Safer Internet Day 2019 – Ongoing Vbucks Scam

This Safer Internet Day we wanted to put something out there as a quick reminder of some of the things that are going on in this weird and wonderful digital world that our children are spending a lot of time in. The Fortnite Vbucks scam has been going on for quite some time now. Not quite as long as the Nigerian royalty one – where we all have been left hundreds of millions of dollars by a long lost relative we never knew about. But a few months at least.

So why post about it now?

Well, much like the Nigerian scam, the only reason those emails and communications are still being sent are because people are still falling for it and clicking the links, giving too much of their personal information to strangers, and then paying the price, with maxed out credit cards, emptied bank accounts and of course identity theft.

Fortnite

As you may well know (or not) Fortnite is the gaming sensation that has gripped children, young people and adults alike. Due to its addictive gameplay and simple format, it is causing problems in households all over the UAE and globally, to the point where we are hearing reports of young people wetting themselves rather than getting up and using the bathroom. The game is just too important.

They don’t want to;
– lose
– let their teammates down
– miss out on anything gameplay or chat wise
– miss the opportunity to level up
– miss the opportunity to win vbucks
– do anything else and become almost ‘feral’ if their technology is taken away from them.

Having spoken at a few schools this year – it’s been great to communicate some of the issues with the students, parents and teachers of Jumeira Baccalaureate School, Nord Anglia International School, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi and Ranches Primary in January alone. But what we have seen is that as effective and impactful as the sessions are at the time. Once they leave the auditorium and life takes over, some of the messaging is quickly forgotten.

The main issue with this being that it only takes a second of not consciously thinking about what we are doing and we’ve pressed on the spoofed URL that has now installed malware on our device and is monitoring our activity, keystrokes and movement.

Awareness of what is happening is key to combatting this, so if you are reading this and see value, please do share the post, or head over to our social media channels – Twitter Or Facebook – where you’ll find plenty of content to share with other parents/teacher/children and young people. Thank you.