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Identity Theft, Teen Style
Using the Internet to Cause Emotional Harm
By Keath Castelloe Low
Most preteens and teens use the Internet for entertainment. They have fun playing games, networking with friends and using the vast array of information to learn about the world around them. Unfortunately for some, entertainment means stealing passwords, hacking into accounts or creating fake accounts in order to assume another person's identity and cause harm. Once an account is compromised, the victim's name may be used to post embarrassing or hurtful information, including personal slurs, derogatory racial or religious statements, physical threats and even terrorist threats. This type of online identity theft is a growing concern for parents. With the recent rise of social networking Web sites targeting an even younger crowd, our 7- to 10-year-old children are also finding themselves victim to this practice.
"My 10-year-old son was recently the victim of identity theft twice, yet no social security card or bank accounts were involved," says Sara* of Pittsburgh, Pa. "Rather, my son's Webkinz.com and Clubpenguin.com accounts were compromised. On the first site, a baseball room that my son had painstakingly created with points earned from playing had been stripped bare. His account was robbed of all 'monies.' On the second site, things took a sinister turn. My son was banned for supposedly walking into a public room and announcing an expletive. Still, we're fairly unscathed."
This example is obviously on the milder side of identity theft, yet it is still a concern. As parents, we assume our children are safe from identity theft, but it has become a more common occurrence even on sites as innocuous as Webkinz and Clubpenguin!