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WalletPrep worksheet · Protect yourself

How to spot and avoid money scams

Name ____________________ Date __________

Key ideas

  1. Real organizations never demand gift card payments. The FTC says never pay anyone who insists you pay only by gift card, wire, crypto or a payment app.
  2. A deposited check can still bounce later. Money showing in your account does not mean the check is good. In the example, Sam loses $2,000 of his own money.
  3. Act fast if you paid a scammer. Call the company you used to pay, like your bank or the gift card company, and ask them to reverse it.

Vocabulary

Cryptocurrency
Digital tokens whose ownership is recorded on a shared online ledger called a blockchain. They are not issued by any government and are not insured.

Work it out

Sam takes a remote job found online. The employer mails a $2,450 check for office supplies, tells him to keep $450 as pay, and send $2,000 to their supplier.

  1. Check deposited
  2. Sent to the supplier
  3. Looks like Sam kept
  4. Check bounces, bank takes it back
  5. Sam's loss

Check yourself

  1. A caller says they are from a government agency and you must pay a fine today with gift cards. What should you do?

    • A. Buy the cards but keep the receipts
    • B. Hang up, since that is a scam
    • C. Pay half now and half later
    • D. Read them the card numbers only

  2. You deposit a $1,800 check and send $1,500 back as asked. The check bounces. How much are you down?

    • A. $300
    • B. $1,500
    • C. $1,800
    • D. Nothing, the bank covers it

  3. Where should you report a scam in the US?

    • A. ReportFraud.ftc.gov
    • B. The scammer's customer service line
    • C. A company that charges a fee to recover your money

Your turn

Agree on a family code word to use if anyone calls claiming to be a relative in trouble. Then save your bank's real phone number in your contacts and bookmark ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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Answer key

How to spot and avoid money scams

Work it out

  1. Check deposited$2,450
  2. Sent to the supplier− $2,000
  3. Looks like Sam kept= $450
  4. Check bounces, bank takes it back− $2,450
  5. Sam's loss= -$2,000
  1. The money shows up in Sam's account within days, so he sends $2,000 by payment app.
  2. Weeks later the bank finds the check is fake and removes the full $2,450.
  3. Sam ends at $450 − $2,450 = −$2,000. The $2,000 he sent was his own money, and the supplier was the scammer.

Check yourself

  1. B. Hang up, since that is a scam Government agencies don't demand payment by gift card. Anyone who does is a scammer.
  2. B. $1,500 The bank removes the $1,800. You had $1,800 − $1,500 = $300 left from it, so $300 − $1,800 = −$1,500. You lose the $1,500 you sent.
  3. A. ReportFraud.ftc.gov The FTC collects scam reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Anyone charging to get your money back is likely another scam.