Virtual Games and Social Media: How Scammers Target Children and Teens Online

Major bank Santander warns of growing scams targeting children and teens through gaming platforms and social media. Scammers build trust relationships before extracting personal information, with AI technology making fake profiles and voice cloning increasingly sophisticated. Parent-child dialogue and ongoing digital education are highlighted as the most effective defense measures.

How the Scam Works: Building Trust Gradually

Digital fraud targeting children and teens doesn't always begin with money transfer demands, suspicious links, or fake financial institution messages. Instead, scammers often approach through innocent-seeming conversations in gaming chats, new friendships on social media, or attractive offers within gaming platforms.

Scammers invest time in building trust relationships, collecting personal information along the way. Initially, they use appealing offers like "let's be friends," "I'll send you gifts," or "I know how to give you gaming advantages." As conversations progress, questions become more probing. Critically, collected information may be used to gain access to parents and guardians.

New Threats from AI Technology

AI advancement has made scam messages, images, audio, and profiles increasingly realistic and personalized. Deepfake technology and voice cloning now enable criminals to impersonate trusted people—family members or friends—to fabricate emergencies or make urgent demands.

With fewer language errors and greater communication authenticity, children find it increasingly difficult to distinguish real from fake interactions.

Why Children Are Vulnerable

Children and teens are particularly susceptible to social engineering attacks for several reasons:

Developing Risk Assessment: They lack the mature ability to identify danger signals
Limited Pressure Resistance: They haven't fully developed strategies to counter social pressure
Higher Trust Tendency: They're more inclined to believe others than adults
Fear of Missing Out: They're vulnerable to threats of exclusion or lost opportunities

Scams targeting younger children typically use simple, playful tactics—game characters, toys, prizes. Scams targeting teens exploit emotional and social vulnerabilities: group pressure, blackmail, fake romantic relationships, fear of social reputation damage, online challenges, and coercive demands for images.

Specific Gaming Platform Tactics

The gaming environment itself serves as cover for fraud. Scammers join in-game chats and communities, starting seemingly natural conversations during matches. They then escalate through:

Exploiting bullying situations
Offering virtual item trades
Promising exclusive rewards
Pushing conversations to private channels outside the game

Specific Social Media Tactics

On social media platforms, scammers employ:

Creating multiple fake profiles
Using viral content to initiate contact
Rapidly building intimacy through private messages
Gradually extracting personal information through trust

Five Critical Warning Signs

Requests for Secrecy ("Don't tell anyone"): Conversations requiring secrecy from trusted adults are classic fraud indicators
Excessive Urgency: Pressure like "do this now or you'll lose it" or "respond immediately" creates artificial time pressure
Promised Rewards: Gifts, money, game items, or special opportunities offered in exchange for information, images, or actions
Sudden Behavioral Changes: Fear, anxiety, social withdrawal, altered phone usage patterns, or excessive worry about specific conversations
Pressure to Leave the Platform: Repeated insistence on moving conversations from games or social media to private apps or other channels

What Parents Can Do

Continuous parent-child dialogue and digital education are more effective than technology alone:

Review Privacy Settings: Limit the scope of public personal information
Manage Contacts: Know who your child is connecting with
Disable Unnecessary Interactions: Block messages and requests from unverified users
Establish Clear Rules: "Any strange, urgent, or secret requests should be discussed with a trusted adult"
Teach Blocking and Reporting: Teach children to immediately stop, block, and report uncomfortable interactions

Where to Get Help and Information

Educational platforms like Santander Kids & Teens provide age-appropriate learning about data protection, account and device security, and scam identification. If a child experiences uncomfortable contact or suspects fraud, speaking with a trusted adult is the most important first step.