The role of financial institutions and social media
Financial institutions and social media platforms that have minors among their user base have crucial roles to play in protecting young people from the negative impacts of online scams.
Education and awareness
Financial institutions can educate young people, parents and educators on the risks of social media scams, including how to identify and avoid them. This can be done through information sessions, workshops and online resources.
Fraud detection and prevention
Financial institutions and social media platforms can implement advanced fraud detection triggers. These can proactively identify and block suspicious transactions. For example, this can include:
- using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to analyse customer behaviour to detect potential fraud;
- implementing specific keyword triggers to spot suspicious online chats involving kids.
Parental two-factor authentication (2FA)
Financial institutions can implement two-factor authentication that would require authorisation codes sent to parents’ devices for online transactions and critical data exchange involving kids to reduce the risk of fraud and phishing.
Reporting
Institutions can encourage young people to report suspicious activity or scams. They should have a kid-friendly process in place to quickly respond to and resolve reported incidents. Kids’ accounts should be prioritised for attention and quick resolution.
Collaboration
Support staff should be trained to communicate effectively with minors and promptly alert parents or law enforcement where necessary. Financial institutions can collaborate with other organisations, such as law enforcement, to share information and intelligence about social media scams. This could further improve their ability to detect fraud, prevent recurrence and mitigate the long-term impacts on kids.
Monitoring social media
Financial institutions can monitor social media platforms for suspicious activity, such as phishing attempts through parody social media accounts and fake websites, taking prompt action to shut them down.
Remember that users can forward phishing emails to [emailprotected] while texts can be forwarded to 7726. Report scam ads to the Advertising Standards Authority, and file a report with Action Fraud or the police if you’re a victim of a scam.
Provide scam alerts and warnings
Financial institutions can provide scam alerts and warnings through their website, mobile apps and social media channels to help customers stay informed about the latest threats.
Independently, users can ensure they have anti-virus software installed on their devices for immediate alerts.
