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 classroom.

Behind the numbers (Washington Post): 

“Year after year, the scam-call epidemic bombards consumers at record-breaking levels, surpassing the previous year, and scammers increasingly invade our privacy at new extremes,” Charles Morgan, the chief executive and head data scientist of First Orion, said in a blog post last week...Other prominent spam calls involve fraudsters pretending to be a representative from a bank, a debt collector or cable company.

The Internal Revenue Service has also warned taxpayers about phone scams. Callers use telephone numbers that mimic actual IRS assistance centers, claim to be IRS employees and use fake names and phony badge numbers. The IRS says victims are falsely told they owe money to the government and are urged to pay through a gift card or wire transfer.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.