Abu Dhabi Police warned of the risk of electronic extortion

Teens circumvent family control with "secret accounts" on "communication"

A warning against families ’neglect of monitoring their children when using the Internet.

Emirates today

People told "Emirates Today" that they discovered that their teenage children and children had secret accounts on social networking sites, indicating that they had different names and surnames from their real names.

They attributed this to an attempt to prevent them from seeing their behavior in chat rooms, video game sites, etc., expressing their feeling of concern after discovering that friends' lists include older people and girls who post pictures of themselves in inappropriate situations, stressing that “electronic censorship through specialized programs is not enough. ».

For its part, Abu Dhabi Police warned against families' neglect of monitoring their children when using the Internet, confirming that many teenagers have created more than one account on social media to close parents, which exposes them to the risk of electronic blackmail.

In detail, parents said that the electronic censorship they impose on their children while they use smartphones and electronic games is not a decisive or reliable enough way to follow up on their personal accounts, explaining that they discovered that their children have other accounts, with fake names, that allowed them to escape from censorship.

Abu Abdullah said that he discovered that his 14-year-old son had an account in the name of another person on a social networking site.

He added that he was surprised that there were older people on his friends' list, expressing his concern that abnormal thoughts might leak to his son through these people.

Khaled Mohamed stated that the current generation of children was raised from childhood to use electronic devices, and the majority of adolescents and children became familiar with the methods of circumvention and escaping from parental control while using the Internet.

He added that he discovered an account for his teenage daughter in the name of a type of flower, and when he tried to find out who was on her friend's list, she told him that she did not know them.

“Abu Ahmad” said that he discovered that his son had another account on a social media and electronic games website, through which he communicates with strangers over 20 years of age, and nothing is known about them.

Abdullah Hamed asserted that the presence of children alone in the cyberspace exposes them to blackmail from those with weak souls, proposing to strengthen family dialogue with them to prevent any negative behavior that may put them at risk.

He stressed that electronic monitoring of children is not sufficient on its own, indicating the need to make them aware of the type and size of risks that they may be exposed to via the Internet, and to encourage them to report if they are exposed to any attempt of extortion.

For its part, Abu Dhabi Police called on parents to monitor their children to protect them from electronic blackmail, noting that there are people impersonating girls and luring their victims with certain pictures and phrases, with the aim of blackmailing them later.

She added that extortion operations usually begin with emotional words, advising families not to be distracted by their children, and to ensure that they are protected from the dangers of bullying, threats, harassment and sharing of pictures.

It also called for girls to be warned against sharing and publishing their photos and videos on social media applications and websites, as this leads them to fall into the trap of electronic blackmail, and calls for informing the police if they are exposed to any such attempt.

Firewall first

Abu Dhabi Police warned against trusting unknown people through social media, and providing them with data, information, or personal photos that may be used in electronic blackmail.

She emphasized the lookout for attempts to blackmail through social media applications and sites, adding that the awareness of community members of the danger of disclosing personal information and data is the first firewall of cybercrime.

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