SEATTLE, Feb. 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The MRC's Gamer Safety Alliance is once again celebrating Gamer Safety Week by promoting education for gamers. In light of several recent data breaches and an increase in online attacks in general, it is important for gamers to understand the importance of online account safety. Managing multiple accounts and providing diligent parental controls are some of the best ways to be protected from account takeovers and unknown or fraudulent purchases.
Users should always manage privacy settings as well as passwords. It may seem like a simple practice, but monitoring and diversifying account privacy credentials will lower the chances of a consumer becoming a victim. The average consumer has multiple accounts each holding payments and identity information; many consumers use the same username and passwords for their many online accounts making it easy for a fraudster to move from one account to another.
It is also recommended to keep a close eye on parental controls. In most cases a consumer's credentials are tied to an account and without parental controls their children have free reign to use them. These legitimate purchases have the ability to accumulate into large monetary amounts, which must be paid by the consumer. Taking the time to enable parental controls will go a long way towards ensuring online activities are both safe and controlled.
"Gamer Safety Week is the perfect time to review best practices around keeping your account and online presence secure. The MRC's Gamer Safety Alliance encourages you and your family to spend some time thinking and talking about what it means to be safe online," said Andreas Holbrook, senior program manager for Xbox.
ABOUT THE MRC: The MRC is the foremost global not for profit organization that fully supports and promotes operational excellence for fraud, payments and risk professionals within ecommerce. The MRC is headquartered in Seattle, WA; with a European Office is Madrid. Learn more at www.merchantriskcouncil.org.
ABOUT THE GAMER SAFETY ALLIANCE:
Established in 2009 by MRC members as an affiliate group, the Gamer Safety Alliance (GSA) is a cross-company effort to break down traditional competitive barriers and share information and best practices within the computer and video game industry.