You might think that your children are simply playing an innocent game of Fortnite, but Angelique Ruzicka warns that this could expose them to gaming fraudsters keen on stealing from your family.

Allowing your children to play online games behind a closed bedroom door is often a relief for stressed parents. Finally, some peace and quiet!

But while your kids are engaging in some seemingly innocent gaming, along with a bit of online chatting, they could be falling prey to fraudsters.

Carey van Vlaanderen, CEO of cybersecurity firm ESET Southern Africa, warns that fraudsters may become ‘friends’ with your children or may even impersonate someone that your children know and trust. This may lead to your children sharing personal information like logins, passwords, your home address and perhaps even details of when you’re not at home.

“Gaming fraudsters usually send an email to players asking them to confirm their login information and password to gain access to their gaming accounts. Children tend to trust easily, which then leads them to share personal information such as their age, full name, location, and financial details,” says van Vlaanderen.

Why children accept strangers online

Sharon Knowles, CEO of Da Vinci Cybersecurity, highlights that gaming fraud has increased dramatically and that cybercriminals are increasingly targeting the gaming business as a convenient way to obtain credit card information.

It’s not uncommon for parents to give children access to their bank account details to buy accessories for their avatars, boost their in-game currency or buy passes. But this is where these personal financial details become vulnerable to account takeovers (ATO), payment card fraud, denial of service (DoS) and local cyber attacks.

Sadly, many children are not aware that they’re not playing with others of a similar age. Knowles adds: “Criminals target their attacks using pre-existing stolen identifications in a method known as ‘credential stuffing,’ allowing them to make rich gains.”

To gain kids’ trust, scammers may even initially buy children free virtual gifts or tell them about special editions or limited-time offers.

But after scammers get what they want, that’s when things can turn ugly. “Children accept requests to play with and compete with strangers because they think that these “strangers” are the same age and are there to play. The cases we have been exposed to are where children have befriended and accepted friend requests on platforms which have resulted in bullying, hacking and fraud,” says Knowles.

Protecting your family from gaming fraudsters

So, in a complex world of online gaming, how do you prevent your child from falling victim to online fraudsters? Here are a few tactics to adopt to ensure your family’s safety.

• Set up the account yourself. If you set up your child’s account on a gaming platform, you can enable privacy and parental settings.
• Protect your account. Use a strong password, enable two factor authentication, and make use of antivirus software. Knowles recommends using a strong password that isn’t personal – the longer the better.
• Set rules and don’t let children play unsupervised. Knowles says scammers will often give themselves away by the way they talk, ‘trying to sound hip’. Set boundaries and rules about playing the game, implement time limits, and give kids guidelines on who they accept as “friends”.
• Educate children about keeping personal info private. Explain to your children why it’s important not to share personal information, and constantly remind them not to share any personal information with others, regardless of whether they consider the other players to be friends or not.
• Investigate before making purchases. British bank Lloyds Bank recommends checking if websites are backlisted on https://sitechecker.pro/blacklist-checker/and only making card payments through sites that offer consumer protection.
• Delink your bank details from online accounts. Some websites and games allow you to store your card details – don’t accept this offer.

This article first appeared in City Press.