Dear Graduates (high school or college),
First, congratulations! Happy for you. But now that you’re stepping out into the real world, The Watchdog has important tidbits to keep you out of trouble.
You are graduating in The Golden Age of Scams, which is not a good thing. You need the correct tools to protect yourself.
I when I was your age, I got scammed for the first time. I paid $900 for my first car, a 13-year-old Volkswagen Beetle.
Turns out that the two steel plates that attach the front of the bug to the car body had worn down to next to nothing.
As I later discovered, somebody had wrapped the parts in aluminum foil to thicken them up and then spray-painted.
I could have been driving, and the car would have collapsed. The seller, when I confronted him, claimed to know nothing.
Cost of repair: $1,000.
Let’s not have something similar happen to you. That’s why I created The Watchdog’s 10 Commandments. So here goes:
1. Beware of deepfake videos
This is a new commandment because phony deepfakes are a new tool to steal. Instead of Grandma getting a phone call seeking money to bail you out of jail from someone pretending to be you, the deepfake voice calling, thanks to software, will sound exactly like you. Crooks come at you using email, text, voice, video and photos.
Deepfake videos will cause havoc in elections (fake campaign videos trying to ruin someone’s reputation) and cause confusion everywhere. Let’s say you get a video from your boss telling you what do. Only it’s not your boss.
The good news is there’s an easy safety tool here. Your family should have a secret code word. When someone calls purporting to be a member of the family in trouble, ask them for the code word. If they don’t know it, hang up.
Take this seriously. According to Consumer Reports, “The average amount of money lost to a single deepfake of a financial institution was about $600,000.
2. Beware of all points of entry
Be on alert whenever anyone approaches you without you seeking them out. I no longer trust door-to-door salespeople, anyone who calls me with sales pitches, or anyone who uses postal mail or email to solicit.
As part of that, if someone pressures you to buy today because the “deal” goes away tomorrow, run away. That’s a huge red flag.
3. Listen to the words
Be on alert for certain words and phrases designed to draw you in: deep discount, high rate of return, promotional gift, prize — and the most dangerous word of all — free. Don’t trust them.
4. Follow the asterisk
The asterisk in sales offers should never be ignored. The asterisk usually leads to the tiny print that tells you the real deal, as opposed to the sounds-too-good offer.
Similarly, you should try to do a quick skim of “ and conditions” on anything you buy or sign up for. If you’re g a written agreement and it contains something you don’t like, cross it out and initial it, then get the other party to do the same.
5. Use your phone’s camera as a record keeper
Take photos and video of sketchy situations. For example, take video after a car accident. If you’re in a public place or difficult situation, it might not be appropriate to take video. So learn how to use the recording function on your phone.
6. Search, search and search
Before doing anything that involves your money and your time, check it out. God bless Google and all the other search engines.
But when using Google, always look at the web address because it’s easy to end up on fake sites. For example, when getting a driver’s license, make sure you’re on the state’s official website and not a private one that looks like the state site.
Same goes for buying event tickets. Secondary sellers’ websites usually show up higher in web searches than a theater’s box office website because they pay for top placement. Result? You go to the wrong site and often pay more.
If you lose things like documents or receipts, now is the time to correct that. Create a file system.
7. Lowest price is not always better
Ask yourself why that product is cheaper at one particular store than all the others. Is it authentic or a knockoff?
8. Check credit status
If you like to follow your credit score, the one place to go is this website: www.annualcreditreport.com. The rest are knockoffs. The three reporting agencies are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. The rules have changed so now you can ask for your credit report weekly. When you get a report from one of them, you look it over, make sure nothing is incorrect and then either file it or shred it. If a website tries to charge — leave. You’re on one of the imitators. The service is free.
9. Don’t click on it
People send me attachments all the time in emails and I don’t open them. If I didn’t ask for it, I’m not going to risk it. Even if an email looks like it comes from your bank, your boss or your friends, don’t click. Ask them about it first.
10. Ask a bunch of questions
Don’t be shy. Ask questions, difficult ones, when you are in a situation that requires you to understand what you’re getting into. Don’t let people bamboozle you. Don’t be a sucker. Pretend you’re like me, a journalist, who keeps digging. And don’t assume anything.
To all my Junior Watchdogs, go out into the world. Chase your dreams. Throw long. Take chances.
Just watch your back.
Note: A version of this story first appeared on Aug. 2, 2019. It has been updated.
