New Petition: Create Scam Education and Awareness Programs

Shawn and Jeff Mosch, became victims of a Nigerian counterfeit cashier's check scam.  In their search for support, resources and assistance for victims of this crime, like many of us, they found that there was no such assistance available.

Once the Mosch's started sharing their story with others through the Internet and news media, they began to find other victims of this same scam across the country.  The growing number of victims who wanted to share their stories that prompted the Mosch's to create an online message group and a homepage to tell their story. To learn more about their story, organization and continuing efforts to support scam victims, visit their site at ScamVictimsUnited.org.

With scams growing in both numbers and sophistication, it's key today for students, seniors and all of us to be in tune to the various scams and latest techniques used by phishers out to bait and hook their unsuspecting targets.

The Consumer Federation of America released the results of a survey in May 2009 which states the following: fifty-nine percent of the respondents incorrectly believe that when you deposit a check or money order, your bank confirms that it is good before allowing you to withdraw the money. The number goes up to 70 percent among young adults age 18-24, and 71 percent of people with incomes under $25,000 and who did not complete high school. More than 40 percent of those surveyed do not know that they are liable if the checks or money orders they deposit or cash are counterfeit. Fifty-two percent age 18-24 and half of Hispanics incorrectly said the person who gave you the check must pay the bank back. 

As you can see by the results of this survey, there is a great need for education in the area of banking terminology and the check clearing process.  One of the major reasons that counterfeit cashier's check scams work so well is that when a bank customer hears the terms "the check is clear" or that it will be "verified in 24 hours" it gives them a false sense of security that the check is legitimate and that they can use the money with no repercussions.

We would like to see the development of a Scam Education and Awareness Program across the country.  The areas of service for this project would include, but are not limited to:  schools, community centers, social networking sites, financial institutions and businesses. 
Since education is the key to fighting scams, this program would include the development of educational videos, speakers/presentations and informational literature, all which could be utilized in the school system as a part of lesson plans, or made available at community centers and libraries.  We feel that bringing this information into the school systems is vitally important since educating the next generation about scams gives them the tools they need to better protect themselves.

Scam education and awareness programs will help to protect the consumers from con-artists and scammers, and help to boost our economy by ensuring that the American public has the knowledge and tools that they need to keep their hard earned money in their own hands, and not have it go to another country in internet scams.

Please sign our new petition to create scam education awareness programs. If you are interested in more information or want to know how you can help get scam education programs off the ground, please feel free to email or leave a comment on the blog.