TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With distance learning kids are spending more time online than ever. That’s also the case for predators, pedophiles and scammers.
Their fake profiles are on the same gaming and even homework sites that your kids use. From there they try to befriend your child through a dangerous process is known as grooming. Here are some of the red flags to look out for.
“When they start to separate from their real-life friends,” said Chris Hadnagy - founder Innocent Lives Foundation. “You see weird gifts show up for them. You say hey where did you get that phone? Oh a friend got it for me. All of these things should be red flags for parents to say ok I need to dig into this relationship a little more and find out what is going on.”
One way to prevent this is to put a parental control app on your child’s phone or tablet.
“I sat them down and I said look it’s my job to keep you safe,” said Hadnagy. “So I want to install this app on your phone and I did it with them there watching me. I let them see me set it up. I let them look at the app so they knew it. They both hated it and didn’t like it at all. But I informed them. It wasn’t covert, I didn’t try to sneak it or get it on there when they weren’t watching.”
