QUIZ: Are You Scam Savvy?

By FPL_Samantha

After the Quiz, see explanations, resources and tips below!

Scammers are constantly refining their processes to try and steal your information, so it’s important to stay on your toes and trust your gut when it tells you that something doesn’t seem right about a situation.

Check out these resources with more information on how to spot a scam and tips to protect yourself and your information.

AARP: 8 Red-Hot Scams, opens a new window  

Experian: How to Identify a Scammer, opens a new window 

Consumer Advice: How to Avoid a Scam, opens a new window 

Texas Attorney General: Common Scams, opens a new window  

FBI: Common Scams and Crimes, opens a new window  

Online Danger

Swiped

Tips and Explanations of Correct Answers:

1. Scammers can use technology to disguise their names, email addresses, phone numbers, and their IP addresses.
2. Most common type of scam: Imposter Scams. Imposter scams involve someone misrepresenting themselves. Those can take the form of romance scams, phone calls or texts purportedly from Social Security or law enforcement, or a "family member" in distress and in need of cash, quickly. 48% of the scams reported to the FTC in 2021 were imposter scams.
3. Criminals most often contact victims by first calling them. Be wary of telephone calls from strangers. It's the most common way for crooks to initiate contact, according to the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2019.
4. Money lost to fraud: $5.8 billion. Nearly $2.33 billion of this total was lost to impostor scams alone.
5. To improve your online security: Require two-step authentication to access your financial accounts, set up alerts with credit-card issuers, and maintain unique passwords for all your online accounts and update them periodically.
6. Criminals favor all of these payment methods because they are difficult to trace.
7. If you get an email from a business asking you to provide personal information urgently, you should check it out first to make sure they are who they say they are. The email could be a phishing scam, where you get a message that looks like it’s from someone you know, asking you urgently for sensitive information. Before responding, call the business directly and confirm they sent the message.
8. You get a text message asking you to change your password. Pick up the phone and call the company, using a phone number you know to be correct, to confirm that the request is real. Before you click the link, make sure the text is legitimate and the request is real. Otherwise, clicking on the link could download malware or expose company credentials.
9. Email authentication CAN help protect against phishing attacks.
10. If you realize you’ve fallen for a scam, change any compromised passwords. Among other steps, if you fall for a phishing scheme, you should immediately change any compromised passwords and disconnect from the network any computer or device that could be infected with malware because of the phishing attack. This will help limit the damage.