With the kids on summer vacay from school, parents are urged to heed Internet safety tips for children

With summer in full swing, most young students are now home until school starts back up in the fall, and that might mean your kids are spending more time online. Unfortunately, that also provides more opportunities for criminals to reach out to unsuspecting young victims. An especially troubling trend the FBI is seeing involves a crime called ‘sextortion,’ where bad actors coerce minors into sending inappropriate content – then threatens to send that content to their friends and family if they don’t give them something else of value.

Contact risks
These (online) risks include children coming into contact with people they don’t know or with adults posing as children online. For example, a child might be persuaded to share personal information with strangers, provide contact details after clicking on pop-up messages, or meet in person with someone they’ve met online.  ~ Raisingchildren.net

To help keep your children safer while online this summer, the FBI headquarters in Norfolk is sharing these Internet safety tips with parents:

• Know the devices your child has access to and familiarize yourself with the apps, sites, and games they use;
• Use parental controls on your child’s device;
• Teach your children to only communicate with people they know and trust in real life;
• Talk to your children about the dangers of sharing personal information online, such as their school, home address, or even their class schedule;
• Warn them about the consequences of posting or sharing inappropriate content, as well as hoax threats;
• Teach basic cyber hygiene, such as strong passwords and appropriate privacy settings; and,
• Remind them to talk to a trusted adult if something seems suspicious.

“Become aware of what your kids are doing online and have a conversation with them about what’s on there, what apps are out there that you may not know about and demystify it,” said Brian Dugan, special agent in charge of FBI Norfolk. “Show interest. You want to make sure your child isn’t fearful of talking to you, even if it’s a hard subject to broach.”

To help younger children better understand online safety, the FBI also offers a Safe Online Surfing program, which is available on their site and geared toward children in grades three through eight.  Students who participate on the Safe Online Surfing site can play games and take quizzes to test their Internet safety knowledge.

And remember, If you or your child ever becomes the victim of an online crime, file a report at IC3.gov, or contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Have a safe summer!

(Source: FBI Norfolk)  /  (Cover photo, Image credit: YouTube)

 Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram