frauds and scams

Objectives

1. To inform students how to secure their financial information

2. To instill an awareness of the most common forms of frauds and scams

Discussion

Introduce frauds and scams with the following discussion questions:

  • What is a fraud? A scam?
  • What is ATM fraud? Has anyone had or heard of anyone having experienced such fraud?
  • Who are generally the targets?
  • Does anyone know someone that has experienced online fraud?
  • What are some of the types of online fraud?
  • What is implied by identity fraud? How does this happen?
  • What role does trust play in frauds and scams?

Activity

Scam specialists

Length: Research 30 minutes, Jigsaw 40 minutes
Materials: Frauds and Scams Student Handout, computer for research, 5 “stations” or areas for group work

  • In this activity, students will learn and teach fellow students about one of four common scams.
  • The first part of the activity is research. Assign students to groups and have them research one of the following fraud/scams: online scams, ATM scams, identity theft and investment scams and become the specialist/expert group. These are very broad categories so have students record whatever they can (and provide some examples or cases) in the Frauds and Scams Student Handout. They will not be able to cover all facets of fraud, however the intent of this activity is to introduce the idea of frauds to students, not overwhelm them with definitions.
  • Once students have filled out their portion of the Frauds and Scams Student Handout, number each student in the specialist/expert groups, always starting with number 1 (i.e. Group “Online fraud” is numbered from 1–5; Group “ATM fraud” is numbered 1–5 etc.)
  • Move all of the 1s, 2s, 3s, etc. to form a new group. The idea is that each of the new groups will host a representative from each of the original specialist/expert groups. The representative from each specialist/expert group will then teach the new group about their definitions allowing everyone else to complete their charts.
  • The activity is complete once all students’ Frauds and Scams Student Handout are complete.
  • Note: If the original specialist/expert groups differ in size, there may be two experts in the newly-formed, groups.

Extension

  • Create a fraud-awareness poster to inform other youth about fraud and scams.
  • Discuss your chart of fraud and scam techniques with your parents.

Collaborative Feedback

  • What did your parents think about the fraud techniques?
  • As a group, establish five basic rules to help avoid fraud and scams.

Teacher Tips

  • Invite a local representative from your local securities regulator to come and discuss fraud and scams with your class.