AARP Outsmart Scammers 8-Day Challenge

I saw this as an advertisement in one of my CNET e-mails and decided to click and see what it's about.


(But not before thinking 'Wait, what if this is a scam?')

Doesn't seem to be.

Here's the site (may be defunct at the time of this posting).




 A segment of the challenge, "Take our Scam Polls", linked to a Scam Map (of the continental United States);

Wow, what's going on in Philly.

There's a segment on identifying Phishing emails. A good rule of thumb is, 'How half-assed is this e-mail?'

• If the domain sending the message is similar, but not quite right.
• A sense of urgency.
• Hyperlinks (links) in an email.
• Probably no picture (or a poor quality one) in the sender bubble.
• Asking for information.

It's probably a scam. Don't click on links in e-mails, go directly to the site.

There was also a segment with recordings. Basically, if it sounds like a robot, tries to rush you, and references a state-sanction service (IRS, Medicare), it's probably a scam.

There is a video and tip card for a Fraud helpline.