license
number(state contractor number) and do a background check. Always get
several bids for the same exact job and compare all details and costs.

Do you agree with the character in the ad on the
left that the offer seems legitimate? Why or why
not?

In a scam, there's always the tease... it offers you a
tantalizing glimpse of what may be possible... to
entice you to act, such as click on a link, call a
number, reply to the email, answer the offer, attend
a meeting, and so on.

There's often a good story (dead dictator left money
that need to be moved out of the country) and a hook
(the guy will split the money with you), but the idea is to
get you to look a bit closer and come up with some
money that you will get back many times over.

This notice shows up on your cell phone. Have
you won $10,000? Have you won an Apple
IPAD? Explain

A common scam is called the pyramid scheme. The vast amount of money
that is raised goes to the few people on top who started the investment
idea. The idea focuses more on bringing in large numbers of new
participants rather than creating or selling a great product. As a result, the
thousands of people who join and work hard help make a few at the top
very wealthy while making very little money for themselves.

Pyramid schemes always sound good at first. You are asked by friends
or associates to buy into the bottom level of a business. You pay for
training, a kit, and some of the product. After spending $300.-$500, all
you need to do is to contribute your time trying to get others to buy in
at a beginning level below you. People at the earlier(top) levels get a
percent of what you earn from those who are below you. You make
your money from those you recruit.

Examine the illustration below. How do the images explain the pyramid
scheme? Who makes the big money? Who works the
hardest for the least amount of money?

An investigation of the large company called Herbalife determined that
it was a pyramid scheme where a tiny fraction of top executives made
over six figure salaries while over 99% of the participants made less than
minimum wage.

A Ponzi scheme is a business opportunity that recruits new investors with the
promise of very high returns on the money they invest. The promoter
promises that the business is very successful. Unfortunately, the promoter is
lying about the profitability of the business and secretly absconds with the
investors money.

What should you do before investing your money in someone’s
business venture? What kind of evidence would you want before
kicking in your hard earned money?

In a scam, the person who you thought was doing
you a favor will betray you and leave you with
losses and wounds that may last a long time.
A scam is sometimes called a "con", which is short
for "confidence game", where the scammer gains
your confidence, and betrays you later.
With the power of the internet, what was
previously limited to phone, fax, and mail, people
can now send tens of thousands of messages and
scams to people in a very short amount of time,
and someone may just be gullible enough to take
the bait.

Millions of dollars every year are lost by
unsuspecting people who are too trusting. Asking
good questions and requesting reliable evidence is
a must before believing a caller’s claim.

A common scam in recent years involves an online
friendship that becomes a romance with pictures
and intimate discussions. A twist occurs when one
of the internet sweethearts asks for a loan to help
pay for his mother’s funeral.

Is it ever possible to carry on an internet
relationship that results in trust? What might be
the clues that a scam is in progress?

How do you think this kidnap scam probably works?
How would you protect yourself from this scam?

Let’s Unpack this Message
“This message is intended to contact you regarding
an enforcement action executed by the United
States Treasury. Ignoring this message will be an
intentional second attempt to avoid an appearance
before the magistrate judge or a grand jury for a
federal criminal offense. My number is 214-247-7139.
I advise you to cooperate with us and help us to help
you. Thank you”.
Use your own paper and list five words used in this
scam call that are used to scare the victim. Explain
how these words are used to convince the recipient
that they better do what the caller says.

Quick Write
“Hi this is Lisa calling you from the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration. This call
is to notify you about a legal case which has been
filed against your name. And your physical address
is under investigation. Your case file number is
CF100122. To get more information you can get
back to me at my number which is 914-265-1199.
Thank you and have a nice day”.
Write a paragraph explaining why this scam might
work on a few unsuspecting people.
Share your ideas with the class.

Tax Season Brings Out the Most Scammers
According to the IRS from 2013-2015 victims have lost over 30 million dollars
to tax related scams. Californians lost over 6 million to tax scams. Many of the
scammers operate from other countries where they are outside the reach of
American law enforcement.
The IRS never calls people until they have had numerous official letters sent to
your home. In addition, official government agencies will never ask you to pay
over the phone. You will always be given options for payment and be provided
with written notice.
Tax payers always have the right to negotiate with the IRS or fight in tax court
for their position.
Why should you suspect that a call from the IRS or a
government agency is a scam?

No legal agency will ever threaten to
come and arrest you over the phone.

Hey Robert, the phone’s for you!
You may get a call from someone claiming to be from the
police department, courts, utilities, and computer
companies who say that you are the subject of an arrest
warrant, failed to show for jury duty, didn’t pay your
electric bill, or have a computer that has been hacked.
What kind of questions should you ask the caller?
What kind of information should you give them
over the phone?

• The typical solution is for you to purchase a debit
card, load it with several hundred dollars, and
read the serial number to the caller.

Invest your money and the businessman will
double your investment in six months. Do you
think you will get a guarantee? Is this risky? Why?

What’s wrong with this investment offer?

How would a scammer create a house rental and
provide keys and a lease that are fraudulent? What
would have to be done to pull off such a clever
scam?

Hotel or vacation house bookings online can be
fraudulent. It would be advisable to check the
background of the individual or company that is
offering the lease. Ask the person who is leasing to
go to a local business and have their signature and
identity notarized as they sign the lease agreement.

Have you ever fallen for this internet computer scam?
Click on this and the scammer will ask you to purchase
this virus protection or your computer will not work.

There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute.

Are YOU prepared to spot the scammers
and protect your money?