To encourage discussions between adolescents susceptible to fraud and their parents, the payment service Bancontact, backed by the financial sector federation Febelfin, has launched a platform dubbed "The Conversation" on Monday.
According to a survey by iVox for Bancontact, they found that 45% of French-speaking adolescents aged 12-17 in Belgium said they would not dare to tell their parents if they fell victim for a scam. The survey also showed that this age group can be victims of fraud, finding that while 67% of those questioned said they believed they could recognise a scam, 63% admitted they had already clicked on a link before realising they should not have done so.
"Young people are making their first payments at an increasingly early age," said Karel Baert, chief executive of Febelfin. "It is therefore essential to help them develop the right reflexes when faced with fraud attempts and, above all, to show them that they can talk about it when they have doubts or when they become victims of a scam."
Bancontact said the gap shows the need to discuss financial fraud from the moment young people begin making payments, but such conversations do not always come easily between teenagers who are confident they can spot scams and parents who are unsure how to raise the subject.
"Prevention starts with conversation. By encouraging dialogue between parents and teenagers, this initiative helps strengthen their digital and financial resilience," Baert added.
The platform offers two tailored pathways developed by an adolescent and child psychologist: one for young people and another for parents.
For teenagers, it presents five scenarios drawn from everyday life, including an Instagram promotion or a link sent by a friend, and asks them to make practical choices.
For parents, it explains the types of scams teenagers might face, why they work, and which warning signs to watch for. It also provides resources and tools to help them guide their children if they have doubts or encounter a problem.
Throughout the platform, advice from a psychologist is designed to help parents raise the subject without judgement and agree with their children on suitable precautions.
Improving young people's understanding of payments to prevent fraud is a shared goal across the financial sector, according to the organisations behind the initiative.
