Debit Card Hack: Teaching Children How To Transact Online Safely

By | November 25, 2016

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With smart phones and tablets becoming all pervasive, piggy banks have become a thing of the past. And, not just adults, children too access online stores to pick their favourite toys or gadgets, sometimes, making payments through their parent’s Debit Cards, Credit Cards and virtual wallets. These financial transaction tools are easy to use but there are risks associated if not handled with care.

Children especially need guidance on how to avoid losses and carry out transactions safely. So, before letting your juniors use your card, it’s important that they understand that a small mistake could cost you a huge sum. Following are the few things that parents should point out before their children go online.

Ensure password security

Children have the habit of scribbling things down and they could do the same with your Debit/ Credit Card password. This could lead to misuse of your personal information. So, it’s important to tell your children to remember the password instead of making a note of it.

Activate digital alerts

In order to ensure further security, it’s important to keep track of every transaction made using your card, so do activate digital alerts for online transactions. One-time password (OTP), debit alerts and specific alerts are some such notifications that can be received on registered mobile numbers and email IDs. In case, there is a password security breach, the transaction doesn’t get completed if OTP is not keyed in.

Additional Reading: How to teach your children about money

Discourage sharing of details

It’s important for your children to understand that sharing details such as Debit Card number, CVV number, password detail, registered email detail and registered mobile number can be used against the account holder. Hackers often deceive Debit/Credit Card users to extract personal information in an attempt to steal someone’s identity.

Also, do remember that banks never ask for personal financial information through any digital medium. They usually identify customers through information such as date of birth, age, address proof etc.

Use only reliable websites

There are some merchant websites which save the Trojans and malware programs on the computer/mobile without the knowledge of the user. Parents should ensure that children transact only through websites that are authentic and safe, eliminating the chance of entering into phishing sites. Usually, websites that start with https:// are safe and the ones with http:// are not.

Tell your children to report any unusual behaviour and stop online transactions immediately.

Additional Reading: Online Shopping: Safety Checklist

Limit online spending

When you are shopping online, it’s easy to get carried away and lose track of the money you are spending or the transactions you are making. Children, in particular, may fail to verify prices and indulge in transactions leading to huge losses.  Fraud mailers on discounts and offers often lure users into shopping at unverified online websites, sometimes leading to personal information being compromised. Make sure your children stay away from such deceiving emails and, if necessary, sit with them while they make any purchase or set a budget for them so that they don’t indulge in a shopping spree.

During the initial days, make sure you monitor them while they are making transactions and educate them on the possibility of compromising personal information due to carelessness. A regular update and running of antivirus and antimalware software on the system is a must. Also, make sure you are kept in the loop about every online transaction.

With just a little care, guidance and supervision, your children will quickly learn how to transact safely online using your Debit/Credit Card.

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