Social Media and Online Predators:

Different Ways Online Predators

Approach Victims
KIDGUARD EDITOR JANUARY 23, 2017 NO COMMENTS.

Your child has a smart phone, a laptop, a tablet and total use of the home
computer. Having a child whos online almost always isnt exactly far from the
norm. Roughly 24 percent of all children ages 13 to 17 go online almost
constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. And, that doesnt mean
the rest of those teens arent going online. Fifty-six percent of teens are
online several times a day and 12 percent are on the Internet once daily.
So, what are our children doing online? For the most part, using social media.
With that in mind, understanding and identifying the ways that online
predators approach victims is absolutely essential for both kids and parents.

Pretending to be a child

Its not likely that a 12-year-old is going to get into a conversation with
someone they know is 52. Your child cant seem to stomach hanging out with
you and your family friends (the grown-up ones). So, why would she willingly
chat up someone else who according to her own words is ancient?

Online predators understand this, and do everything they can to trick

children into thinking theyre kids too. This means creating fake accounts
and profiles. Not only do these predators create fake social media profile,
they also tend to populate the accounts with detailed information creating
an entirely new persona.

Lets say Jeff is a 50-year-old accountant for Tucson. He may call himself
Cole and say hes a 13-year-old middle school student. When he approaches
a child, he approaches them as Cole. By the way, Cole will likely have a
profile that includes photos of a young teenage boy to add a concretely real
aspect even though its all fake. Those pictures are probably downloaded
from another account or taken from elsewhere on the Internet.

Acting slightly older

While an all-out adult isnt of much interest to a child or teen, someone who is
a year (or a few) older is. Online predators may approach their victims as
more mature or a-few-grades-ahead kids. The lure of a slightly older,
more mature teen is a major draw for some children (especially tween
and teen girls).

When your 13-year-old daughter suddenly sees that John (a supposed high
school junior) is interested, she feels special. The boys in her seventh grade
class seem like well, little boys. That is, in comparison to John, the high
schooler (who is really 37). This type of thinking makes it easier for predators
to entice children and get them interested.

Getting geographically specific

When a predator approaches a child they may pretend to live

nearby. Maybe not in your town. But, in a town or city thats close enough for
your child to eventually go to. Its pretty obvious that the fake prof ile person
doesnt go to your childs school. If the predator claimed to live in the same
immediate area, the child could quickly debunk their profile myth as fake. So,
the predator says that they live in the next town over or somewhere thats half
an hour away.

Your child doesnt know everyone (or anyone for that matter) who goes to the
school district two towns over. That makes it completely possible that this
person is real. And, not only are they real, but it would be fairly easy to meet
up (which may appeal to your child).

How does the predator know to create a fake profile that lives within miles of
your home? Your child may have her hometown listed in her own social
media profile. Or, she might have her school listed. If she doesnt (or you
wont allow her do to this), she might have repeatedly checked-in to places
locally or have pictures of herself wearing clothes with a school, city or sports
team logo.

Friending friends

But mommmmm! Allies friends with him too. So why cant I talk to him?
Thats an argument that starts with an online predator friending groups of
children to make individual members feel safe. These adults often friend
several kids who are connected in some way. Maybe they all go to school
together, engage in the same after-school activity or play the same online
video game. Whatever the connection, when a predator infiltrates the group
they gain access to all of the members.

Approaching a child online as a friend of a friend creates a sense of

comfort and familiarity, even though its a completely false sense. The
child may feel like its safe to talk to this person (or even meet them) if their
classmates are already friends with them.

Interesting and interested adults

Not every predator will approach a child as another child. Even though there
is a definite popularity in acting as a child, some adults come at kids online
as actual grown-ups. So, youre saying, Why would my child want to talk to
an adult online?

In some cases a young adult (early 20s) is appealing to a teen. This is the
Im just a little bit older than you idea to an extreme. Other times the adult
approaches the child as trusted grown-up such as a friend of the family,
relative or a teacher. Less often (but it still happens) the adult may contact
the child with a fake manager or talent scout profile. Think back to your
childhood. There were always stories going around about in-person predators
acting as modeling scouts and approaching young girls at malls or other
public places. This is the high-tech version of that predatory scheme.

Tags: child , How to , monitor , monitor kids , online

safety , parent, parental control , teen

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