Ways to Empower Your Kids Against Online Scams
There are several best practices you can adopt as a parent or guardian to limit your child’s exposure to fraud and scams. As it’s children who are often targeted by scammers, especially on social media, we must teach them how to identify – and avoid falling for – online scams.
In a digital world, children and young people have constant access to the internet, online gaming systems, and mobile phones, along with thousands of applications and games. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the popularity of online sites, apps, and games to create convincing scams that are hard for adults, let alone kids, to recognize and avoid. There are several best practices you can adopt as a parent or guardian to limit your child’s exposure to fraud and scams:
- Use parental controls for devices, websites, and gaming platforms that your child accesses – many devices, websites, gaming platforms, and Internet Service Providers provide tools to help you protect your kids online. Take advantage of the protection features available to help you manage your children’s online access, including the types of websites they access, who can contact them, and how they can make purchases.
- Explain that account information is private – explain to your kids that they should never share account information with anyone except you, not even with their friends. Your child’s account may contain sensitive personal information, including your credit card account information. Game companies would also never ask for sensitive personal information like bank account numbers and passwords or Social Insurance Numbers. Demands for any kind of personal information are a key warning sign of a scam.
- Never use Personal Identifiable Information (PPI) in an account profile – teach kids that their real names, addresses, phone numbers, or school information should never be used to set up a social network or gaming profile. Information in a profile may be publicly available, so it’s important to use fictional names or skip the profile-building process completely if possible.
- Teach kids about the dangers of opening suspicious links even if they appear to have come from "friends" – suspicious links on websites, sent by text, through in‑game chats, and by email can put malicious software on your device, steal your login details and passwords, and lead to personal information and your kids’ gaming assets being put up for sale. Learn more about how to spot a phishing email and share it with your kids so they can spot a scam email too.
- Protect account information – Always choose a strong, unique password for your accounts and, if available, enable two‑factor authentication to help protect your child’s accounts from unauthorized access.
- Beware of fake websites and phone applications, and only make purchases on official gaming platforms. Many games offer in‑app or in‑game purchases to enhance the gaming experience. The extreme popularity of online games makes creating game scams very attractive to cyber criminals. Scam websites can look very professional but often contain malicious code or provide game currency in exchange for personal information. Kids should avoid all offers they see on social networks or through in‑game chats for "free" game currency.
Why might kids be susceptible to online scams?
However, their digital literacy does not protect them from internet fraud, and scammers are increasingly targeting the youngest generations for several reasons.
Unlike adults, children are unlikely to have had experiences with scams and tend to be more trusting of others – especially those posing as authority figures, friends, or family. Children are also more likely to overlook or ignore signs of a scam when promised something they want. They might not fully realize the dangers of revealing personal data either.
But it’s the rise in social media use that has put young people squarely in a scammer’s line of fire.
How to help your child spot and avoid online scams
We can’t always be around to protect our children, especially in cyberspace. But by teaching them how to identify and avoid online scams, you can empower them to navigate their online world safely.
1. Stay calm
Establishing a calm environment where your child feels listened to will allow them to open up about what’s happening in their online life.
If your child tells you about a scam they may have seen or even fallen for, try not to get angry, as this may put them off from coming to you again. Before getting the facts, assure them that they’ve done nothing wrong and that they made the right decision in coming to you.
2. Stress the importance of privacy
Scammers often take advantage of a child’s naivety when it comes to sharing personal information. A child might think nothing of revealing their full name, date of birth, or address to someone they’ve met on social media or while gaming.
While this kind of getting-to-know-you details might not seem as risky as divulging passwords, fraudsters can use a child’s personal information to open online accounts, apply for credit cards and loans, and much more.
3. Get familiar with common scams
Before you talk about the signs of a scam, it’s a good idea to go over the typical methods and schemes used by swindlers.
Scams can come in countless forms, but here are a few common ones:
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- Shopping scams. A scammer takes your money and you receive a faulty product or nothing at all.
- “You’re a winner!” scams. You receive an email, text, or DM telling you you’ve won a prize in some competition or lottery you never entered.
- Dating and romance scams. A fraudster tries to exploit your emotions and get close to you before they ask you for money or your personal details.
- Account details scams. An example of “phishing”. Scammers send emails or SMS that appear to be from your bank or another online service, and ask you to verify your details on a fake version of their website.
- Impersonation scams. A scammer creates a fake social media account pretending to be someone you know or a celebrity you admire to gain your trust, before asking you for personal details or money.
Technological advancements like AI mean that scams will only get more creative and convincing – so it’s a good idea to stay updated on scam trends.
4. Prepare a checklist of red flags
Although more sophisticated scams can be hard to spot, things like spelling errors and bad grammar can instantly give away a fraudulent email or message.
Help your child recognize scams by creating a checklist together of other typical signs that they can refer to. Be sure to include:
- Requests for login details and passwords
- Too-good-to-be-true promises of rewards or prizes
- “Emergencies” and demands to act urgently
- Requests for money up front
- Email addresses that don’t match “from” names
- DMs from social media accounts with few followers and little activity
5. Read the platform’s policies on scams
The popular social media platforms will have advice for avoiding and reporting a scam, and it’s worth both of you familiarizing yourselves with the guidelines.
For example, Facebook and Instagram’s help centers give plenty of tips and tools to help protect you from scammers and advice on what to do if you’ve been targeted.
Teaching your child to identify and avoid scams is an excellent way to build their confidence and protect their digital well-being. These tips can help safeguard your child from scams and other online threats while promoting a healthy relationship with technology.
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