The National News of Australia and New Zealand released a story that will strike fear in the hearts of any parent, and will leave those parents scrambling to get computer help and protect their children. While this story happened in New Zealand and doesn’t seem to be a new fad or problem, this is just a reminder of what could happen with kids anywhere.
The Story
According to the National News, a 13-year-old boy was playing Minecraft regularly. This social game is very popular among kids and apparently is a feeding ground for hackers and scam artists as well. In this case, the boy played regularly with someone else he assumed was from New Zealand. Soon, the boy and the anonymous player got into an argument and stopped playing together. That’s when the unthinkable happened.
It seems the person had coaxed the teenager into using public forums, open networks, and other things that made it very easy for hacks. Soon, the person had the family phone number, address, credit card numbers, and more. Not only did he post this information on the web, but also he used the credit cards to make fraudulent charges. The problems didn’t stop there either. The stranger used the family credit card to actually attempt to Skype with the teenager, leaving the child and his parents afraid that they were being threatened.
All of this led to the family needing to cancel their credit cards, seek computer support for their system, and change their phone numbers.
Is the Problem Minecraft?
This game is considered to be one of the top five most popular games for kids and teens throughout the world. It has millions of users and is considered fairly safe. The problem, in this incident, was not the game itself. Instead, it was the vulnerability of a child playing the game with an adult who happened to be lying.
It is extremely important that parents monitor their child’s use of the Internet and help them understand how to stay off public servers. A computer repair company or support company will help any parent understand how to have their kid play on a private server for this reason.
Additionally, parents should have a talk with their children. Kids don’t always fully understand the dangers of the Internet and they may be completely unaware that people will lie. Parents should take the time to explain to their children that they should not interact with strangers and definitely should not give sensitive information to those people. It’s easy for anyone to lie on the Internet and present themselves as someone they are not. So, it is the parents’ job to explain this to children and teens.
This story out of New Zealand may never happen to a child in the United States, but the risk is always there when kids use the Internet in any way. Computer help companies can ensure that your system is set up with security measures to protect your children from dangers online. If you want to safeguard your system with as many possible measures available, or if you think that a hacker has access to your computer, then contact computer-help.com today.