Internet class curriculum on scam awareness, Ideas please!

Hello all.

I teach an internet basics class at the local library. Most of my students are older and not computer savvy. I have realized that one of the most valuable things I can teach them is how not to be a victim of an online scam. I have always covered scams in my class but I want to greatly expand my coverage.

I plan on showing them some of the phishing/advance fee/419 spam emails that I get, and going over the mechanics of the scams.

I think it would be great to put a human face on this, I saw a chris hansen nbc investigation a few years ago where he spoke with several money mule victims, some were victims of romance scams also. I would love to show a short segment of that show but I can't find it on youtube, does anyone remember the name? Or maybe you know of some other good youtube videos that will hold people's interest.

I realize that this whole site is meant to be a great introduction to spam awareness, but this site has a ton of information. If you could spend only an hour or so educating non-sophisticated people in person about scam awareness, what would you cover?

I appreciate any ideas this community may have! fire away

Thanks

I've read your thread both here and on Eater, where I'm a regularly posting member too.

One general rule of thumb: If someone asks for money through Western Union or MoneyGram, it's a scam. These services should only be used for transferring money to someone you know very well.

I believe that the scams that would target the group of people you primarily teach, are the following:
- Classic 419
- Next of kin
- Lottery
- Charity
- Hitman
- Romance
- Recovery
- Relative in need scam

Now, let's go over some identifiers:

Classic 419:
Someone's offering a load of money in a business, but advance fees will come in first.
The primary way to identify this, is that it is not addressed to the person by name, but rather "dear friend/beneficiary/partner" or something else. This is a dead on identifier that the person doesn't know who's receiving the e-mail, but just tries to make it look legit.
More information here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3242
Example of letter here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=46721

Next Of Kin (NOK for short):
This time a scammer either claims to represent a next of kin of the victim, or tries to get you to pass yourself off as the next of kin of a deceased person to get said person's money. As for the first one, the scammer didn't write the name of said person, which is a good way to see that it isn't true. What those scammers usually do is to read the victim's last name, and put a generic first name on. In the second kind, you should just tell them that actually doing so, would be committing fraud.
More information here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3242
Example of letter here: http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=220689

Other 419 variations:
There are other variations of 419, which I will list as shortly:
- Military scam: Scammers try to get someone to move money out of a country at war, posing as military personnel. There may or may not be a romance angle attached. More info here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6529
- Retrieve funds scam: A wire-transfer service offers you money, that are supposedly sitting with said company (they mostly pass themselves off as Western Union, as it's something they know plenty about). Western Union would not contact someone this way. Example here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=46559

Lottery:
Congratulations, you've just won the lottery. Most of these lotteries are either the national lottery of, mostly European, countries, or of big world-known companies. To put it bluntly, you don't win a lottery you haven't entered, and if you actually win a lottery, they would not contact you by e-mail. There's a special kind of lottery scam, called the Jamaican lottery scam, which goes by phone. Yet again, you can't win a lottery you haven't entered, so just hang up and report them. The Jamaican authorities are very interested in these scams.
More info here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3199
Info on the Jamaican lottery scam here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11209
Example of letter here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=39938

Charity:
This is one of the nastiest scams out there, so watch out. In this scam, an e-mail from a supposed charity is received. It can be from a small, local group, or a big, world-known organisation. A big organisation would only contact you from their own domain, and if you have signed up for their letter. If it's from a small charity, things become a bit more tricky, so my advice here is just: Giving money to charities is good, but don't give money to a charity that you don't know, and not to someone who initially contacted you by e-mail.
More info here: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3200
Example of letter here: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=41434 - note how this e-mail is using a free web-based e-mail, while the (legitimate) charity referenced has it's own website. Just because a legitimate charity is referenced, doesn't mean that the mail received is legit. If such a mail is received from a non-free domain, run it by here (we're always willing to help), or don't send them money.

Dying widow:
The bastard child of the charity and classic 419-scam, is about a dying widow with a huge fortune, who wants to donate to a charity of your choice, by transferring the money to you, with the expectation that you'll pass it on. This usually comes with pictures as well, and a sob story. Here it's about if someone would really contact someone they don't know about a huge amount of money.
This is a mix of the charity- and classic 419-scam, so more info can be found in the more info thread on the previous scams.
Letter example here: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6557 - There's no dying widow involved here, but the idea is the same.

Hitman:
A hitman with a conscience writes you, because a hit has been taken out on you, for something you didn't do. The hitman asks for a bribe to not kill you. You're a normal person, so who the hell would put a hit out on you? The answer is nobody, there is no hitman. If an actual hit was out on you, you wouldn't be warned. Some letters describe how you're being killed, while others don't.
More info here: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/hitman-scam.shtml
Example of letter here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=44328&p=107158#p107158

Romance:
A single person of the opposite sex, and very rarely the same, is seeking a companion. This person is most likely way too good to be true. This person will make the victim fall in love, and then ask for money. The most skilled romance scammers can have a victim going for months before asking for any cash. Here, the identifiers are scripted replies, and pictures found on the internet. Also note that we anti-fraud people really dislike this scam, and see it as one of the worst kind of scams in existence. Details on romance scammers most likely come up on forums such as this one, so if offers like that come up, run a background check on the details, and never ever send money to someone you've never met face to face.
More info on the scam: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=25
Are you in contact with one: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3607
Warning about a certain domain: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=12191
Example of letter: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=46415

Recovery:
This scam targets people who have been scammed before, by telling them that the money can be recovered - for a fee. I'm sorry to say it, but if you have been scammed, your money's gone. If you actually come in contact with law enforcement who can help you, you will not have contact with them by e-mail. They might pass themselves off as legitimate organisations, but a legitimate organisation would never write from a free e-mail domain.
More info: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3198
Even more info viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10869
Example of letter: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=46486

Relative/friend in need:
This is a nasty scam. It works in the way that a scammer hacks someone's e-mail address, makes an e-mail address with a similar name and then asks for money. If you ever receive an e-mail from someone, who suddenly asks for money, because they've lost their wallet, contact the person in any other way. Phone, Facebook, Twitter, other know e-mail addresses, anything. Do not send any money.

For other scams, please check the introduction to scams thread in the respective forums (see: viewforum.php?f=30 ). Feel free to contact me on here, or on the e-mail address listed in my thread in a different forum.