Greg's Corner

Scammers Are Calling Your Kids for Your Credit Card

By Greg Collier

Your child gets a video call from someone they don’t know.

The person seems friendly. They’re talking directly to the child. Maybe they have a convincing profile, a familiar-looking email address, or simply the confidence of someone who seems to know what they’re doing.

Then they ask a seemingly simple question.

Can you go get your mom’s or dad’s credit card?

That is where the conversation stops being innocent.

The Hyde County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina is warning parents and guardians about a video call scam that recently targeted children in the county. According to the sheriff’s office, a stranger using a Gmail account contacted children through Google Meet and attempted to convince them to retrieve and show their parents’ debit or credit cards.

The scam is a reminder that criminals don’t always have to convince the parent to hand over financial information.

Sometimes, they will try to get the child to do it for them.

The Call Starts With a Stranger

According to the Hyde County Sheriff’s Office, the incident involved an unsolicited video call.

The person on the other end was able to communicate directly with children and attempted to persuade them to get their parents’ payment cards and show them to the caller.

There is no indication that every unexpected video call to a child is part of a scam. But an unsolicited call from an unknown person asking a child for financial information should immediately raise concerns.

A child may not understand why someone would want to see a credit card.

They may simply think the person is asking them to show something that belongs to their parents.

That’s why children can be attractive targets.

A Child May Not Recognize the Red Flag

Adults have been taught to recognize common scam tactics.

Don’t give strangers your credit card number.

Don’t share your password.

Don’t provide a verification code.

Don’t send money to someone you don’t know.

But children may not understand that even showing a payment card to someone over a video call can expose valuable information.

Depending on the card and the quality of the video, a stranger may be able to see a name, card number, expiration date, or other information.

And the scam doesn’t necessarily stop there.

Once a criminal establishes communication with a child, they may attempt to obtain additional information about the family, including names, addresses, passwords, or other details that can be used in future scams.

The Video Call Can Make the Stranger Seem Real

There’s another problem with this type of scam.

People tend to trust what they can see.

A video call can create the impression that you’re dealing with a real person rather than an anonymous stranger on the internet.

But video isn’t proof of identity.

Neither is a Gmail address.

Neither is a phone number.

Neither is a caller ID.

The Hyde County Sheriff’s Office specifically warns that caller identification, email addresses, and video calls should not be treated as proof that someone is legitimate.

Technology can make a stranger appear trustworthy without actually telling you who that person is.

The Scammer Doesn’t Need the Parent

This is what makes the scheme particularly concerning for families.

A traditional financial scam might involve calling an adult and trying to convince that person to provide a credit card number.

This approach potentially bypasses the adult altogether.

The scammer talks to the child.

The child gets the card.

The scammer sees the information.

The parent may not even know the conversation happened until it’s too late.

It’s a simple exploitation of trust and curiosity.

And the scammer only needs the child to cooperate for a few moments.

What Parents Should Tell Their Kids

The most important protection may be a simple family rule:

Your child should never show a stranger anything that belongs to a parent.

That includes credit cards and debit cards, but the rule should go further.

Children should understand that they should never share a parent’s:

• Credit or debit card
• Bank account information
• Passwords
• PINs
• Security codes
• Identification information
• Login information
• Verification codes

They should also know that an unexpected request for any of these things is a reason to stop the conversation immediately.

The Hyde County Sheriff’s Office advises children who receive an unexpected call or message from someone they don’t know to end the communication, block the account, and tell a trusted adult.

That’s an important lesson because children shouldn’t be expected to figure out whether a stranger is legitimate.

Their job is simply to stop and tell an adult.

Quick Tip: Teach your kids to hang up. Parents don’t have to give children a complicated lesson about every possible scam. Tell them not to answer calls from strangers; don’t show strangers your parents’ information or belongings and tell an adult when something feels strange.

Don’t Assume Privacy Settings Will Stop Everything

Parents should also take a look at the devices and accounts their children use.

Review privacy settings and communication permissions. Check who can contact the child through video-calling applications, messaging services, and social media platforms.

That doesn’t guarantee that a scammer won’t get through.

But limiting unexpected communications can reduce opportunities for strangers to contact children in the first place.

It’s also worth talking to children about why these settings exist.

The goal isn’t simply to restrict their devices.

It’s to teach them that access to someone isn’t the same thing as trust.

If Your Child Gets a Suspicious Call

Don’t delete everything immediately.

The Hyde County Sheriff’s Office recommends preserving information that could help investigators, including screenshots, email addresses, usernames, and phone numbers.

Save the evidence before blocking the account if possible.

Then report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

If financial or personal information was actually shared, parents should contact their financial institution immediately and monitor the affected accounts.

A suspicious incident can also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

The important thing is not to assume that nothing can be done simply because the communication happened online.

The Conversation Parents Need to Have

Parents have spent years teaching children not to talk to strangers in the real world.

The definition of “stranger” needs to apply online, too.

A stranger doesn’t become trustworthy because they appear on a screen.

They don’t become trustworthy because they have a Gmail address.

They don’t become trustworthy because the caller ID displays a familiar-looking name.

And they certainly don’t become trustworthy because they’re asking politely.

Children need permission to say no.

They need permission to hang up.

And most importantly, they need to know that they can tell a parent or another trusted adult what happened without being punished for it.

The Scam Could Look Completely Different Next Time

The Hyde County incident involved a request to see a parent’s debit or credit card.

The next scam may involve something else.

A password.

A bank account.

A verification code.

A photo.

A parent’s phone.

Or information about where the family lives.

The technology and the story can change quickly.

The basic warning doesn’t.

When an unknown person contacts a child and asks for something that belongs to the family, the safest response is simple:

Hang up. Block them. Tell an adult.

The person on the screen may look friendly.

They may sound convincing.

They may even appear to know exactly what they’re doing.

But your child doesn’t need to figure out whether the stranger is legitimate.

They just need to know that strangers don’t get access to the family’s money, information, or personal belongings.

And sometimes, the best way to protect your family is to teach your kids that it’s perfectly okay to hang up.