If a scam message has perfect spelling, how do you spot it?
Checked
This lesson goes with our article The typos are gone: why polished messages aren't proof.
Talk about it at home: jump to the Table Talks
Teach it this week
If a scam message has perfect spelling, how do you spot it?
Big idea: AI can make scam messages smooth and nearly error-free, so good spelling doesn't prove a message is real. What gives a scam away is what it asks you to do.
Background for parents and grandparents: The FBI warns AI can "correct for human errors that might otherwise serve as warning signs of fraud." The FTC's four scam signs don't depend on spelling: FBI IC3: criminals use generative AI to facilitate financial fraud and FTC: how to avoid a scam.
Table Talks (10 minutes)
- Goal: Explain why good writing isn't proof, and use the FTC's four signs on a message.
- Start (2 min): Look at two made-up texts with the same request, one with typos, one polished. Which is the scam? (Both.)
- Try it (5 to 7 min): AI can fix spelling. Talk through the four signs: pretend, problem or prize, pressure, pay a specific way. Kids and grown-ups label four polished made-up messages with the signs each shows, then rewrite each request in plain words.
- Wrap-up (1 min): Everyone finishes the sentence: "I judge a message by..."
Talk it over
- Ask who has gotten a message that looked real but felt off.
- Read the rule aloud. Our rule of thumb: a polished message earns a careful look, never your trust.
- Practice the three questions on a made-up message: What is it asking? Did I expect it? Can I check another way?
- Tonight's action: share the rule with one family member.
Use made-up messages only, with no real company names, phone numbers or links; don't open real suspicious links. Free to use; please keep the source credit.
Education only, not financial, legal or tax advice. Not a registered investment adviser.
Sources
Primary sources
- FBI IC3 PSA I-120324-PSA, Dec 3, 2024, date checked: Oct 24, 2026
- FTC: How To Avoid a Scam, date checked: Oct 24, 2026