Scary how easy people can get information from kids...

[dlpSteve]

After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:

ByAngel213:
Hi. I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!

GoTo123:
LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you?
Don't you live in a safe neighborhood?

ByAngel213:
Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123:
Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven't done that have you?

ByAngel213:
Of course not. I'm not stupid you know.

GoTo123:
Did you have a softball game after school today?

ByAngel213:
Yes and we won!!

GoTo123:
That's great! Who did you play?

ByAngel213:
We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL

GoTo123:
What is your team called?

ByAngel213:
We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really cool.

GoTo1 23:
Did you pitch?

ByAngel213:
No I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye!

GoTo123:
Catch you later. Bye

Meanwhile.......GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.

Her name: Shannon
Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985
Age: 13
State where she lived: North Carolina

Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School . She had told him all this in the conversations they had on- line. He had enough information to find her now.

Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ballpark that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so overprotective.

By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.

Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely.

He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the sudden fear she had felt.

After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her.

Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon 's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.

Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon 's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.

Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room.

'Shannon, come here,' her father called. He sounded upset and she couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa.

'Sit down,' her father began, 'this man has just told us a most interesting story about you.'

Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today!

'Do you know who I am, Shannon ?' the man asked.

'No,' Shannon answered.

'I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123.'

Shannon was stunned. 'That's im possible! GoTo is a kid my age! He's 14. And he lives in Michigan !'

The man smiled. 'I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true. You see, Shannon , there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the po sition you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze.'

Shannon was stunned 'You mean you don't live in Michigan ?'

He laughed. 'No, I live in Raleigh . It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't it?'

She nodded.

'I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn't as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line. The wrong people trick you into givi ng out information a little here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again. Tell others about this so they will be safe too?'

'It's a promise!'

That night Shannon and her Dad and M om all knelt down together and thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation.

 

[carolfoy]

a very good warning Steve, I guess it is all too easy to let info slip. I will make sure my Callum reads this tonight, not to scare him, just to warn him that when on tinternet all is not as it seems.

and on a lighter note, I know, cos I've met some very strange internet based buddies, why I even went camping with a few of them

 

[KayleeUK]

A good warning for all.

 

[DisneyJo]

Wow that is scary I'll definately make my DD's read it!

 

[natalielongstaff]

and on a lighter note, I know, cos I've met some very strange internet based buddies, why I even went camping with a few of them

yeah ...who knew what jules and ian had planned for us

 

[scottishsue]

This is scary Steve........ and it definitely makes you think !!

 

[carolfoy]

I just let Callum read this, Steve, it served its purpose. It has shocked him enough to remind him that there are very real dangers out there.
thank you for posting this, if it protects my child just a tiny bit then I owe you a huge debt

 

[BRobson]

My two aren't old enough for the internet yet but you do have to be so careful. It is such a worry Thanks for that Steve

 

[cstokell]

........ Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so overprotective

This is the hard bit of protecting your children, trying to make them realise how much care they need take without them thinking you are neurotic parents or equally giving them nightmares.

My DD is still a bit young to have these worries yet but I am sure that the time will come very soon that she will have to be told about what could be lurking on the web and the world at large.

 

[angel659]

Thanks for posting this Steve. Not only is it helpful, but shows an insight on what can happen.

What annoys me is that parents let thier children sit in thier bedroom with MSN and other chat rooms. God knows what goes on.

 

[mjy]

You should post this on the Teen Disney message area as well. A lot of teens feel they are immortal (didn't we all at that age? ) and this would be a good lesson for them as well!

 

[catherine]

Thanks for posting that. I will make sure that my13 year old DD reads it as she spends a lot of time on MSN. We have lots of discusssions about giving out personal info. but that just shows how easily it is to get the type of info that a predator needs!

 

[Minniespal]

An excellent warning for all Steve.

 

[mandymouse]

This is scary Steve........ and it definitely makes you think !!

I agree, thanks for posting this Steve

 

[T16GEM]

What a great post, my two obviously don't use the net yet, but even when they do they will be in the room with us so that we can keep an eye on everything.
It's scary how innocent the conversation was but so much given away about her.

 

[dazeddaisy]

Its not just children and teenagers. Many adults feel immune and will give out the same amount of details online if not more. How many of you have said you have shopped at Walmart in ABC town? Or even said what hotel you are staying at, when, with how many people and the shirt you will wear?

You watch someone long enough and you will find enough details to find them.

If you as an adult or child really want to be safe online you need to ensure you have personas or limit the amount of info you wish to give out (even that can be too much). Real friends can be made online, but you can not tell the differance between a friend, and someone who is just looking to cause trouble.

I have a friend who works for the police who spends his entire day in chatrooms looking for various things. Its very very easy to learn the details of anyone. The things he has told and shown me is a little scary. Try googling your real name in quotation marks. Then try adding your state/city in with the search. See anything there??? Then google your usernames and see how much you have told people online which is easily accessable by anyone.

Oh before you google me, I am not the only dazeddaisy ... most of the stuff is not me.

 

[GrumpyUK]

I agree with all the comments here but have another observatio to add.

How much information do you adults give out about your family and circumstances on here?! You tell people the area you live in (sometimes the town), some of you use your full name, you say the names and ages of your children. You post pictures of your children, you tell us about their interests/achivements. I've seen photographs of children in school uniform on here. Someone determined will be able to idnetify which school your child goes to, they'll know thier name, their mum and dads name, where they go on holiday, they can chat about what your child is interested in.

It is SO easy to find information about people on the Internet.

Internet safety is not something that affects children ALONE. It affects you and me, next door, your mums, dads and aunty glads.

Stop and think. Do I REALLY want to post this information about my life on a public forum?

Enjoy the Internegt and message boards just like this, but make your enjoyment responsible and safe.

 

[eyoreaud]

Hmmm.... That's made me think now Thanks, i think