For Teens: Safeguard Your Digital “You”

Scammers work day and night, tricking unsuspecting teens into giving up money, personal information, or both. Social media platforms, online advertising, and email provide many opportunities to lay their traps. Build your defense against scams by learning what to expect so you're not a scammer's next victim.

Be on guard against these common scams that target teens:

• Online Shopping Scams. These often start as ads on social media or within web pages. The ad directs you to a website to purchase a product. After checkout, you wait and wait for a product that never arrives, or when it does, it's nothing like the ad. When you try to contact the “company” to get a refund, the phone number doesn't work, your email bounces back, and the website is no longer active. Your money is gone, and so is the scammer.
• Social Media Scams. Scammers create fake social media accounts to connect to you. They create a relationship through messages to build your trust and then tell a story about why you should send them money. It could be anything from “I need emergency surgery” to “my car broke down.” They may ask for the money through a wire transfer, gift card, or through a money transfer app, all of which make it tough to get your money back.
• Giveaway Scams. While it would be nice if you were “today's lucky $1,000 winner,” the fact is clicking on a post, ad, email, or text like this will cost you. These scams promise you a prize (like money or free stuff) that you only get after you pay. They may call it an “administrative fee,” “taxes,” or something else, but whatever they call it, it's a scam. After you pay, they have your money and personal information, and you don't get your prize.
• Online Gaming Scams. When playing an online game, you may receive a message from another player promising in-game items for free or cheap. The scammer may tell you to click on a link, which doesn't get you the promised in-game items; instead, spyware is downloaded. The spyware secretly tracks you online and records information. The scammer now has access to anything from passwords to financial information.
• Job Scams. These scams come in the form of postings for a job. You may come across them on a job search site or as an email in your inbox. They make outrageous claims like “make $500 for 10 minutes of work” and will say about anything to get you to click on links that infect your device with malware. They often ask you to reply to an email address with your personal information or pay a “registration fee.” Once you send your personal or financial information, they’ve got what they want.

So, how can you protect yourself? Follow these six tips:

• Do your research. Before making a purchase, take a moment to look for the company's reviews. Type their name and the word 'scam' into a search engine to uncover any potential issues.
• Be skeptical. Not everyone on the internet is who they say they are. Do reverse image searches of profile pictures. If the details don't match up, they're a scammer.
• Recognize red flags. Telltale signs of job scams are spelling mistakes, strange bold and uppercase letters, and a vague explanation of the job.
• Less is more. Limit who can see your social media posts and profile information.
• Share with care. Never share photos or information with a person online that you don't know in real life.
• Slow your scroll. Scammers make things look very enticing to get you to click – don't fall for it! Pause your scrolling to think about if something seems too good to be true. Avoid finding out the hard way that it was.