Money requests in teen text messages have become increasingly common, ranging from innocent friend-to-friend requests to sophisticated scams targeting young people. More than 1 in 5 teenagers in the USA report being approached by a stranger online in the last year. As a parent, knowing how to guide your teen through these situations is crucial for their financial safety and education. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Scamwatch program warns that social-media payment scams spike every school holiday period, and banks across the US and Australia now flag "friends and family" transfers as a top youth fraud risk. That means the sooner your household has a clear plan, the better.
Why teens say "yes" to suspicious requests
Before jumping into scripts, it helps to understand why smart teens still get caught out. Focus groups we ran with parents in 2024 highlighted three recurring pressure points:
- Belonging pressure - Teens fear disappointing friends or being shut out of group chats if they refuse a "small favour."
- Urgency theater - Scammers mimic teachers, coaches, or relatives and attach artificial deadlines to push teens into instant action.
- Financial curiosity - Some teens treat requests as a low-stakes experiment in "helping" or learning about digital money, underestimating the risk.
By naming these motivations, you give your child language to push back when a request feels off.
Common types of money requests
Mapping the different patterns also builds your teen's pattern recognition:
- Friend requests - Legitimate requests from classmates for lunch money, event tickets, or shared expenses.
- Emergency scams - Messages claiming urgent financial need from "friends" or family members who lost their phone or wallet.
- Romance scams - Online relationships that eventually lead to emotional appeals for cash or gift cards.
- Prize or lottery scams - Claims about winning money that require an upfront payment or a "processing" fee.
- Fake charity requests - Appeals for donations to fabricated causes, often referencing trending disasters to sound credible.
- Authority impersonation - Messages that mimic school administrators, coaches, or even banks requesting a quick transfer to avoid penalties.
Each scenario deserves its own response plan. Encourage your teen to screenshot unusual messages and walk through them with you.
Red flags to teach your teen
Help your teen recognize warning signs early:
- Urgent requests requiring immediate action and threatening consequences if they delay.
- Messages from unknown numbers claiming to be a friend with a new phone.
- Instructions to pay with gift cards, prepaid debit cards, or cryptocurrency.
- Poor grammar, spelling mistakes, or odd phrasing that feels "off" for the alleged sender.
- Requests that steer the conversation away from messaging apps and onto "secure" links.
- Emotional manipulation-claims that someone will be hurt, expelled, or embarrassed if the teen refuses.
Joey's Smart Alerts feature looks for these pressure markers across your child's conversations, but teens still need to know how to spot them themselves when they're on other platforms. Requests for money and sharing personally identifiable information are two of the core Smart Alerts we have designed into Joey.
A five-step response plan for your family
Step 1: Pause and verify Teach your teen to never send money immediately. Encourage a habit of taking a screenshot, counting to ten, and rereading the message out loud. Slowing down breaks the "urgency" spell.
Step 2: Check with parents or a trusted adult Establish a rule that any money request, no matter how small, should be discussed with you first. Reinforce that asking for help is a sign of maturity, not mistrust.
Step 3: Verify the person If the request claims to be from a friend, call them directly or ask them about it in person. For adults (teachers, coaches), insist on an in-person confirmation or official email.
Step 4: Investigate the situation For charity or emergency requests, research the organization independently. Visit the official website, search the charity name plus the word "scam," and check official social channels.
Step 5: Document and report Keep screenshots, note the time, and report the incident to the platform. For clear scams, you can also lodge a report with Scamwatch (Australia) or the FTC (US). Banks appreciate quick alerts because they can flag the destination account for fraud review.
Print this five-step checklist and stick it near the family computer or homework area for easy reference.
How we opened the conversation at home
Parents often ask for real-life examples of what these chats sound like. When we introduced the topic, we framed it as a broader conversation about money and friendships:
We were clear that in-person requests between trusted friends can be discussed together, but any online request should trigger an immediate check-in with a parent or guardian. That insider framing helped our child feel prepared without feeling policed.
Role-playing defuses fear and makes future conversations feel familiar. Use these scripts as a starting point and adapt them to your teen's voice.
Scenario: A "friend" needs money for concert tickets
Parent: "If someone asked you for $40 for tickets, what would you say?"
Teen: "I'd ask why they need it so fast."
Parent: "Great. Now add, 'Let me check with my parents first.'"
Discuss how a real friend would react supportively, while a scammer might escalate.
Scenario: Someone claims to be a coach collecting fees
Practice questions like, "Can you send the official payment link?" or "I'll pay through the school portal." Reinforce that genuine staff will respect the process.
Scenario: A distant relative requests gift cards
Coach your teen to respond: "Our family rule is to confirm by phone. What's the best number to call you?" If the sender hesitates, it is a red flag.
How Joey supports the process
Joey's Smart Alerts are designed to surface:
- Mentions of money, gift cards, or payment apps combined with urgency language.
- Unknown contacts suddenly requesting personal information or funds.
- Repeated pressure from a single contact that hints at grooming behaviour.
Because Joey analyses context without storing message content long-term, it respects your teen's privacy while keeping you informed. When an alert fires, you can review the snippet, coach your teen using the scripts above, and log the outcome.
Additional resources for parents
- Bookmark Scamwatch's youth scam alerts and set a quarterly reminder to review new trends together.
- Subscribe to your bank's security newsletter for up-to-date fraud prevention tips.
- Encourage your teen to follow reputable financial literacy creators who discuss digital safety.
- Join local parent groups (online or in-person) where families share recent scam attempts to stay ahead of new tactics.
With a structured plan, ongoing coaching, and tools like Joey keeping watch in the background, your teen can navigate money requests with confidence. The goal isn't to make them fearful-it is to empower them with the judgement to protect themselves and reach out when something doesn't feel right.
