Imagine you were incarcerated in the 1980s, just got out of prison, and now have to navigate life—from buying used furniture to finding a job to dating—using technology you have never seen before.
Could you avoid a scam?
It’s gotten harder for everyone, with online scams getting both more common and more sophisticated.
To help people avoid these threats, Middlebury Institute students studying financial crime intelligence held a series of local workshops over the fall for everyone from high school students to formerly incarcerated veterans to residents of a senior living home.
“Almost everybody experiences some sort of scam,” said Jake Lopata, a nonproliferation and terrorism studies student and veteran. “This is a way for us to share our background and skills with the community in a positive way.”
The Federal Trade Commission reports more than $10 billion in consumer losses to fraud in 2023, a 14 percent increase from 2022. These losses often come from investment fraud, imposter scams, and cryptocurrency schemes.
The “Scam Us If You Can: How Hackers & Fraudsters Manipulate Us” workshop covered some of the most common threats people will encounter, from Facebook marketplace scams to romance scams.
Almost everybody experiences some sort of scam. … The Institute can take students across the world, but there’s significant work to be done in local communities.
Students in Professor Moyara Ruehsen’s financial crime intelligence courses developed the hands-on practicum over the course of the semester, putting their expertise and presentation skills to the test.
“This practicum is a really good representation of what Middlebury Institute students can do with our technical background and intercultural communication skills,” Lopata said.
Lopata kicked off the series with an introduction to the idea of social engineering, or the use of manipulative language that prepares a victim to be scammed. He guided participants through identifying specific words intended to increase the victim’s vulnerability. The students also showed audience members real scam attempts that have duped others.
Many attendees shared their own experiences with scams during the presentation. Lopata said these responses helped encourage others to open up about being victims of financial crime.
“Scams can be a sensitive subject for some people,” Lopata said. “It was an interesting dynamic to navigate.”
The practicum partnered with several local organizations for the series, including an assisted living facility, Monterey High School’s financial literacy class, the Veterans Transition Center, and the Monterey Public Library.
“Several attendees were very excited to see a workshop series like this and felt empowered by the presentations to take control over their financial safety,” said Sarah Nolan, programming librarian and volunteer coordinator at the Monterey Public Library. “I was pleasantly surprised to see how each workshop included lots of participation and questions from attendees, which in turn enriched the program.”
There are plans to continue a series like this as a practicum project, perhaps focusing on cybersecurity next.
“In the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program, we study a lot of unsolvable challenges like how to stop terrorism and stabilize conflict,” Lopata said. “A practicum like this is satisfying because people leave with tools they can use on a daily basis that actively help protect them.”
Master of Arts in Threat Intelligence
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