When parents picture online predators, they often imagine a stranger behind a fake profile. The truth is more common and closer to home: it’s the adult who slowly becomes a trusted “friend” through messages, games, and shared interests. And the single strongest shield against that isn’t a monitoring app — it’s an open, ongoing conversation. …
Fake videos and AI-generated images are harder to spot every year. Deepfakes can now put words in a real person’s mouth or show them doing something they never did. For kids and teens, learning to question what they see online is becoming one of the most important safety skills a family can practice. The FBI …
Online games are where predators now start. Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft are built around chat, friend lists, and in-game gifts. Those same features make them a quiet hunting ground. Week after week, new reports describe children being contacted by strangers inside a game they thought was safe. Grooming in games usually follows a pattern. A …
Many teens share their live location online without thinking about who can see it. Features like Snapchat’s Snap Map, Instagram location sharing, and iPhone’s live location make it easy to let friends and family know where you are. That can be useful at a busy festival or when a parent just wants to know a …
Sextortion is one of the fastest-growing online crimes against minors. The FBI reports that financial sextortion, where a predator tricks a child into sending explicit images, then threatens to leak them unless the victim pays, jumped 20% in a six-month stretch ending in March 2023. From October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI and Homeland …
Phishing scams are among the most common online threats families face today. A scammer sends a message that looks completely real — maybe from a bank, a delivery service, or even a friend — and tries to trick you into clicking a link, downloading a file, or sharing passwords and account numbers. The good news …
One of the hardest parts of keeping kids safe online is this simple truth: the person behind a profile may not be who they say they are. Online predators build trust before they strike, and one of their most common tools is a fake identity. They pose as a teen of a similar age, a …
One weak, reused password is often all it takes for a predator or scammer to reach your family’s accounts. It’s not dramatic or technical to fix. It comes down to two simple habits: make every password long and unique, and turn on two-factor authentication wherever you can. Too many families share the same login across …
There’s no single app or setting that can fully protect a child online. What actually moves the needle, experts agree, is a simple set of family rules — small, consistent boundaries around where and how devices get used. That’s the heart of a practical new guide from the National Cybersecurity Alliance on family tech rules. …
When we talk about online predators, most of us picture a single adult pretending to be someone else. That picture is only half the story. The FBI has flagged a tactic called group grooming, where predators work together in teams to target children online. Here is how it works. Groups of adults pose as kids …