The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office hosting a series of “Inside the Dark Web” classes training parents and guardians on how to protect children online.
Cumberland County Investigator Sarah Smith said the department is offering the training because of an alarming increase in online activity among juveniles. Smith said many children are hiding their digital interactions from parents who may not know how to navigate mobile devices or recognize current trends. Smith said blackmail and “sextortion” cases remain prevalent.
“Unfortunately, the kids are very impressionable and they’re very trusting,” Smith said. “And what we’re seeing is these predators online and these subjects are able to gain their trust instantly. And this could lead to the kids being sextorted, it could lead to them sending images of themselves that they shouldn’t, it could lead to them giving addresses, personal information of them, maybe it could lead to them having to pay whoever is blackmailing them, or it could also lead to much darker things, like obviously the predators locating them, harming them physically.”
Smith said parents often lack awareness regarding the reality of these situations until an investigation begins. Smith said the classes aim to prepare families to identify red flags and understand the necessary steps to take if a child becomes a victim of an internet crime. Smith said she is concerned about the number of parents who do not fully understand how these apps work.
“I want them to be aware of all of these dangers,” Smith said. “I don’t want them to think that it’s taboo and ‘Oh my gosh, my child shouldn’t have a phone.’ I just want them to be aware that they need to stay up to date with all of the current trends and everything going on and they need to be aware of everything that their kid could be doing on the phone and have that open communication with their child.”
Smith said increasing technical proficiency allows parents to uncover hidden apps and locations, like Snapchat’s “My Eyes Only” folder or recently deleted pictures on camera rolls, while learning how to recover data. Smith said parents should also learn how to navigate security settings and set parental controls on social media platforms.
“I think that if parents are aware of some of the hidden apps, hidden locations, how to recover some data on their kid’s phone, if they’re just more aware of how to get through some of the security settings, how to set parental controls and just how to better operate a phone or social media themselves, that they’ll be able to uncover and prevent some of the things that are going unseen by them when they do look into their children’s phone,” Smith said.
Smith said several platforms have become repeat sources of concern for law enforcement, including Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Roblox, Discord, and Bigo Live. Smith said she recommends that children do not have social media accounts until they are at least 16 years old.
“I just want them to be informed, basically,” Smith said. “I want them to educate themselves because obviously tech is growing more and more every day and we’re already behind, so it’s our responsibility to try to keep up with the times to make sure that our children are safe. And if parents can just be more aware of these things going on, then then they can have that little sense of urgency whenever they do see a red flag going on.”
Smith said very few parents currently know how to find hidden apps or recover recently deleted messages. Smith said this lack of technical knowledge often allows cases of exploitation to go unnoticed.
“That’s very concerning,” Smith said. “That’s where a lot of our cases are going undetected for months, years at a time.”
The “Inside the Dark Web” classes are scheduled for Aug. 3 and Nov. 2 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
