Learn how cybercriminals can use children's data to commit scams. They take advantage of “clean names.”
Did you know that even if your child doesn't have a cell phone, they can be victims of cybercriminals? Unfortunately, child identity theft is more common than we think. Children become vulnerable on the internet not only as victims of pedophilia, but hackers also use their data to commit financial and other scams.
Nearly one million children were victims of identity theft scams in the US in 2022, according to data from a survey by digital finance consultancy Javelin. Each of the scams costs an average of US$1,128, or about R$5,700 per family, with US$1,752, or R$3,800 for the fraud itself and US$1,376, or R$1,900 out of pocket to resolve the problem. The damage caused to the country is US$1,128, or about R$5,700 per year.
In Brazil, the organizations Instituto Alana and InternetLab produced the report “Children’s Right to Privacy”. Among other issues, it warns of the danger of Brazilian children and adolescents being exposed to the collection of biometric data without their knowledge. This collection can occur in public services, such as hospitals and transportation.
Learn more about this problem now and learn how to protect your children from this practice.
Why are children targeted?
The children are more vulnerable and interesting targets for criminals than many adults. This is because their credit history is clean, as they do not have debts or negative financial information associated with their names, making them attractive victims.
According to Eset's information security specialist, Daniel Barbosa, it is possible to obtain information about children in different ways: by accessing databases from schools and medical institutions, exploring social networks or obtaining data directly from parents.
According to him, when malicious agents access the data, they can create fake profiles in the name of children, open bank accounts, apply for credit cards or carry out other fraudulent activities. This makes the data of younger people more interesting, making it possible to commit fraud for much longer before the owner realizes it.
This means that the scams used tend to affect environments where children do not have much contact, such as financial and credit platforms. As a result, they may grow up without knowing that their identities have been compromised.
If not detected quickly, this can lead to significant problems when children reach adulthood and try to apply for jobs or access financial services.
Other techniques used against children
To obtain information, scammers can also target parents by sending phishing emails. These emails involve sending fake baits posing as a reputable company or person, convincing victims to provide data or perform actions that facilitate the attacks. The emails arrive disguised as school communications or trustworthy organizations, requesting personal information from children.
Other formats of blows These are SMSshings, a phishing scam using text messages, and shoulder surfing, where the criminal obtains information through the cell phone screen, over the victim's shoulder.
Other forms include the theft or robbery of physical documents, monitoring of information published by parents on social media and attacks on companies that usually hold large amounts of data, such as schools and daycare centers.
How to protect children
It is ideal for parents to talk to their children and inform them that it is necessary to protect information, so that they do not pass on their personal data to anyone. In addition, it is ideal for parents to use parental control resources, monitoring what their children access on the internet. Two-factor authentication is also important, preventing data from being accessed, especially on WhatsApp.
It is also important for parents to monitor credit accounts, regularly check whether the child's documents are being used in any way, be suspicious of suspicious communications, keep the cell phone's operating system always updated and install antivirus software on the cell phones that the child accesses.
*With information from Terra
