Sweet traps from free games
After a few days off, Ms. Ta Thi Tra (Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi) and her husband discovered that their e-wallet account had a sudden deduction of 1.5 million VND. It turns out that the cause originated from the 9-year-old son himself.
"I play games on my father's phone. See a link to receive free items should follow. Finally, enter an OTP code to confirm without knowing that you are unlocking the payment transaction online. After that incident, my husband contacted the bank to temporarily lock his account because he was worried that his child's providing a money transfer OTP could leave negative consequences later" - Ms. Tra recounted.
A similar situation also happened to Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh (Bac Giang) when his son was lured by a stranger online to join the chat group "Where Children's gamers converge" and gradually approached offensive content through depositing money to unlock. However, Mr. Thanh promptly discovered it through checking the history of device access.
According to Lao Dong, recently, many parents have reported that their children have been lured into downloading applications, depositing games, and even providing personal information and sensitive images in the form of "happy challenges" and "turning videos to receive rewards".
Scammers take advantage of children's need to play, curiosity and lack of understanding about digital safety to carry out their behavior. Forged links, famous game interface fake applications, friend requests with freecode... are all designed to make children fall into the trap.
Need to establish a "cyber safety zone" for children
According to Mr. Vu Thanh Thang - Senior Director of AI (CAIO) of SCS Cyber Security Joint Stock Company, current scammers are no longer only targeting adults but have shifted to children, especially in the summer when children have a lot of free time and are less supervised.
"The subjects exploit curiosity, rewards in games or use familiar scenarios such as receiving gifts, spinning prizes, participating in closed groups... If the device that the child uses has information or a link to the parent's account, the risk of losing money is very high" - Mr. Thang said.
SCS's senior AI director recommends that parents do not save payment information on their devices, remove bank cards from applications, turn off the one-touch payment feature and set a 2-step authentication when making money transfers.
In addition, it is necessary to install content control software such as Google Family Link, Kaspersky Safe Kids or applications from domestic carrier to limit the time of use and block access to bad content. At the same time, always monitor the applications that children download to their devices; periodically check the software that children are using, view access rights and remove any unusual signs.
"Teach children to refuse strange links, not to share private photos and videos, and not to trust strangers online even when they are talking very friendly. Along with that, playing games with children and watching videos with them not only helps connect feelings but is also a way to teach children to distinguish between right and wrong in the digital environment" - Mr. Thang emphasized.
The senior AI director of SCS said that in the context of many families having to work all day, smart devices are becoming the reluctant "caretaker" of children. However, no technology is safe enough if parents entrust everything without control.
Social networks and online games are not bad, but if children are used incorrectly and without instructions, the consequences will be unpredictable. This responsibility belongs to adults. A safe and healthy summer is not only about where children can go out and study, but more importantly, children can use technology properly so as not to be attracted or hurt by the trapsprepared with just one click" - Mr. Thang shared.
