Children Falling into Phisher’s Net, Putting Parents in Danger

Youngsters who use their parents' credit cards for buying online are unknowingly providing their credit card details to phishers, claimed security experts. Though parents allow their children to use their credit cards, it isn't possible to ensure that financial details are being used on safe websites.

CPP's identity fraud expert Michael Lynch attributed the cause to the ignorance of youngsters regarding the security of websites they visit for entering their parents' credit card details, as reported by JST Financial SOLUTION LTD on January 5, 2008.

Lynch observed that the online financial information and contact details they are providing can easily be exploited by phishers, either for attack or to sell the information or perpetrate a scam exploiting the financial data.

CCP's October 2008 report on Internet family scam informed that 77% of the kids used the net without any kind of supervisory control and 23% of the children made online purchases without their parents' approval. Moreover, 9% of the kids knew about the whereabouts of their parents' credit card information.

As per the UK payments association, APACS, the overall financial losses incurred in 2007 due to credit card scams went up 25% to touch £535 Million. But thanks to the British government's Chip and PIN for secured payments, losses incurred on online dealings in the UK witnessed a 67% decline from £218.8 Million in 2004 to last year's £73 Million.

Parents now have to deal with the dual challenge of permitting their kids to access the Internet and protecting them from their detrimental effects like possibilities of exposure of personal information. It is for the parents to protect their kids from the threats of cyber criminals, phishers, child pornography and other risks to their security, confidentiality and personal growth.

Moreover, a recent study shows that over 50% adolescents disclose a great deal about themselves over the net. A study of 500 18-year old youngsters in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine revealed that above 90% of teenagers access the Internet and nearly 50% of them visit social networking websites, like Facebook and MySpace.

Related article: Calderdale Councilor Becomes Victim of Online Scam

» SPAMfighter News - 1/12/2009