Online Predators

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Online Predators

• National Crime Prevention Council
• 2007

2
Goal of This Presentation

• To inform parents of the dangers of online
  predators and provide tips to keep their children
  safe while using the Internet and other online
  services

3
Objectives of This Presentation

• Inform participants of the latest statistics
• Become aware of the risks and benefits of the
  World Wide Web
• Learn how online predators operate
• Recognize if your child is a target for an online
  predator
• Explore safety tips to share with children when
  using the Internet or other online services
• Review resources in this topical area

4
Source Louis J. FreehFormer Director, Federal
Bureau of Investigation

• Our children are our nations most valuable
  asset. They represent the bright future of our
  country and hold our hopes for a better nation.
  Our children are also the most vulnerable members
  of society. Protecting our children against the
  fear of crime and from becoming victims of crime
  must be a national priority.

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Statistics Regarding the Internet
6
Internet Statistics

• By the end of 2004, there were 420 million pages
  of (online) pornography. It is believed that the
  majority of these websites are owned by fewer
  than 50 companies.
• Source LaRue, Jan, Obscenity and the First
  Amendment. Summit on Pornography, Rayburn House
  Office Building, Room 2322,
• May 19, 2005

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Internet Statistics (continued)

• The U.S. pornography industry generates 12
  billion in annual revenuelarger than the
  combined annual revenues of ABC, NBC, and CBS.
  Of that, the Internet pornography industry
  generates 2.5 billion in annual revenue.
• Source Family Safe Media January 10, 2006

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Statistics Regarding Children and the Internet
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Statistics Regarding Children and the Internet

• About 87 of adolescents ages 1217 use the
  Internet. There are now approximately 11 million
  teens who go online every day, compared with 7
  million in 2000.
• Source Pew Internet and American Life Project,
• Teens and Technology, July 27, 2005

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Statistics Regarding Children and the Internet
(continued)

• A survey of 1,000 young people conducted by
  the Pew Internet and American Life Project,
  released July 27, 2005, found that
• Nine of ten young people have online access,
  which is up from 75 in 2000.
• Many teenagers first get access to the Internet
  at age 10 or 12, many even younger.

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Statistics Regarding Children and the Internet
(continued)

• A survey of 10- to 17-year-olds revealed that 34
  had posted their real names, telephone numbers,
  home addresses, or the names of their schools
  online
• 45 had posted their dates of birth or ages
• 18 had posted pictures of themselves
• Source Janis Wolak, Kimberly Mitchell, and David
  Finkelhor, Online Victimization of Youth Five
  Years Later. National Center for Missing and
  Exploited Children, 2006

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Statistics Regarding Children and the Internet
(continued)

• 50 of high school students talk in chat rooms
  or use instant messaging with Internet strangers
• 20 of students in middle school and high school
  admit they have had face-to-face meetings with
  someone they first met on the Internet
• 65 of high school students admit to unsafe,
  inappropriate, or illegal activities online
• Source Market Wire, November 6, 2006 and i-SAFE
  Inc.,
• December 12, 2006

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Statistics Regarding Children and the Internet
(continued)

• More than three-quarters of the unwanted
  exposures to sexual material, solicitation, and
  approaches (79) happened at home
• 9 happened at school
• 5 happened at friends homes
• 5 happened in other places, including libraries
• Source Online Victimization of Youth Five Years
  Later, National Center for Missing and Exploited
  Children, Crimes Against Children Research
  Center, Office of Juvenile Justice and
  Delinquency Prevention, December 4, 2006

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Statistics Regarding Parents
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Statistics Regarding Parents

• 80 of parents worry about their kids Internet
  use exposing them to predators
• 76 of parents say they would like to make the
  Internet a safer place for kids
• 83 of parents say there is no excuse for not
  knowing enough about the Internet to protect your
  kids or teens
• 88 of parents think its more important to know
  what their kids are doing online than to respect
  their kids privacy
• Source National Attitudinal Poll, Common Sense
  Media,
• June 7, 2006

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Statistics Regarding Parents (continued)

• Parents dont know the meanings of some of the
  most commonly used chat and instant messaging
  lingo. For example,
• 57 dont know LOL (laughing out loud)
• 68 dont know BRB (be right back)
• 92 dont know A/S/L (age/sex/location)
• Source Parents Internet Monitoring Study, June
  2006, Cox Communications, The National Center for
  Missing and Exploited Children, and NetSmartz,
  December 14, 2005

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Putting It in Perspective

• Most children are more tech savvy than their
  parents.
• Yet many children believe that they can hide
  behind the anonymity of the Internet.
• Although the statistics are alarming, there are
  nationwide efforts to prevent online predators
  from being successful.
• Parents can learn how to prevent their children
  from becoming victims.

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Risks and Benefits of theWorld Wide Web
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Risks and Benefits of the World Wide Web
The Internet

• BENEFITS
• Worlds largest library
• Global outreach
• Source of entertainment

• RISKS
• Children exposed to adult sites
• Children dont know whats reliable and what
  isnt
• Lack of supervision

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Risks and Benefits of the World Wide Web
(continued)
The Internet (continued)

• BENEFITS
• Marketing tool
• A plethora of Information

• RISKS
• Vulnerability to online scams, cybercrimes, and
  predators
• Vulnerability to computer viruses

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Risks and Benefits of the World Wide Web
(continued)
Using Email

• BENEFITS
• Instant communication with family and friends
  all over the world

• RISKS
• Children can set up private accounts without
  asking permission
• Exposure to spam and viruses

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Risks and Benefits of the World Wide Web
Using Email (continued)

• BENEFITS
• Ease of communication
• Able to trade information and documents
• Online education

• RISKS
• Vulnerability to hackers
• Victim of cybercrimes
• Computer viruses

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Risks and Benefits of the World Wide Web
(continued)
Social Networking

• BENEFITS
• Children can express themselves, create a
  personal profile, showcase artwork, videos, and
  music
• Allows children with similar interests to connect

• RISKS
• Children can post too much personal information
• Users can pose as someone else
• Children can post hurtful information about other
  children (cyberbullying)

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Factor
Fiction?
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An email sent to a child that contains adult
advertising, pornographic pictures and websites,
or other inappropriate information is illegal.
True or False
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True or False

• More than 20,000 pornographic pictures of
  children are posted on the Internet every week.

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True or False

• In the United States today, there are over
  400,000 registered sex offenders
• and
• law enforcement has the ability to track their
  whereabouts.

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True or False

• In a chat room, PA stands for Pennsylvania.

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Small Group Activity
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What Does It Mean?

• POS
• PIR
• P911
• PAW
• PAL
• ASL
• MorF
• SorG

• LMIRL
• KPC
• TDTM
• IWSN
• NIFOC
• GYPO
• ADR
• WYCM

• KFY
• MOOS
• MOSS or MOTSS
• NALOPKT
• CYT or SYT
• F2F
• WYRN

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Where Do Children Connect?

• Children surf the Internet and send messages from
  their home computers, friends computers, the
  library, or even school.
• Children connect at coffee shops or other popular
  hotspots using wireless connections and
  laptops.
• Video games that are accessible on the Internet
  allow children from around the country to compete
  against each other.
• Cell phones enable children to surf the web,
  exchange messages, photos, and short videos.

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How Do Online Predators Work?
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The anonymity of the Internet provides a perfect
medium for predators to operate. Predators
take advantage of this anonymity to build online
relationships with inexperienced young people.
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How Online Predators Work

• Find victims on the Internet
• Find children in chat rooms, newsgroups, and via
  instant messages
• Pose as other children
• Listen and sympathize with childrens problems
• Transmit and exchange child pornography

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How Online Predators Work (continued)

• Give children attention, show kindness, give
  gifts
• Are familiar with the latest fads, such as
  video games and movies
• Show sympathy toward children and listen intently
  to their problems

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A Predators Journal
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• EXAMPLE
• Lisa uses TallGirll as her
• username in a chatroom, where
• she receives a nasty message
• from BobsOfFun.
• Smartly, she ignores it, but
• BobsOfFun searches the web
• for other TallGirll
• references.
• (next slide)

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• He finds that same username in an old posting
  about handbags on another site, where she gives
  her email address to another teen interested in a
  certain brand of purse. The email ends with
  brooksgirls.edu, leading BobsOfFun to a private
  school site in Denver.
• A search on the schools site finds a picture
  of a fundraiser selling handbags, with a
  noticeably tall teen named Lisa Hammner in the
  caption.
• A search of Hammner in Denver finds one
  listing, which includes a phone number and street
  address.

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How to Recognize If Your Child Is at Risk
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Examples of At-Risk Behaviors

• Aggressive computer users
• New to online activity
• Actively seeking attention or affection
• The type to try new, edgy activities in life
• May feel isolated or lonely
• Strong curious nature
• Confused regarding sexual identity
• Easily tricked by adults

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How to Recognize If Your Child Is Being Targeted
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Is Your Child a Target?

• Does your child spend a great deal of time
  online?
• Have you found suspicious information on his or
  her personal computer or the family computer?
• Does your child receive phone calls from people
  you dont know or make calls to numbers you dont
  recognize?

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Is Your Child a Target? (continued)

• Has your child received mail, gifts, or packages
  from someone you dont know?
• Has your child withdrawn from the family, from
  their friends, and become isolated?
• Does your child quickly turn the computer monitor
  off or change the screen when you enter the room?
• Is your child using someone elses online account?

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What To Do If Your Child Is Targeted?

• Save all documentation, including emails, instant
  messages, chat logs, and website addresses.
• Check your computer for suspicious files or any
  type of sexual communication.
• Monitor your childs online activity for all live
  electronic communications.

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The World of Social Networking
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Examples of Social Networking Sites

• Myspace.comgeneral interests
• Classmates.comschool, college, work, and the
  military
• Reunion.comlocating family and friends
• Friendster.comgeneral interests
• MSN Spacesblogging, networking, and communities
• Piczo.comteenagers

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Internet Safety Tips
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Tips for Parents and GuardiansA Guide for
Tweens (9- to 12-Year- Olds)
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Tips for Parents and GuardiansA Guide for
Tweens (ages 9 to 12)

• Communicate with your child about Internet use.
• Set clear guidelines for your child for safe
  Internet use.
• Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area
  and not in your childs bedroom.
• Teach your child never to give out personal
  information when using email, chat rooms, instant
  messaging, filling out registration forms,
  personal profiles, or entering online contests.

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Tips for Parents and Guardians A Guide for
Tweens (ages 9 to 12)

• Teach your children not to download programs
  without your permission.
• Encourage your children to tell you if something
  or someone makes them feel uncomfortable or
  threatened.
• Talk to your children specifically about online
  pornography and possible predators.
• Once a week, review with your children the
  websites they have visited.

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Tips for Parents and Guardians A Guide for
Tweens (ages 9 to 12)

• Insist on having access to your childrens email
  and instant messaging accounts to make sure they
  are not talking to strangers.
• Remind your children not to give passwords to
  anyone but you.
• Talk to your children about responsible, ethical,
  online behavior.

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Tips for Parents and GuardiansA Guide for Teens
(13- to 18-Year-Olds)
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Tips for Parents and GuardiansA Guide for Teens
(ages 13 to 18)

• Share stories with real examples of teens who
  have been tricked or hurt because of unsafe
  online practices.
• Build an atmosphere of trust and open
  communication.
• Establish realistic rules.
• Reinforce the expectation that parents monitor
  Internet use and that safety rules must be
  followed.

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Instant Messaging Safety Tipsfor Parents and
Guardians toShare With Their Children
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Tips for Safer Instant Messaging (IM)

• Tell your children to be careful when creating a
  screen name.
• Tell your children never to give out personal
  information.
• Your children should only communicate with people
  who are on their contact or buddy lists.
• Your children should only have friends join their
  buddy list, which you should monitor.

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Tips for Safer Instant Messaging (IM)

• Your children should never open pictures,
  download files, or click on links from someone
  they dont know.
• If your children uses a computer in a public
  place, urge care and safety awareness when
  logging on.
• Monitor and limit your childs use of IM.

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Tips for SafeOnlineSocial Networking
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Tips for Socializing Safely

• Tell your children to think about how different
  sites work before deciding to join a site.
• Encourage your children control access to the
  information they post.
• Tell your children to keep all vital information
  to themselves.
• Make sure your children's screen names do not
  reveal too much about themselves.

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Tips for Socializing Safely Online (continued)

• Have your children post only the information they
  are comfortable with others seeing and knowing
  about them.
• Remind them, once the information is posted, you
  cant take it back. Someone can forward this
  information and millions of people will have
  access to it.
• Tell your children not post their picture online.
• Remind your children to never flirt with
  strangers online.
• Source Federal Trade Commission www.ftc.gov

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Chat Room Safety Tips for Children
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Chat Room Safety Tips for Children

• Monitor your childrens use of chat rooms.
• Tell your children that if someone in a chat room
  makes them feel uncomfortable, they should leave
  that chat room immediately and tell an adult.
• Insist that your children never send photos of
  themselves to anyone they meet in a chat room.

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Chat Room Safety Tips for Children (continued)

• Express to your children the importance of never
  giving out personal information and to never
  agree to meet a stranger in person.
• Tell your children to be wary of other chatters
  who ask to meet in a private chat room. Have
  them stick to moderated chats.
• Learn the chat lingo.

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Questions and Answers
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Resources
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Resources

• National Crime Prevention Council
• Public service campaign that focuses on
  cybersecurity and -safety
• Partners including the Forum to Advance the
  Mobile Experience (FAME) and the Chief Marketing
  Office Council (CMO Council)
• Download tip sheets and the publication Mind What
  You Do Online and report Internet crimes
• www.bytecrime.org

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Resources

• Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces

• Created the U.S. Dept. of Justice to help state
  and local law enforcement agencies investigate
  and prosecute sexual exploitation of children
  through the internet.  Currently composed of 61
  regional Task Force agencies.
• To find the Internet Crimes Against Children Task
  Force nearest you www.icactraining.org

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Resources
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Resources

• National Center for Missing Exploited Children
• Information for families, law enforcement,
  attorneys
• Amber alert information
• Training information for law enforcement,
  attorneys, and prosecutors
• www.missingkids.com
• www.cybertipline.com
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Can report all types of Internet crime
• Internet safety tips for children
• www.fbi.gov

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Resources

• GetNetWise
• Provides security information for email, stopping
  spam, and protecting your computer
• Tips and tools for keeping your personal
  information private
• www.getnetwise.org
• Safe Kids
• Tips and tools for children and parents
• Sample contracts for children and parents
• www.safekids.com

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Resources

• Family Watchdog
• Free search for a predator in your area
• List of each state and its laws
• www.familywatchdog.us/
• National Alert Registry
• Search for a predator in your area
• www.nationalalertregistry.com
• NetSmartz Workshop
• Separate informational pages for parents and
  guardians, law enforcement, educators, teens, and
  children
• Real-life stories
• www.netsmartz.org

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Resources

• NBCs Dateline To Catch A Predator
• Research and undercover operations began in 2004
  and continue today in 2007, focusing on the Long
  Beach, CA area.
• www.msnbc.msn.com

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Resources

• Polly Klaas Foundation
• Free Internet Safety Kit
• Resources for law enforcement
• www.pollyklaas.org
• Net Lingo
• Dictionary of commonly used acronyms when
  emailing, chatting, and blogging
• Resources for personal and business use
• www.netlingo.com
• 24-hour Hotline
• 1-800-THE-LOST or 1-800-843-5678

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The National Crime Prevention Council

• 2345 Crystal Drive
• Fifth Floor
• Arlington, VA 22202
• 202-466-6272
• FAX [phone]
• www.ncpc.org

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Presenter Contact Information