From fantastic prices on branded products to part-time employment that seems too good to be true, here are five popular tactics used by hackers to fool youngsters and steal their money or sensitive personal information.
Most teenagers, while not as easy to manage as small children, can be swayed at some time by a variety of external stimuli. You’ve probably experienced the various ups and downs that life as a teenager has to offer, and it’s easy to admit that, especially if digital manipulation is extremely expertly managed, it can occasionally fall prey to ignorance. His trust in the goodness of people, as well as his innocence and youthful inexperience, make him a viable target for unscrupulous fraudsters looking to steal their money or personal data.
We will outline several popular scams that target minors and briefly highlight what features of them should be avoided. If you are a parent, we encourage you to share these internet safety guidelines with your children.
Scams on social networks
Given that social networks are the digital leisure destination of choice for the majority of kids, it is reasonable for hackers to want to target them where they spend the majority of their time. There is no standard model for social media scams because they come in a range of shapes and sizes. Some of the most popular dangerous approaches are given as web links (which appear doubtful at first glance) to tabloid articles with alarming headlines about young people’s favorite celebrities. Yet, a simple click on such a link would most likely lead you to a malicious web destination.
Alternatively, virtual scammers can contact their victims via direct messages sent on social networks, which contain offers to participate in contests or raffles, but the shared link will redirect the teenager to a fraudulent website that will either infect your device with malware, or attempt to exploit sensitive data through social engineering techniques, and more.
Super promotions with luxury products
Another typical internet fraud that spreads, sometimes through phony ads placed on social networks, involves offers to sell luxury goods at unreasonably low prices. To make the promises tempting to youngsters, scammers try to provide strong brands and commodities, such as limited-edition sports shoes that are normally too expensive for their budget, and branded apparel that is difficult to come by on a paycheck. regular or traditional offering of bogus retailers selling Ray-Ban imitations
The scam involves constructing a false sales site that advertises a large choice of such things. However, after you complete the transaction, you will either receive a clone product of doubtful quality or nothing at all. In the worst-case scenario, thieves will drain your bank funds if you supply your credit card details.
School scholarship scams
Teenagers are worried about another essential stage in life as high school graduation approaches: acquiring a university degree. As a result, looking for scholarships that would pay, at least in part, tuition prices is becoming a vital step. Scammers attempt to deceive students seeking financial assistance by generating bogus scholarships in a variety of formats.
Fake scholarship programs, for example, submitted by internet criminals, may frequently require the applicant to pay a “registration fee” in the real context where there is no such scholarship, and the fraudster would obviously receive the amount. Alternatively, the scam may take the shape of a scholarship raffle, in which the “fortunate winner” will be required to pay either a “processing charge” or an “expense payment fee,” underlining the tax charges required to give the scholarship, but the conclusion will remain the same.
Scams with great job offers
Becoming a teenager entails a wide range of hobbies, from attending concerts and traveling to being a sneakerhead or a fashionista. It’s not easy to do when you’re young, especially when you can’t cover everything with the money you get from your parents. As a result, you may be inclined to hunt for a part-time job to pay for your natural pastime expenses at some point.
Cybercriminals manufacture bogus employment offers that sound too good to be true in order to target these youthful job seekers. Criminals frequently publish bogus job postings on genuine websites, usually offering part-time positions that allow you to work from home and earn a good living. The ultimate purpose, however, is to profile such young targets in order to get as much personal information as possible, which will then be used in different unlawful actions, such as opening bank accounts on behalf of victims or using their identities for document forgeries.
Romantic catfish scams
The search for romance, like so many other things in the digital age, has readily made the leap to the internet environment, and online dating platforms have become hunting grounds for new species of romantic fraudsters. Cybercriminals, on the other hand, are not limited to dating sites; they frequently explore social media for possible victims and approach them via private messaging.
The fraud usually entails creating a phony persona that the intended victim finds appealing. The scammer will then continue to say all of the pleasant things that must be stated in order to achieve his ultimate goal of getting large sums of money. Unfortunately, some hackers use really nasty tactics, such as convincing victims to provide nude images, then blackmailing them with money transfers, refusing to give damning images to loved ones, or refusing to publish them on the victim’s social network.
How to protect yourself
While teen scams are becoming increasingly common in direct proportion to the amount of time they spend online, there are measures for them to protect themselves:
If you come across a job offer that seems very appealing but you have any reservations, conduct a thorough Internet search of the organization to determine if the lack of information, or, on the contrary, the details obtained, point to something suspicious. Also, keep in mind that you should only disclose personal information for compensation purposes after you have been hired.
One of the internet’s golden principles is that “if an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is.” So, if you come across a limited edition pair of Jordan sneakers for a price that is significantly lower than the market price, it is almost always a hoax. If you are still interested in that deal, thoroughly inspect your web provider to see if anything strange emerges.
You should be cautious if you receive an unsolicited message from someone you don’t know, especially if it includes a dubious offer or an unexpected link. In any event, ignoring the notice is the best course of action. You should never click on a link sent to you by someone you do not know.
If a stranger tries to make online contact with you and only a few days later begins to declare his eternal love for you, it should appear unusual. A quick reverse image search of that person’s image should reveal whether or not it impersonates someone else.