To understand how to recognise and avoid potential fraudulent situations To appreciate that being a victim of fraud may affect me emotionally as well as financially

PIN’s What is a PIN? − P ersonal I dentification N umber What is it used for? −To validate a user to a system e.g. an ATM machine or a mobile phone −To protect your money/information from criminals

Is your PIN secure? Financial PINs for cash machines are four-digit numbers in the range , resulting in 10,000 possible numbers. A PIN needs to be easy for you to remember but difficult for other people to work out. So what about these: (for someone born on 16 th October) (for someone who lives a house number 27) Can you think of a good way to remember a PIN? E.g. translating a word into numbers i.e. FADE = 6145

What’s all the fuss about? Criminals are always finding ways to steal from you. It can take ages to find out that you have been the victim of a financial crime. Criminals can: – Steal your cash or cards – Steal your PIN code – Steal your passwords – Steal your whole identity

Protecting your cash Don’t carry large amounts of cash. Don’t flash your cash around. Put your cash straight into your wallet/pocket after you have used a cash machine. Make sure no-one is looking over your shoulder when using a cash machine or chip & pin machine.

What is identity theft? Identity (or ID) theft is when someone steals your personal information and pretends to be you. They can use the information to: – clear out your bank account. – open bank accounts or borrow money in your name. – commit other crimes in your name.

How do they do it? Go through your mail or even your rubbish looking for personal documents. Hack you when you are using the Internet. Take a copy of your debit/cash card when you use it. Find out your PIN by watching you when you use your card. Contact you by letter, phone or pretending to be official, asking for personal details.

Protecting your identity Keep your cards safe. – Don’t carry them unless you need them. – Report lost/stolen cards straight away. Keep personal information safe. – Don’t throw personal information away – shred it. – Check your bank statements when they arrive. – Never give personal information to people who contact you by phone, post or . Keep passwords and PINs safe. – Make sure no-one is watching or can overhear when you use your PIN. – Never tell anyone your PIN or passwords.

Some scary facts Up to a quarter of the UK population knows someone who has been the victim of ID theft. One quarter of victims said they know the person who had done it. 97% of household waste contains at least one item of personal information. All the criminals need is: – Your name, address and date of birth – Your mother’s maiden name – Your password

How to spot a scam Scams are schemes to con you out of your money. They can arrive by post, phone call, text message or or a scammer may turn up at your home. It could be a scam if: – the call, letter, or text has come out of the blue – you’ve never heard of the lottery or competition they are talking about and didn’t buy a ticket – you are asked to send money in advance – you are told you have to respond quickly so I don’t get time to think about it or talk to family and friends before you decide – you are told to keep it a secret

Possible scams Lottery Scam Lottery Scams and other mass marketing frauds cost UK consumers over £3.5bn a year 22,000 people replied to one particularly successful scam mail shot and sent £500,000 to fraudsters in one day. Online Shopping Scam Online shopping and auction fraud is the most reported scam in the UK Experts estimate this type of scam accounts for a consumer loss of £63 million a year Losses are usually in the region of £200 Investment Scam 6,000 people reported investment frauds to Action Fraud in the course of a year Shares were the most common type of scam with average losses of £3,000 per victim Other common investment scams involve carbon credits, land, currency and oil.

Helping others stay safe Design a poster or leaflet on keeping safe with money for a younger age group Explain a PIN Give some examples of possible scams Use a real life example of a scam or theft

Three, two, one… Think of:  Three things you can do to keep your money safe from fraudsters  Two types of scams  One thing to tell a friend about PIN’s