What your child will learn
Identify personal information visible on public social profiles that feeds identity theft and account takeover
Classify real-world identity theft attacks (phishing, smishing, FAFSA scams, fake job offers) and distinguish them from legitimate communications
Apply account-hardening actions: enabling 2FA, removing public birthday, disabling location sharing, setting strong unique passwords, freezing credit, and securing account recovery
Explain how credit freezes, IRS Identity Protection PINs, and FTC IdentityTheft.gov work at an age-appropriate level
How this mission works
A 3-scene interactive lab targeting the identity layer students are most exposed to but least trained on. Scene 1: inspect a fictional teen's public social profile — find 6 risk pins showing what a stranger can infer (school name from sweatshirt, hometown from geotag, birthday, partial phone number, pet name). Scene 2: classify 5 scenarios (fake job offer asking for SSN, package SMS with fee link, FAFSA-themed phish, credit card popup, real bank verification) as Safe, Suspicious, or Identity Theft Attempt. Scene 3: complete 6 account-hardening actions on a simulated settings panel — each click triggers a Cipher tip.
What students actually encounter
A sweatshirt logo in a photo reveals the school name. A geotag on a park selfie pinpoints the neighborhood. A birthday post confirms the date. A stranger now has three of your security question answers.
"Congrats! You've been selected for a summer internship. To complete your application, we need your Social Security Number..." — Safe, Suspicious, or Identity Theft Attempt?
Enable 2FA, remove birthday from public profile, turn off location sharing, set a strong unique password, freeze credit, and add a recovery email — all 6 required to complete the scene.
Cipher is with them the whole way
When a student gets stuck on Identity Theft & Digital Footprint Defender, Cipher appears with a mission-specific nudge — no spoilers, just a hint toward the right thinking. Make a wrong choice, and Cipher explains the real-world consequence. Finish the mission, and Cipher generates a personalized performance debrief based on exactly how the student played it.
ISTE alignment
Students manage their digital identity and reputation, practice safe, legal, and ethical behaviors online, and curate personal data with an understanding of digital permanence and identity theft risks.