Teach Your Kids Cyber Hygiene (and Freeze Their Credit)
In today’s digital age, where the internet and social media are deeply integrated into our daily lives, teaching children online safety has become an important responsibility. By equipping them with the knowledge of cyber hygiene best practices at a young age, we can empower them to navigate the online world confidently and securely.
This proactive approach will protect them from potential threats, like phishing scams or cyberbullying, and foster a healthy and responsible relationship with technology.
What Exactly Is Cyber Hygiene?
Cyber hygiene refers to the practices and procedures that individuals and organizations use to maintain the health and security resilience of their systems, devices, networks and data.
You teach your kids how to practice basic personal hygiene. This is the same sort of thing—but online behaviors. Given that today’s children are digital natives, often starting their online explorations at a young age, the nuances of good cyber hygiene can sometimes be overlooked due to assumptions made by those who grew up in a pre-digital era.
According to the child identity fraud report published by Javelin Strategy & Research in 2022, 915,000 U.S. children were victims of child identity fraud in 2021.
Identity theft issues have been a common concern for several years so much so that the market for identity theft protection services is expected to reach $28 billion by 2029.
The way kids “get got” varies—it could be a phishing email that delivers a payload of malware or a smishing scam (the text-sent version of the same thing), or it could be a clever scam artist tricking his or her target into sharing personal information later used to commit various kinds of fraud.
The one thing most scams rely on is a lack of knowledge. CouplingCouple that with a lack of attention and fraud is not a possibility, it’s a probability.
Common Online Scams Targeting Kids
By understanding common scams, you can better equip your children to identify and avoid falling victim to them. This knowledge will empower them to make informed decisions and stay safe online by using cyber hygiene best practices.
1. Online Shopping Scams
Children or teens may fall for ads or messages promising products for prices too good to be true, such as a $25 iPad. Once they provide their payment information, they may discover that the promised item was a scam, and they’ve lost their money. Additionally, their payment details and other personal information could be compromised, potentially leading to identity theft and financial fraud.
2. Fake Contests
Children may be tempted to participate in fraudulent contests that require a fee. They might also receive false notifications claiming they’ve won a prize, often accompanied by requests for personal information or additional payments. These scams can lead to financial loss and potential identity theft.
3. Pop-Up Scams
Young children may not understand that random pop-ups could lead to trouble. Clicking a link could download malware or spyware onto your computer or device, capturing keystrokes or personal information such as passwords or credit card numbers.
4. Money Transfer Scams
Scammers use cash apps like Venmo to send users money, then text to claim the money was sent in error and ask the recipient to send it back. Only after sending the money does your child find out the original payment didn’t go through.
5. Online Gaming Scams
While playing online games, children may form friendships with other players who may encourage them to share personal details like their names, addresses, and account passwords. Promises of free in-game items or rewards can entice children to disclose their payment information or click on links that may lead to malware or spyware infections.
6. Phishing Texts
Phishing scams often take the form of text messages that appear to be from legitimate sources, like social media platforms or gaming websites. These messages typically create a sense of urgency by asking children to verify their passwords, user data, or payment card information. They may also contain links that lead to malicious websites that can infect devices with spyware.
7. Financial Aid Scams
Scammers may target teenagers by offering fraudulent college scholarships, grants, or financial aid opportunities that require upfront application fees. They may claim that the teen has won a financial award but needs to pay a fee to claim it.
Some scammers request bank or credit card information to verify eligibility and then withdraw funds from the account. Others charge a processing fee to assist students in applying for financial aid and scholarships. In the process, they collect sensitive financial information about the students and their parents, or may even ask for the student’s FAFSA account information and password, granting them access to valuable financial data.
8 Basics to Teach Your Kids About Cyber Hygiene
Cyber hygiene can be many things, but the key is making sure you’re doing everything you can to stay safe from the dangers that lurk “out there.”
The basics are increasingly well-known but worth reviewing with your children.
- One of the biggest tips is to teach your kids to never share personal information online, such as their name, address, phone number, the school they attend, pictures, or passwords.
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- Only download platform-approved apps on your devices. Non-approved apps can get you in a world of trouble, since they may steal your information while providing entertainment.
- Coach your kids on the dangers associated with posting information on social media. Talk about the strangers who may be lurking and check their privacy settings. It’s also a good idea to insist that you be allowed to “follow” or “friend” them, so you can monitor their online activity. But bear in mind you may also want to talk to them about any “secret” accounts that they use.
- Always look for “https” in the URL of the websites you visit. You can also look for the padlock (plus sometimes the name of the company or organization name also displayed in green), which means this website is using an Extended Validation (EV) certificate.
- As well as using secure websites, children, along with adults, should also use secure Wi-Fi networks. Hotspots and public wireless networks aren’t secure. By using those networks, there’s a chance that anyone can see what they are doing on their laptop or smartphone while connected to it.
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- Use a password manager or, at the very least, long and strong passwords that include uppercase characters, symbols ($, !, %), and numbers. Many kids, unsupervised, will choose easy-to-remember passwords that include personally identifiable information (such as birthdays).
- Be careful what you click. If you receive an unexpected email that includes an attachment, it could be malware. Coach your kids to always double-check URLs for misspellings, and email addresses. Remember that e-greeting cards are also a popular method that scammers use to trick people into clicking bad links.
- Keep your devices up to date by updating outdated software. Regular software and firmware updates are crucial for security. These updates often include patches that address vulnerabilities that scammers can exploit to gain access to your personal information. By staying current, you can significantly reduce the risk of your identity being compromised.
Let’s say you do everything right. Sadly, you’re still not safe, and unfortunately, neither are your kids. In fact, your kids have an even trickier problem. Identity thieves like to use the identities of children because they are unused, and often remain unmonitored. That gives the scammer a long runway for committing fraud before the crimes are discovered.
Thankfully, there is an easy solution for a major source of fraud (new account creation): Credit freezes.
What is a Credit Freeze?
All three major credit bureaus are now required to offer free credit freezes to all Americans and their dependents. A credit freeze is without a doubt the best way to prevent identity theft in your child’s name, and now that it is free, there can be no reason not to put one in place.
Information moves online in circuitous ways, and even the best cyber hygiene cannot protect your loved ones from a data compromise. Tell your kids to be careful what they post and freeze their credit because identity theft isn’t always avoidable.
Keep Your Money Safe with Diamond
You’ve worked hard for your money and by teaching your children the benefits of good cyber hygiene early, you can help protect their investments, like a college or personal savings, as well as yours. Being prepared is key, and the staff at Diamond is ready to help.
Want more information about cyber hygiene? Contact a Diamond representative for more tips and information.