Students from eight school districts within our service area created 1-minute public service announcement videos about Better Business Bureau’s contest theme, “Scam Education”, to help educate the 18-24 demographic about scams that target this group.
Burkburnett High School, Lake Highlands High School, Lubbock Advanced Technology Center, New Tech at Coppell, Petrolia High School, Richardson High School, Wichita Christian School, and Wichita Falls Career Education Center chose to participate in the competition because of their strong film, journalism, and audio video production programs.
Better Business Bureau spokesperson Monica Horton, believes the competition will help the younger generation be introduced to the BBB.
“We are so happy this year to have instructors that have included this competition into their regular course work. The most important part of this competition is the target demographic for this project. BBB Services are needed now just as much as in 1920 and this is our way of introducing BBB to future consumers and business leaders.”
The videos focus on scams in which BBB research shows impact this age demographic: How to identify a fake website-Scam websites often have very similar URLs and can look nearly identical to the real website. Always look out for these red flags before entering your personal or payment information.
How to spot a fake social media account-Fake social media accounts can promote phony products, spread scams and even share lies and misinformation. It’s important to spot a phony account right away - before you engage with their content.
How to spot a fake social media giveaway-When budgets are tight, it’s easy to be tempted by a phony social media giveaway. But before you “like” or comment on a social post in hopes of winning a prize, make sure that giveaway is the real deal.
How to spot money transfer scams using digital wallets-Peerto- peer payment services such as PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle are becoming the norm to pay a coworker for lunch or send money to a friend. Scammers have found a way to use these apps, using variations on old schemes tailored to the new technology.
The videos will be judged on production quality, creativity, the teams’ ability to market their video, and effectiveness at representing BBB theme. The first phase of the contest is taking place online at BBBs YouTube page. Everyone is encouraged to like comment and share your favorite.
The second phase of the contest will take place on the BBBs Facebook page, where the top five will be announced soon. The schools of the winning teams will receive a total of $4,000 in donations for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place to their Audio Visual programs. The students of the winning teams will each receive cash and prizes.
Again, the Top five videos will be announced in late March and winners awarded in April 2023.
Better Business Bureau with offices in Dallas, Lubbock and Wichita Falls would like to thank sponsors, participants and educators that bring this annual BBB competition to life.
About Us: This Better Business Bureau office was established in 1920, as the first BBB in Texas and provides its services free to the public.
We now have offices located in Dallas, Lubbock and Wichita Falls which serve a combined 47 counties, 6 million consumers, and 135,000 businesses. We are committed to supporting military, assisting our seniors, empowering our youth, and holding businesses to higher standards in all of the communities we serve. Proudly serving the following 47 Texas counties: Archer, Bailey, Baylor, Borden, Clay, Cochran, Collin, Cooke, Cottle, Crosby, Dallas, Dawson, Delta, Denton, Dickens, Ellis, Fannin, Foard, Floyd, Garza, Gaines, Grayson, Hale, Hardeman, Haskell, Hockley, Hopkins, Hunt, Jack, Kaufman, Kent, King, Knox, Lamar, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Motley, Montague, Rockwall, Stonewall, Terry, Throckmorton, Wichita, Wilbarger, Yoakum, and Young.