Are you ready for Joe, Sophia and friends Online Safety Test?
Test your online (and offline) safety knowledge with some questions from Joe, Sophia and their friends.
1. Do You Think You Have Something Valuable To Steal?
YES! more than 1 million children become victims of identity theft or fraud each and every year. Two-thirds of those victims are age 7 or younger. Six in 10 child victims personally know the perpetrator - more often than not it is a family member. A child’s identity is the most valuable to cyber criminals because they don’t have a bank account or financial history - they pretty much have a “blank slate” that doesn’t draw too much attention when fraudulent accounts are opened on their behalf.
What Are The Chances You Will Get Hacked?
Dixie D’Amelio’s account was hacked and deleted. She had over 46 million followers on TikTok! Following the hack she wrote: “I guess dixie123 was a bad password.” I don’t know if this was her actual password or she was just kidding, but many teenagers are still in the mindset that no one will hack them. Even when they have millions of followers… Unfortunately, cybercrime is rapidly growing and the chances of getting hacked are high. Among notified breach victims last year, 39 percent of minors became victims of fraud, versus 19 percent of adults.
3. Do You Accept Friend/Follower Requests On Social Media From Strangers?
Your friends online may not be who you think they are. Talking to someone in person isn’t the same as Online, they may have been hacked. A few things to look out for when you get a friend request. Do you have common friends? The amount of followers vs following? If the number of “following” is significantly more than “followers”, this usually means it’s a fake account. Are there any inappropriate pictures? Do you share the same interest? Scammers can create social media accounts with the same name and thumbnail of your favorite YouTuber... Can you spot the difference between the Real Account and the Fake Account? Apparently YouTube and many other social media platforms allow duplicate user names and thumbnails. So obviously scammers take advantage of that to post phishing links. Phishing links are everywhere... not just emails. YouTubers are today's celebrities and kids will easily click on a "suggestion" made by a YouTuber they follow... That is why raising security awareness is so important.
4. Have You Ever Received A Scam Message On Social Media?
If you taught your kid not to take candy from strangers, you should also teach them not to accept free game tokens from people online. Many scammers offer freebies such as v-bucks, free skins, followers, and so on... remember there are no free gifts. If you are offered something for free, then most likely it is a scam.
5. Do You Know Any Kids Who Hacked Other People?
Some kids hack for fun, ego, money, boredom, or just to see how far they can go. Reinforce that hacking is illegal and although it may seem fun to some, the impact of getting caught or losing your identity can be a life-changing moment.
6. Do You Know Of Kids Who Have Sent Inappropriate Pictures Of Themselves Or Others?
Inform or remind the kids that sending or receiving inappropriate pictures is against the law. This is considered child pornography and even kids could end up registered as sex offenders.
7. Do You Chat With Others While Gaming?
You will be surprised but many apps have chat built into them, even apps like Roblox or others that are very popular among younger kids.
8. Do You Know Gamers Who Use Cheats? Is That Hacking?
a) Sometimes cheats can come with extras, like viruses, and can be used to steal your information and or identity. b) If the cheat provides a gamer with something that should normally be paid for, then it is unethical and possibly illegal.
9. If kids do something online that isn’t safe, they will get in trouble
We all make mistakes. Tell a safe adult about what happened. An adult’s job is to help keep kids safe.
10. If You Think You Are Being Hacked Or Scammed Should You Report It? And To Who?
It is not okay for someone to get mad at you when you set your limits. People should respect your answer. Don’t respond and log off. Save the message. Talk to a safe adult about what happened.