Mobile Premier League (MPL), a popular gaming platform, has warned parents about gaming scams targeting children, claiming that cybercriminals exploit their innocence for financial gain. The platform warns that younger people are more vulnerable to these scams, as they are less able to distinguish between real and imaginary experiences. Cybercriminals may exploit personal information to commit identity theft, access bank accounts, or engage in online harassment and cyberbullying. Malware infections can also compromise device security, further exposing children to further risks.
Policy analyst Alex Ambrose from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) explains that children may confuse fictional immersive experiences with real ones, a normal part of their cognitive and emotional development. Kimberly Sutherland, vice president of fraud and identity strategy at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, adds that scammers target kids for various reasons, including accessing parents' information or engaging in online sex crime and predatory activities.
Seven Million Strikes
Cybersecurity company Kaspersky reported a 57% increase in attempted attacks in 2022 relating to popular children's games, with over seven million detected. The top children's games targeted included Poppy Playtime and Toca Life World, designed for three to eight-year-olds. Concerns are raised that children may prefer to communicate with strangers on gaming platforms rather than social media. Unmoderated voice and text chats in some games can be a significant part of the experience, allowing criminals to build trust virtually. Once a victim gains trust, cybercriminals can obtain their personal information, suggest clicking on phishing links, downloading malicious files disguised as game mods, or grooming them for nefarious purposes.
Sutherland noted that trust is the ultimate target, and grooming often begins with grooming. Both children and adults are targeted on social media sites where people share information. Fake information, such as fake profiles and photos, can be used to present themselves, making the relationship between the victim and the fraudster similar for both.
How Parents Can Guard Their Children Against Online Gambling Scams
Developers must balance creating compelling and entertaining games with considering children's best interests. The video game industry has introduced measures to minimize the negative effects of gambling-like mechanics, such as loot boxes, such as setting spending limits for underage accounts to $0 by default, disclosing every item included in a loot box's pool alongside its drop rate, and imposing hourly and daily limits on purchases of loot boxes by individual users. Immersive games, such as AR/VR experiences, are expected to support betting apps, causing children to interact with these platforms and potentially experience gambling-like situations and behaviors.
The MPL report recommends parents to enable parental controls and restrict in-app purchases to prevent unauthorized spending. Educate children about safe online practices, monitor gaming activities regularly, and encourage them to report suspicious activities or requests for personal information immediately. Limiting online access with most children is the best approach, as it allows parents to monitor usage and access and limit children's access to safe places online, such as age-appropriate gaming and social media sites. Setting clear boundaries, limiting screen time, and ensuring children are on age-appropriate platforms and playing age-appropriate games are crucial.
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