Page 64 - Cyber Warnings

With that in mind, it is believed that there are over 500,000 sexual predators logged online
everyday seeking thrills or new victims. While it’s easy to put our head in the sand and say
these monsters won’t find our sons or daughters, consider the fact that over 50 percent of
sexual exploitation victims are aged between 11 and 15 years old.

How Predators Target Children

A majority of predators turn to social media sites or chat rooms to locate and groom targets.
After closely examining the profiles of users on social networks for ages, child centered user
names, and youthful hobbies they can identify a child they are interested in. Predators often
create fake profiles and engage children by striking up a conversation, pretending they have
common interests, offering our kids a shoulder to cry on, or gaining their trust by keeping
secrets.

After a relationship has been formed, predators begin asking for our child to exchange sexually
explicit texts or images. Eventually, some predators are bold enough to seek face-to-face
contact. It is believed that 75 percent of children who agree to meeting in real life will do so
more than once!

Online predators can typically be categorized into three subgroups:

Sex offenders. This is probably the most commonly known group, because they are the ones
we see on the evening news. They seek explicit online and even physical relationships with our
children.

Sextortioners. This faction of predators has recently emerged as our kids flock online. A
sextortioner is interested in getting our children to send them sexual images, then using the
photos as blackmail to garner more pictures.

Pornographers. These predators often feel that they are not doing anything wrong, because
they are focusing only on looking or collecting sexual images of our kids. Typically,
pornographers aren’t seeking physical relationships.

Six Ways To Know If Your Child Has Been Contacted By An Online Predator

It is believed that 70 percent of our children take measures to keep their online activity hidden
from our parental eyes. Often they are engaging in behaviors we would consider risky. They
might be messaging strangers, oversharing personal information, friending strangers, and even
visiting x-rated sites. With a percentage of our children engaging in these covert activities, it is
easy to go in panic mode.

Thankfully, these warning signs can alert parents if children are in contact with online predators:

64 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – February 2016 Edition
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