SCV Senior Center Workshop 7.17.2026
Updated: Aug 10
Workshops are fun.
On July 17 we ran an anti-fraud workshop in Room H at the SCV Senior Center, in partnership with California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. We planned for 24 participants, but we had 28 eager students fill the room. Five of us were there from Students Against Scams: Harrison, Peyton, Brandon, Ethan, and Nathan.
We started with real scams we've been seeing lately, including fake job offers arriving by text and email. First we covered the obvious signs.
Then we got to the harder category: the polished, professional-looking messages with no spelling errors and no broken links. For those, we talked less about what to look for on the screen and more about what you feel when you read it. Unsolicited messages containing urgency, pressure, the sense that you need to act right now. That feeling is usually the real warning sign.
We also walked through ScamHelp.Ai, our free scam detection tool. Take a photo or screenshot of the suspicious message, upload it, and read the result. As scams get more convincing, having a second opinion in your pocket matters.
Survey Results
From the surveys returned, self-rated scam knowledge went from 4.0 before the workshop to 4.6 after the workshop, and people rated themselves 4.7 out of 5 on how likely they'd be to use ScamHelp.Ai.
Seniors give the most honest feedback you'll ever get. They are not shy about telling you exactly what's on their minds. A few comments we got back:
"Thank you. So helpful. Can we share this website with others?"
"Great group of students :) Great idea and great examples."
"Just have more handouts for overflow people. You are doing great."
Thank you to Albanely Valerio, Activities & Events Coordinator at the SCV Senior Center, for organizing signups and logistics, and to our mentor Sally Westlake at the DFPI.
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