South San Francisco, CA October 24, 2023 Press Release
New resource helps people learn how to spot and avoid losing money and personal information to scams
Arlington, VA (October 24, 2023) – The BBB Institute for Marketplace TrustSM (BBB Institute), the International Association of Better Business Bureau’s educational foundation, launched a new online guide aimed at empowering people to avoid losing money and personal information when they are targeted by scams.
The BBB Scam Prevention Guide provides a wide range of resources including videos, online quizzes, a library of curated resources, and a Risk Calculator that enables an individual to learn about the scam types that pose the biggest risk to them based on their age, gender, military status, and country (United States or Canada). Results are based on timely data reported to BBB Scam TrackerSM, BBB’s prevention and reporting platform.
The online guide was made possible with support from BBB Institute’s strategic partners: Amazon, Capital One, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, PayPal, and Zelle.
“Research shows that advance knowledge can help people spot scams and disengage before they lose money or personal information,” said Melissa Lanning Trumpower, BBB Institute’s executive director. “With our partners, we have created new educational tools and resources to help consumers stay abreast of the latest scams being perpetrated in the marketplace.”
According to Exposed to Scams: What Separates Victims from Non-Victims, a joint report published by BBB Institute, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, and Stanford University, prior knowledge about fraud, even generally, is particularly helpful in avoiding victimization. This finding was backed up in the 2022 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report with 36.4% of survey respondents reporting they avoided losing money because they knew about the methods/behaviors of scammers in general.
The BBB Risk Calculator uses BBB research to help people understand which scam types are riskiest for them. The Prevention Guide also enables them to quiz themselves and learn more about those scam types, as well as general prevention tips.
Questions about the project or how to get involved should be directed to BBB Institute at Institute@IABBB.org.
Media inquiries can be directed to Melanie McGovern at mmcgovern@iabbb.org or call (703) 247-9351.
About BBB and the BBB Institute: Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust for more than 110 years. In 2022, people turned to BBB more than 250 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.3 million businesses and Charity Reports on about 12,000 charities, all available for free at BBB.org.
The BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust (BBB Institute) is the BBB’s educational foundation, whose mission is to educate and protect consumers, promote best practices for businesses, and solve complex marketplace problems. BBB Institute’s consumer educational programs are delivered both digitally and in-person by Better Business Bureaus serving communities across the U.S. and Canada. You can find more information about BBB Institute and its programs at BBBMarketplaceTrust.org.