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Better Business Bureau of Southeast Texas gives tips on protecting children from social media scams

Those quizzes and surveys that pop up on your social media feed seem fun and harmless, but they can cost you personal information and even money.

BEAUMONT, Texas — The Better Business Bureau in Southeast Texas is sending a warning out to parents on how to protect children and teens from identity theft.

Those quizzes and surveys that pop up on your social media feed seem fun and harmless, but they can cost you personal information and even money.

The advice that the BBB is giving on the issue is to always think twice before giving out any personal information and talking to kids about what could happen if their information is stolen.

The BBB says that one important way in keeping children safe is being aware what social media platforms they frequent.

President and CEO of the BBB in Southeast Texas Liz Fredrichs says keeping tabs on the amount of their social media engagement can give parents an idea of where they're spending the bulk of their time on online.

"I would definitely make sure that you're monitoring the privacy settings, if they're on social media. And then I think this is making sure you're having conversations with your children on a regular basis about what they're seeing on social media and to be very cautious for anyone that contacts them," she said. 

There are certain organizations that offer helpful information, including how privacy settings work. 

  • Internet Keep Safe CoalitioniKeepSafe certifies technology used by children and in educational settings with qualified experts. We help vendors meet the complicated and demanding standards of compliance required by federal and state laws, so they can sell their technology with full confidence and protection. iKeepSafe is driven to improve transparency around student data privacy.
  • Savvy Cyber Kids- Since 2007, Savvy Cyber Kids has been helping parents and teachers educate children in cyber safety, cyber ethics and other aspects of their daily tech lives. Savvy Cyber Kids offers a platform of FREE educational resources for preschool through high school students in two tracks: one for families, and one for educators.
  • I-Safe EnterprisesISAFE is an industry leader who understands the interrelatedness of data, belonging to minors,  and the navigation to ensure privacy and security in this new disruptive COVID  environment.  We provide cloud-based services for identity management, cyber security and e-Safety instructional programming for  educational and commercial organizations. 

They say, if it feels like you're giving away too much information, you probably are. 

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