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03/05/2024: Beware of Fraud Targeting Teens
In the internet age, scammers target not just adults but also young kids and teens. Everyone needs to be cautious online.
Teach your kids about online scammers and not to share personal information online to keep them safe.
Most Common Scams
An important lesson to learn, is that if it looks or sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. Scammers tailor scams to the interests, wants, and needs of young children and teens to target them. Below are some popular scams used to target young adults.
- Financial Aid: As teens get ready to go away for college, they often need to figure out their financial aid beforehand. Scammers might offer fake scholarships or financial aid in return for personal details or ask for payment to get it. Be cautious.
- Social media: There are a lot of fake social media accounts out there. Scammers will include fraudulent links in their bios, ask people to take quizzes or download apps. Don’t give out any personal financial information without doing proper research first.
- Contests: Scammers will lure in young people with contests promising great prizes. Whether it’s for artists, writers, musicians, or modeling. You have to pay a fee to enter. They may also ask for more money if you want your work published or to receive your prize.
- Employment: As children become young adults, its common that they will start looking for a job. Seasonal jobs are very popular for students since they don’t have school to worry about. Scammers post fake job ads on websites, asking for payment for training before hiring you. Be cautious of these scams when looking for jobs online.
- Phishing: Phishing affects not only adults but also children and teens through calls and texts. People may receive false messages from someone pretending to be from a social media platform, requesting passwords or money.
How to Protect Your Children
There are steps and precautions you can take to protect your children from these fraud schemes.
- Remind them not to click on any email links or pop-ups. Instead, tell them to visit the site directly.
- Tell them to never share personal information online.
- Teach them to keep their passwords private and not to share them.
- Have a pop-up blocker on their browsers.
- Tell them to only shop on trusted sites.
Reporting
If you believe you’ve encountered a scam, file a report at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/.
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