We’re from the government. We’re here to help.
The Federal Trade Commission has launched a new site designed to help kids learn to protect their privacy, spot frauds and scams, and avoid identity theft.
You Are Here is set up as a virtual mall.
- Visit the West Terrace to learn about advertising techniques, target marketing, and suspicious claims.
- Visit the Food Court to learn about business competition, supply and demand, the history of the FTC, and mergers and monopolies.
- Visit the Security Plaza to learn about protecting your privacy (online and off), and protect the citizens of Earth against identity-stealing invaders.
- Visit the East Terrace to learn about bogus modeling offers, “free” vacations, “miracle” products, and tip-offs to rip-offs.
I took a trip to the East Terrace and walked into the Clothing Co. storefront. I was feeling pretty and the agent thought I had what it takes to be a supermodel. There is a flash video with the agent. Then a friend comes along to show you the red flags that indicate problems. I was particularly down-trodden when my “friend” told me that the “agent was really flattering. . . but he’s saying the exact same thing to Mama Toni!”
Oh well. No modeling for me.
So I strolled over to the Security Plaza and into the Book Cafe. I helped my new friend Emily put together her online profile page. I helped her add her background information and posted a bad picture. Her mom saw it before she could delete it. Lesson learned. If you post something online, anyone could end up seeing it. For the more detailed profile information, Emily shows you the importance of checking the security settings and why should not publish some information to your public profile.
The Captain Noscam game is more active, blowing up catch phrases from scams like “No Risk, Guaranteed”, mixed among legitimate sales signs. I mistakenly blew up the “Shoes on Sale” sign. According to the game it’s not really a scam. I’m not so sure. My wife always comes home with lots of shoes when they are on sale.
You Are Here is targeted to older kids. You should have guessed from the use of mall as a place of learning. But I enjoyed it too. The animation is good, the stories are good and there is some genuine humor in the stories. An unexpected treat from the federal government.
