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Test Your Knowledge of Scams, Fraud and Identity Theft

Ace this quiz to learn how to protect your personally identifiable information

Katherine Skiba,

AARP

En español

Published August 05, 2020

10 Questions

f6cb4562-dc63-43e8-b93d-6636c532e3d3

Test Your Knowledge of Scams, Fraud and Identity Theft

[ {
  "question" : "1. Which of the following should never be divulged to a stranger, especially someone who contacts you out of the blue?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Your passport number",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Your full or partial Social Security number",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Your bank account number",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "All of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Safeguard such data, known as personally identifiable information (PII), since it fuels financial fraud. Your date of birth, driver's license number, credit card and PIN numbers — and other sensitive information — should be held close to the vest.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "2. Cyberthieves who try to steal your money or PII can use technology to disguise which of these?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Their names and email addresses",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Their phone numbers",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which are numerical labels for devices on a computer network",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "All of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Cybercriminals use tricks to hide behind information that may appear authentic but is not. Phone numbers can be “spoofed” to make it appear it's the Social Security Administration — or even the local police — calling. Call the agency back on a number you know is genuine. Don't just google an agency for its telephone number and assume it's real, because web searches can cough up fake phone numbers.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "3. Which of these businesses suffered the biggest data breach of all time, putting billions of its customers’ sensitive data at risk?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Marriott International",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Yahoo.com",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Adult Friend Finder, a dating site",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Equifax",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The estimated number of accounts breached at Yahoo is 3 billion; at Marriott International, 500 million; at Adult Friend Finder, 412.2 million; and at credit bureau Equifax, 147.9 million, according to CSO, which advises chief security officers on cybersecurity.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "4. The most common types of scams reported to FBI's Internet Complaint Center in 2019 were:",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Romance frauds",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Phishing scams",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Lottery, sweepstakes or inheritance scams",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Government impersonation scams",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Phishing involves criminals sending emails from seemingly legitimate institutions in an attempt to get you to divulge PII. Variations on phishing include vishing, which involves phone calls or voice messages; smishing, which utilizes text messages; and pharming, which sees cyberthieves direct consumers to bogus websites that seem legitimate.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "5. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) examined fraud reports in 2019 and found most often criminals first contacted victims by:",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Calling them on the phone",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Visiting them at their residence",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : " Sending an email",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Sending a letter in the mail",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Be wary of telephone calls from strangers. It's the most common way for crooks to initiate contact, according to the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2019.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "6. How much money was lost to fraud in 2019, according to reports sent to the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "$1.9 trillion",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "$190 million",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "$1.9 billion",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "$109 billion",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Nearly $667 million of this total was lost to impostor scams alone.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "7. Which former director of the CIA helped foil a Jamaican lottery scam, leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator, who was sent to prison in 2019?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "David Petraeus",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "William Webster",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Leon Panetta",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "George Tenet",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Webster, who earlier led the FBI, told AARP in 2019 about the Jamaican who called him saying he had won a $72 million prize and a Mercedes-Benz. The crook wanted $50,000 upfront and made violent threats to get the payment. Webster, who is in his 90s, worked with a cadre of younger agents to crack the case.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "8. How can you improve your online security?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Require two-step authentication to access your financial accounts.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Set up alerts with credit-card issuers so every time your card is used, you are notified.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Maintain unique passwords for all your online accounts and update them periodically. Never use “password” as a password.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "All of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "In a world rife with financial fraud, you can't be too careful. Two-step authentication (meaning you need to get a one-time code by text, telephone or email to log into your financial accounts), alerts and strong passwords make it harder for bad actors to access your accounts. Some consumers also request paper statements and make a habit of scrutinizing them for irregularities.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "9. Credit cards offer consumers better protection against liability for fraudulent purchases compared with debit cards because of the:",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Electronic Fund Transfer Act",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Federal Reserve Bank’s Regulation E",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Fair Credit Billing Act",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "None of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "A federal law, it says credit card users are generally on the hook for only up to $50 in cases of fraud. But debit cards fall under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E), which says if a consumer fails to notify a depository institution of unauthorized electronic transfers in a timely fashion, the liability may be $500 — or unlimited.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "10. Which payment methods do fraudsters often request from victims?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Bitcoin or another digital currency",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Funds sent using a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Gift cards or reload cards",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "All of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "These payment methods are all difficult to trace, so criminals favor them in hopes of avoiding the long arm of the law.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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Katherine Skiba is a contributing writer for AARP. She has reported for the Chicago Tribune, U.S. News & World Report and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and is the author of a wartime memoir, Sister in the Band of Brothers: Embedded With the 101st Airborne in Iraq. She was a Nieman Journalism Fellow at Harvard University.