If I Had Taken This Class Four Years Ago

A woman in her late 70s came to a GOLD scam prevention session still dealing with the financial and emotional aftermath of a serious banking scam she'd fallen victim to years earlier.

She had attended other scam awareness classes before. They had walked her through what scams looked like, what to watch out for, what had happened to other people. But she said something that stayed with us:

“They only explained scams. They didn't teach me how to protect myself.”

GOLD's S.C.A.M. framework, Stop, Confirm, Avoid sharing personal information, Make a report, is built differently. It's not a list of facts to memorize. It's a decision tool you can use in the moment a scammer has you on the phone. The moment that matters.

After the session, she said: “If I had taken this class four years ago, I never would have been scammed.”

Then she added something we hear from older adults every time we run this class: this kind of training shouldn't be the exception. It should be everywhere. Because the gap between knowing scams exist and knowing what to do when one is happening to you is the gap that scammers count on.