Chart of the Week: Counterfeit Brands Are A $300 Billion Business
Click below for the full infographic:
Questions:
Have you ever bought a product online that you later found out was a counterfeit?
Based on the data in the infographic, are counterfeit products an issue that you should worry about? Provide at least two pieces of evidence.
Are some products easier to fake than others? Which products do you need to be most suspicious about based on the data?
What are steps that you can take to ensure that you don't become a victim and purchase...
QoD: What is cause of most internet fraud losses: ID theft, email compromise or romance scams?
Questions:
What steps can you take to prevent your email account from being compromised?
Why do you think that romance scams are so pervasive?
Do you know anyone who has been the victim of any of these frauds? Explain what happened.
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (Priceonomics):
Forty percent of online fraud losses are the result of Email Compromise, sometimes referred to as Business Email...
QoD: What percent of 18-21 year olds have considered taking out a payday loan?
Answer: 38%
Questions:
In your own words, what is a payday loan? If you don't know, take 3 minutes to conduct your own research.
Payday loans carry some of the highest interest rates (over 300% in some cases). Why do you think that people still take out these loans?
Why do you think as people age, they are less likely to consider taking out a payday loan?
While 38% of 18-21 year olds considered taking out a payday loan, only 8% actually have over the past 2 years. Why do you think...
QoD: Which business has the most physical locations in the U.S.: McDonald's, Payday Lenders or Starbucks?
Hat tip to Beth Tallman for the idea for this question of the day.
Answer: Payday lenders
Questions:
Based on this information alone, do you think that payday lending is a good business for the lenders? Explain.
Payday loans carry interest rates as high as 600%. Why do you think that people continue to borrow from payday lenders despite these interest rates?
What financial advice would you give to someone who finds themselves taking out payday loans on a frequent basis?
Here's...
5 Cool New Videos: Savings Tips, Payday Lending and Stock Market Winners and Losers Over the Past 20 Years
By Tim Ranzetta
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Mar 20, 2019
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Video Resource, Credit Cards, Financial Scams, Compound Interest, Investing, Stocks
I wanted to share some cool new videos that we have come across in our travels:
Three Psychological Tricks to Help You Save Money (TED Talks; 5 minutes); hat tip to Yanely for connecting us to Wendy; hope to have her on podcast in the future.
Backgrounder on the Payday Lending industry (PBS NewsHour; 4 minutes); good opportunity to discuss the financial pitfalls of payday lending, it's fee structure and the role of regulation in consumer protection.
How...
QoD: What is the fastest growing scam reported to the FTC? a) Tax scams b) Romance scams c) Gift card scams?
Answer: Romance scams
I figured now that Valentine's Day was in the rearview mirror, we could show the dark side of romance.
Here's the chart:
Questions:
Why do you think romance scams are so successful and growing so quickly?
Do you know anyone who has fallen for a romance scam?
What are steps that you can take to prevent falling prey to a romance scam?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your...
Just One Resource - INTERACTIVE: Shady Sam
By Tim Ranzetta
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Feb 04, 2019
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Just One Resource, Interactive, Math, Behavioral Finance, Student Loans, Mortgages, Financial Scams
In this weekly blog post, the Curriculum team will highlight Just One Resource from our NGPF collection that maybe doesn't get the attention it deserves. Use it this week or bookmark it for later.
[The Resource] INTERACTIVE: Shady Sam
The Gist: Students play loan shark in this engaging game where they see loans from the perspective of a lender as they try to maximize their profits.
The Best Parts:
Students decide between three loan options for...
Best of 2018...NGPF FinCap Fridays
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jan 04, 2019
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Budgeting, FinCap Fridays, Financial Scams, Career, Current Events, Employment, Generosity
We added FinCap Fridays to our resources in mid-August. Teachers asked for a creative and engaging way to bring current events into their classroom and we listened. A 5-7 minute FinCap Friday kicks off with a 5 question Kahoot + Yanely's explanation of the current event and why it matters + a discussion prompt to keep the conversation going + additional activity ideas if you want your students to dig deeper. With over 50,000 student Kahoots played since its August launch, FinCap Fridays have...
Best of 2018...PBS Two Cents Personal Finance Videos
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jan 03, 2019
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Video Resource, Budgeting, Behavioral Finance, Financial Scams, Mortgages, Paying for College
PBS Two Cents made a big splash on the scene in 2018. Philip Olson and Julia Lorenz-Olson create engaging videos that do a great job explaining personal finance concepts in ways that your students will understand. We added several of their videos to our video library and you can also hear their story on the NGPF Podcast.
I reached out to Philip today and he was kind enough to share the "top 5" videos he and Julia produced in 2018 (based on Facebook and YouTube views). Beth has also created...
Question of the Day: Where does more holiday fraud happen: online or in physical stores?
Answer: It's a tie, Online and in-store channels were hit equally.
Questions:
Did the results surprise you? Explain.
What are ways that online shoppers can have their identity stolen? Do you know anyone who has been a victim?
Name at least three ways that you can protect yourself from identity theft.
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (from PaymentsSource):
Mobile and e-commerce sales are...
FinCap Friday: 'Tis the Season of Scammers
Know someone who was a victim of a holiday shopping scam? Millions of packages are expected to be delivered this holiday season by the UPS and scammers are ready to take action! This FinCap Friday will help your students spot some of the common holiday shopping scams and learn a few tips for how to avoid them!
Click the image below to access the full resource:
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New to FinCap Fridays? They are a 5-7 minute resource to bring current events to your classroom in a way...
Reading List for December 8-9
Personal Finance
Two articles popped up on this topic this week based on a research paper by economists at the Fed: Millennials are bucking trends not because they don’t want the same things previous generations wanted, but because they can’t afford them. (WAPO) (The Atlantic)
Ever go into a fast food restaurant and find you can’t pay with cash? No problem, unless you don’t have a credit/debit card or smartphone. (NYT)
Financial scammers play on your emotions, among...
FinCap Friday: Who's Calling?
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Nov 08, 2018
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FinCap Fridays, Financial Scams, Identity Theft, Research
Have you noticed an increase in spam calls to your phone? We have too, which is why we decided to focus on it this week in our FinCap Friday segment. Not only are they annoying but they cost consumers billons every year. Yanely provides some sage advice on what to do when that spurious call comes in:
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Did you know that more than $100,000 in cash prizes are available through NGPF's PAYBACK Challenge? Read the details here but please hurry as the deadline is just days away!...
Question of the Day: What percent of Americans bought a lottery ticket in the past year?
Answer: 49%
Questions:
Do you have family or friends who buy lottery tickets? How often do they play? Have they ever won significant jackpots?
Do you think buying lottery tickets is a wise financial decision? Why or why not?
Would it surprise you to know that more people buy lottery tickets than invest in the stock market? Why do you think that is? Remember that overall long-term stock market returns are 7-9% annually while lottery tickets have a negative expected value.
Here's...
Question of the Day: What percent of cellphone calls in 2019 are expected to be from scammers?
Answer: 50%
3 minute video explainer here:
Questions:
Have you noticed a recent increase in robo-calls to your cell phone? Describe any of these scammer calls that you have received.
What are some good rules of thumb when it comes to people calling your cell phone? What information should you NEVER provide anyone over the phone?
Do you have a strategy on how to deal with these calls?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your...
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