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In today's increasingly complex digital age, it's crucial for parents and teachers to educate children about the dangers lurking online, especially phishing attacks (most commonly, phishing emails). Here’s what you need to know and teach your child or class about these scams.
What Is Phishing?
Phishing is a threat to cybersecurity that involves tricking individuals into revealing personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers, through deceptive emails or messages.
Where Are Kids Likely to Encounter Phishing Scams and How Do They Work?
Phishing attempts often come in the guise of emails or messages from seemingly trustworthy sources, requesting urgent action or personal information. It’s important to teach kids to question the legitimacy of unexpected communications, especially those that ask for sensitive information. Phishing scams can spread not only through emails, but also through social media and gaming platforms. This means no digital platform is entirely safe for unsuspecting children.
Common Signs of Phishing
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) outlines several indicators of phishing attempts that children should be aware of:
Spelling and grammar mistakes. Official communications rarely have errors, so typos can be a red flag. From the 1990s onward, phishing emails have been relatively easy to identify by their nonstandard use of English and business writing conventions. Today, however, scammers can use AI to create more polished phishing messages, so it’s best to spot these using multiple tests and strategies.
Urgency claims. Scammers often create a sense of urgency, pressuring the recipient to act quickly.
Suspicious links. Teach children to hover over links (without clicking) to see if the address looks legitimate.
Requests for personal information. Legitimate organizations usually do not ask for sensitive information via email, so be wary of any messages that do.
Strategies to Avoid Phishing
Some key steps for avoiding phishing scams include the following:
Think before clicking. Encourage kids to pause and think critically about the legitimacy of an email or message before clicking on any links in it or interacting with it in any way.
Verify the source. If in doubt, contact the organization the message sender claims to be representing directly through its official channels and websites. Do this using a separate search of your own, not through the contact information provided in a suspicious message.
Use security software. Installing and maintaining updated security software can provide an additional layer of protection against phishing attacks.
Creating a Safe Digital Environment
It’s also important to create a secure computer environment for children. This involves using security software, setting up appropriate parental controls, and keeping the computer's operating system, browser, and other software up to date to defend against malware that might stem from phishing attempts.
Teach Kids About Internet Safety With Net Positive
The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Utah County is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, caring, and responsible citizens and leaders. We accomplish this by providing evidence-based programs with a focus on those that improve academic engagement, build character, and promote healthy behaviors.
Our Net Positive Program educates K-12 students about digital safety, health, citizenship, and leadership. After participating in our program, students are 97% better prepared to face internet dangers. Contact us to learn more and ask your school to schedule a Net Positive Presentation today!
References
How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams. (2022, September). Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice. Retrieved February 28, 2024, from https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams
NSA official warns of hackers using AI to perfect their English for phishing schemes. (2024, January 9). NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/nsa-hacker-ai-bot-chat-chatgpt-bard-english-google-openai-rcna133086
Price, G. (2023, October 29). Keeping kids safe: What are phishing and ransomware? Internet Matters. https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/expert-opinion/phishing-and-ransomware/