The Federal Trade Commission is getting serious about helping educate consumers about protecting themselves against Internet fraud and identity theft – so the FTC is playing games.
Well, the agency is inviting consumers to play games. Taking advantage of the love people have for video games, the FTC has developed a site, onguardonline.gov, which uses games to teach. The games include “The Case of the Cyber Criminal,” “Phishing Scams” and “Invest Quest.”
In the first game, a techie spy backed by his crew attempts to get his hands on your personal information. In order to protect yourself, you have to know what to o to prevent him from getting it.
in the game, “ID Theft Face-Off,” players become victims of identity theft and must work to get their identities back by correctly answering questions about identity theft protection. In “Beware of Spyware,” gamers are challenged to keep their computers free of spyware, which can give scammers access to personal information, including credit card numbers and bank account information.
Other games on the site educate consumers on smart investing decisions, how to protect their laptops, spotting risky shopping offers online, understanding health products and information online, and peer-to-peer file sharing understanding.
It’s impossible to write about the Red Flag Rules without an apologetic “stop me if you’ve heard this one before” preface. So don’t shoot the messenger, but the deadline for the Feds’ identity-protecting Red Flag Rules has been delayed. The newest deadline—the fifth—replaces the January 1 deadline with one of June 1, 2010.