Course · Safety

Scam Defense: How to Keep Your Money

How today's scams work: the “bank security” call, the one-time code, the look-alike link, the “safe checkout” on a marketplace listing, hijacked Telegram and Login.gov accounts, “Mom, I'm in trouble.” Pressure tactics taken apart, an inbox trainer, a call simulation, and what to do if the money is already gone. Not legal advice and not a promise to get money back.

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PepelenCourse author

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Unit 1. Why it works

Lesson 1. It's not the gullible who fall for it

8 exercises · Understand that fraud works not on naivety but on fear, urgency, and trust in authority, and that shame keeps people from calling the bank quickly.

Lesson 2. Five levers: how they pressure you

8 exercises · Recognize urgency, authority, fear, isolation, and “almost there” in a conversation — and understand that these levers, not the topic of the call, give a scammer away.

Lesson 3. The emergency brake: how to end any call like this

8 exercises · Use one rule — end the contact and double-check through your own route (call back at the number on your card, open the app yourself) — and know three ready-made phrases that let you do it without awkwardness.

Unit 2. The call

Lesson 4. “Bank security” and the “safe account”

8 exercises · Recognize one of the most common scams from the first lines of a call, and know that no bank anywhere has a “safe account.”

Lesson 5. Borrowed authority: the officer, the agency, the boss

8 exercises · Spot the chain “manager → officer → tell no one,” and know that real agencies don't run cases by phone or forbid you to talk things over with your family.

Lesson 6. A call under pressure, line by line

9 exercises · Walk through a typical call from start to finish and, at each point, name what the caller did and what the person who answered should have done.

Unit 3. On screen: links, emails, and codes

Lesson 7. How to read a link in five seconds

8 exercises · Find the real domain in an address and tell it apart from a subdomain and a look-alike spelling, without following the link.

Lesson 8. Text codes, push prompts, and what works without a code

8 exercises · Apply the one rule about codes, and understand that keeping a code to yourself no longer guarantees you're safe.

Lesson 9. Sorting incoming messages: training your eye

8 exercises · Decide, by one sign, whether a message is a scam or real, and put that sign into words.

Unit 4. Money online

Lesson 10. Marketplace listings: deposits, shipping, and “safe checkout”

8 exercises · Keep the deal inside the marketplace, and spot any attempt to move it to a private chat or an outside link.

Lesson 11. Online orders, deliveries, and QR codes

8 exercises · Tell a real order notification apart from a fake one, and know what the delivery code does and doesn't do.

Lesson 12. Investments and crypto: what the scam looks like from the inside

8 exercises · Recognize the setup “guaranteed returns + an account dashboard with growing numbers + a withdrawal fee,” and check that the company is registered with the SEC or FINRA (Investor.gov).

Unit 5. Family and accounts

Lesson 13. “Mom, I'm in trouble” and a voice you can't trust

8 exercises · Have an answer ready in advance for a call from a “relative in trouble,” and know that a familiar voice is no longer proof.

Lesson 14. Hijacked accounts: Telegram and Login.gov

8 exercises · Avoid giving away access to your account, and know the first steps if you've already lost it.

Lesson 15. Talking with an older parent — before the call, not after

9 exercises · Agree on three simple rules with a loved one in advance, and have that talk without hurt feelings.

Unit 6. Protection and the aftermath

Lesson 16. Twenty minutes of settings that work for you

9 exercises · Complete a concrete list of settings and understand exactly what each one protects you from.

Lesson 17. Already sent it: what to do, hour by hour

8 exercises · Know the order of the first minutes, hours, and day after losing money, and avoid falling for the second wave: “we'll get your money back.”

Lesson 18. Wrap-up: myths and mixed scenes

9 exercises · Boil the course down to one rule for checking, clear up the remaining myths, and work through mixed scenes from every unit.