Keeping Your Family Safe Online
October 14, 2010, By Jean Scheid 0 comments
According to anti-virus software maker Trend Micro, child identity theft is real and accounts for almost 10 percent of online fraud. Armed with a social security number, hackers can do quite a bit – such as obtain unemployment funds, apply for a job and even attempt to obtain a credit card. It’s easier to find out a child’s social security number than you think, too. If cyber criminals have dates and places of birth, they can and will be able to get that wanted social security number.
Worse, if your children’s personal information is stolen, they might not discover the theft until much later in life when they are ready for student loans or other credit opportunities as young adults.
Here are some best practices for making sure you and your family keep private information offline:
- Posting – Talk with your kids and your spouse about posting anything on social networking sites. Sure it’s OK to post a new baby’s birth, but revealing the place, exact date and other intimate details are things mischief makers love to get their hands on.
- Online Games – With all the free online games available, especially for kids, beware of offering up too much information like a child’s true e-mail address, location and name. Create a modified profile that doesn’t reveal your child’s true identity.
- Invest in Security – Find out about firewalls and teach your entire family how important it is to log out and turn off computers when not in use.
- Snail Mail Offers – All of us are inundated with offers of life insurance and other opportunities for our kids through snail mail. Often these pre-printed forms already contain our children’s names. Instead of tossing them into the recycling bin, shred them first so if they can’t be stolen and used for online fraud or identity theft.
- Take a Family Class – See if your local community college or community center offers a class on Internet privacy and security. Sometimes, it takes a non-family member or teacher to present the real threat of identity theft so your kids will pay attention.
