Seven Internet Scams that Children May be Exposed to On The Internet
As modern parents, we know that our kids cannot imagine their lives without the internet. Usually, children spend a good chunk of their day on the internet, talking to their friends, playing online games, or using it as a resource for information on their subject.
The fact of the matter is that doing something as simple as downloading a song can expose your child to online fraud. There are umpteen fraudsters on the internet trying to lure gullible people and extract money or any confidential piece of information from them via some sly phishing scam.
Hence, parents need to make their children aware of the different internet scams that they may encounter online. Let us address these scams one by one.
Nigerian prince
Nigerian prince scam or the fake lottery scam is indeed one of the most prominent online scams. In this, the fraudster will send you an email, which will claim that you have won a lottery. In most cases, this lottery will come your way even without participating in it.
In the Nigerian Prince scam, it is addressed like a wealthy person from Nigeria wishes to transfer a portion of their wealth to a few bank accounts, and yours is one of those selected bank accounts, comments Zoe, one of the nursing essay writers who recently a scam-filled email.
Well, yes, Zoe is not alone. So, the catch here is for the prince to transfer the money, you will have to send them a small amount, let’s say, 100 or 200 USD. They will name it the fee to bear legal fees or the taxes. Be assured; there is no lottery coming your way. It is nothing but a massive scam, and it is only you who will end up sending the money, and there will no money come in return for you.
Social media scams
Today social media is one of the most vulnerable places for online scams. Unfortunately, it is us who leave the door open for fraudsters. One of the most common scams, which teens fall prey to on social media, is taking a survey that pops on their feed.
Now, what’s the problem with this? You input a lot of your personal information in this survey. So, what the scammer would do is they would use this personal information, which might include your card details, and might even give them access to your account. This puts you at risk of identity theft.
Online contest
Kids have a habit of competing with their parents. They want to win everything, especially if the price is cool, such as an expensive gadget or the latest mobile phone. The reality is no one ever wins such things in online content.
Parents need to tell their children that people who organize online content are only trying to fetch more followers for their website, YouTube channel, or community and not shower you with prices; comments Sophie, an educator who offers online statistics homework help services to college students.
Well, yes, but there are also online contents, which will try to phish some of your credential information too.
Inexpensive luxury goods
Did you ever come across an ad, which stated the latest iPhone at 50% off or the Gucci handbag at only a fraction of the retail prices? You know what? These are all scams. These scams are directed at unsuspecting individuals who are lured by a sweet deal.
Unfortunately, such fraud is not limited to online, and teems can be lured towards ‘too good to be true’ deals anywhere. The fact of the matter is in such deals; you may not even get yourself a knock-off, forget the real iPhone or the authentic handbag. Scamsters do not even have cheap goods.
So, what happens is when you hand over your money to them, it is gone. They will probably block you, and there will be no way for you to reach them. However, in some cases, you may receive stuff too, but it will be nowhere close to the original.
Free stuff
All of us love free gifts, and children are no different. However, children must be taught that there are no free lunches in the world. In many online giveaways, you have to share a lot of your personal information, fill long forms, and after you provide the information, you never receive the gift, comments Alexa, a civil engineering assignment help provider.
Identity Theft
The gullibility of the youth makes it easy for identity thieves to phish information from the kids. Unfortunately, the sad truth is the youth, at times, does not even realize how they are handing over their personal data, which puts them at risk of identity theft.
Many of these scams happen online, employing pop-up windows or emails, which ask your phone number, social security number, address verification, credit card or bank account number, etc.
There are other versions to this scam, too, wherein they lure you into false credit card applications or fake employment opportunities. In both of these opportunities, you will have to provide a lot of your personal data.
Downloading stuff
Children have a habit of downloading stuff from the internet. So, be it games, books, apps, movies, or music, when you download them from an unreliable website, it can put your system or the smartphone to risk of viruses. This is one of the most common internet scams, and hence, you need to make your kids cautious of these things.
Some other consequences that children fall prey to are ‘free’ download wherein you will only get the first 3 minutes of the game or a passage of the book free, and then you will have to pay for the full version.
So, these are some of the top internet scams that you need to educate your kids about. Know of more such scams? Please share with us in the comments below.
