Law enforcement is warning parents to be aware of sexual predators online.
The warning comes after the Citrus County Sheriff's Office recently arrested a dozen people during an undercover operation.
“We get on these various apps and we literally pose as minors. These sexual predators get on there; they lure your children, they communicate with them, they ask for your children to do illegal things," Patrick Martin with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said.
Now law enforcement is warning parents to be aware of the following 10 apps:
- Snapchat
- TikTok
- Omegle
- KiK
- Roblox
- Discord
- Whisper
- Vault App
They say there is a higher likelihood of abuse on those apps.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Kauffman weighed in. He said video game chat rooms can also be a hot spot for predators.
“It can be anything that has an online chat function with anybody in the public is fair game to a predator,” Agent Kauffman said.
He said it's time to talk about it with your kids.
We sat down with Melissa Zentner, a local child therapist, who explained how to bring this up with your children.
"I initiate the conversation with a lot of open-ended questions. What kind of apps have you been using? Tell me about your friends online, and that way, they're able to provide you with information," Zentner said.
She said to schedule a time to talk about it. Zentner explained the pandemic normalized kids having online friends.
“Parents need to teach children it's just like walking up to a stranger on the street. You don’t do that. You don’t talk to everybody you come across on the internet,” Zentner said.
She said you can strengthen the privacy setting on your children's devices and regularly talk about online safety.
Another thing to keep an eye out for is financial sextortion. That is when a predator demand money for keeping nude photos private. FBI Special Agent Kaufman said it’s on the rise in Florida and across the U.S.
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“We're finding that the main victims are males usually, males will end up sending it to unsuspected females or there portraying themselves as females and asking the males for nude photos.”
Zentner said to be direct when talking about nude photos with your children and use age-appropriate language.
“Talking about taking pictures, talking about again privacy in terms of our body,” Zentner said.
She said it is okay to check your child's phone and make sure they are not talking to strangers online.
Click here for more tips on how to talk to children about online dangers.
