Do you have a child, teenager or pre-teen aged 8 to 14? In this age group, more than 8 out of 10 use at least one social network, primarily TikTok, ahead of WhatsApp, Snapchat, Fortnite and Instagram. Whether through these networks or by SMS via a personal phone, a third of children and teenagers have been the target of a scam.
Today, 82% of children aged 8 to 14 say they use at least one social network, announces the French Banking Federation (FBF), revealing the results of a survey (1) commissioned from the Harris Interactive Institute on the occasion of the operation I invite 1 banker in my class, 8th of the name. At the top of the networks: TikTok (50% of children aged 8 to 14 use or consult it), Whatsapp (46%), Snapchat (44%), Fortnite (41%), Instagram (37%), Facebook (36 %), Vinted and Leboncoin (33%), etc.
If the first incentives to purchase come from things owned by friends, the advertisements seen on television, the content of social networks, things used by influencers make more than one child or teenager in two want to buy.
One out of two targeted children needs an adult to thwart the scam
But social networks and the use of mobile phones also expose these children, pre-teens and teenagers to scams. By SMS36% of children aged 8 to 14 surveyed say they have already received a message that looks like a scam.
Good news: only 4% of these children have been tricked. But for 17% of these children (ie one in two teenagers targeted), they had to ask for help to avoid being scammed. The proportions are generally the same for scams by instant message on a social network (Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Tiktok, etc.): 5% have already been tricked, and 32% believe they have already been targeted.
Another method used by fraudsters is second-hand shopping sites. Indeed, a small majority of children (55%) indicate that they have already made a purchase on the Internet. In the vast majority of cases with the help of an adult. The age of the first purchase on the Internet? 10 and a half years, on average.
However, the sale or purchase of objects by Vinted or Leboncoin, among others, expose them to scams: Children are directly affected by scams on the Internet, for those who buy or sell online: about 40% have already had an attempt, and about 1 in 10 have not detected it.
Pocket money: what purchases? For what amounts?
Children who have already made purchases say they make two purchases per month on average, a frequency that remains significantly higher among 13-14 year olds, reports the Harris Interactive Institute.
What? Sweets (37% of those who say they buy things with their money), toys (33%), video games (31%), books (30%), shoes (29%), etc. A purchase seems cheap to them below the bar of 11 euros, a threshold that has changed very little over the years (the same barometer has been carried out since 2019), and expensive from 83 euros on average.
A notable change, all the same, this year: almost three quarters of children aged 8 to 14 who say they receive money feel that it costs more than before. Clearly the prices have gone up. Inflation concerns everyone, from the youngest age.
Pocket money: how much to give your children and from what age?
(1) Survey conducted for the FBF by Harris Interactive online from February 17 to 22, 2023 with a sample of 1,031 children aged 8 to 14 and representative of this population.