The expert warned about the hidden influence of scammers on children

Attackers are increasingly using social engineering tools to imperceptibly influence children through their emotions, warned Anastasia Hveschenik, product manager of Solar WebProxy at Solar Group.

Pressure of the room: how scammers force victims to call them back

People tend to trust their interlocutor more when they have contacted him themselves, experts warn.

According to her, scammers analyze posts, reposts, photos, friends, music, social connections, and even the way children play to understand weaknesses. Then they use the usual channels — e-mail, social media, SMS or calls for emotional impact, which children endure more than adults, as they are not always capable of critical analysis.

"The key point is dealing with emotions: children are easily susceptible to outbursts, which makes them ideal victims for covert influence. Scammers are developing methods by combining psychological techniques with new technologies: they create deepfakes, spread fake broadcasts with "practical jokes" in popular messengers and chat rooms, or lure them with promises of "easy earnings" on the Internet," Khveschenik said.

According to the expert, scammers hunt for parents' money, personal data and sensitive information, which they then use against the family or even organizations.

"The most serious consequences are blackmail and cyberbullying, like leaking photos from a party, which causes deep psychological trauma. Parents should monitor their children's online activity, explain the risks and use protective tools to prevent such scenarios," the expert concluded.

In the two weeks of September, 1.4 billion attempts by children to switch to malicious resources were blocked in Russia.

Read more in the Izvestia article:

"School squall: hackers targeted teenagers at the beginning of the school year"