📱surprise text⏰hurry🔗link💳money🔢code🧑tell a grown-up
A scam hurries you, so stop.
The big ideaA scam hurries you or asks for a link, a code or money. Tell a grown-up.
How it works
A scam is a trick to get something from you. A scammer sends texts to lots of people, hoping somebody taps.
Look for tells, the parts made to trick you: hurry, a link in a surprise message, a request for money or a code, or a prize you never entered for.
A logo or your name is not a tell, because anyone can copy them.
So do not tap the link and do not reply. Show a grown-up, who checks the real way.
A tell, or no tell.What to do.
Example 1: Zoe's parcel text
The text said: Tap the link to fix it. Pay a fee in one hour, or the parcel goes back.
That is three tells: a link, a fee and hurry.
Gran had said the postage was all paid, so the text did not match what Zoe knew.
Zoe took her thumb off the screen and showed Mom.
Zoe's three tells.
Example 2: Leo's code text
The text said: Send us the code we just sent you.
A code is a key to your account, and it lets a scammer in.
Leo kept it and showed his dad, who checked the real way too.
Example 3: Gran's cake photo
Gran sent a photo of a cake and said Happy birthday.
It had no hurry, no link, no money and no code, so it had no tell.
Not every text is a scam.
Words to know
scam
A trick to get something from you.
tell
A part of a message made to trick you.
hurry
A message that says act now, so you do not stop to think.
code
A key to your account. Keep it to yourself.
junk
A message you report with a grown-up, and trash.
Watch out
A reply can tell a scammer your number is real, so do not reply.
The real way is never the link in the message. It is an app or number the family already knows.
Never send a code or a password to a message like that.
Grown-ups get tricked too, and you are never in trouble for telling.
Try it
A text says: Pay in one hour, or the parcel goes back. Which tell is that?
A text says: Send us the code we just sent you. What do you do?
Is a logo in a text a sign that it is real?
Gran's text has a cake photo and asks for nothing. Does it have a tell?
How does a grown-up check the real way?
Answers: 1. Hurry · 2. Keep it, and show a grown-up · 3. No · 4. No · 5. In an app or number the family already knows
Try at homeAsk a grown-up to show you how your family reports junk messages, and do it together.
For grown-upsAgree one rule: any link, code or fee in a surprise message means stop and show a grown-up, and show your child how your family reports a junk message.
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