Young jobseekers, Work Experience students, and anyone with a bank card are prime targets for online scams in Ireland. The people running scams know you're busy applying for apprenticeships, signing up to Intreo, checking delivery texts, and managing a dozen accounts you rarely think about. Today's lesson builds a reference you'll actually use: a Scam Spotter you can look back at the next time a text or email feels slightly off.
Have you ever received a text, email, or DM that felt wrong? Maybe a fake delivery notice, a "your Revenue refund is due" message, or a direct message from someone pretending to be a friend. In your head, picture the last suspicious message you saw. What was it that tipped you off? Hold that tell in mind, you'll use it later.
Five concepts you'll use for the rest of the lesson. Skim the table, then look back when you need to.
| Concept | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Phishing — fake messages (email, SMS, DM) that impersonate a trusted service to steal passwords or card details | Jobseekers are prime targets — attackers send fake Revenue, Intreo, and recruitment messages because you're expecting those | "Revenue: €340 refund. Tap to claim: {{code:revenuerefund-ie.com}}" — a lookalike domain pretending to be revenue.ie |
| Malware — harmful software from a bad link, a dodgy attachment, a pirated download, or an infected USB | One infected file can steal every saved password in the browser, including your email (the recovery account for everything else) | A "free Photoshop cracked" download that installs a keylogger |
| Two-factor authentication (2FA) — a second step after your password, usually a 6-digit code from an authenticator app | The thing that stops attackers when a password leaks — and passwords leak regularly in data breaches | Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator on your phone shows the code |
| Digital age of consent (Ireland = 16) — the age at which platforms can process your personal data without a parent's consent (Data Protection Act 2018) | Under 16 means parents must consent before platforms can collect data — relevant if you help younger siblings or cousins sign up | — |
| Reporting channels — the official Irish places to send a scam or harmful content | Reporting is how scam domains get taken down, and it protects you if you've already clicked | An Garda Síochána (garda.ie or local station) for cybercrime; {{code:hotline.ie}} for illegal content; your bank if money or account details are involved |
Before you click anything in a suspicious message, run these three checks in your head. It takes about 10 seconds.
Create the {{code:27_scam_spotter}} document and fully complete one scam entry (a fake Revenue refund SMS) as a worked example. You'll copy this template twice in the next step for two scams of your own. Notice how the three Tells bullets each start with Who / Where / Urgency — that's the three-check habit in action.
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| I can't find the Heading 1 or Heading 2 style | In Word Online, make sure you're on the {{menu:Home}} tab first, then look for the Styles group. In Google Docs, click {{menu:Format -> Paragraph styles}} from the menu bar at the top. |
| My whole document turned into Heading 1 by accident | Select the line that should be normal text, then apply {{menu:Format -> Paragraph styles -> Normal text}} (Docs) or {{menu:Home -> Styles -> Normal}} (Word). Then press {{kbd:Ctrl+Z}} / {{kbd:Cmd+Z}} if you want to undo further. |
| My text kept going in bold after I typed the label | Press {{kbd:Ctrl+B}} / {{kbd:Cmd+B}} once to toggle bold off, then type. If some words are already bold that shouldn't be, select them and press the same shortcut to un-bold. |
| The lookalike link in my document became underlined and blue (a clickable hyperlink) | That's fine for visibility — but do NOT click it in the doc either. If you want to turn it back into plain text, right-click the link and choose {{menu:Right-click -> Remove link}}. |
| My document hasn't saved | Online documents save automatically. Look for "Saved" (Word Online) or "All changes saved in Drive" (Docs) near the filename. If you see "Saving…" for more than a few seconds, your internet is slow — wait before closing the tab. |
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