If there’s one reason why parents should constantly monitor their children’s digital lifestyle, it’s that pedophile activity is on the rise including in online games.
Based on recorded data by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children from March 1 to May this year, there have been 279,166 cases involving online sexual exploitation of children or OSEC.
That’s a drastic increase of 264% when compared to the number of OSEC cases reported last year during the same period.
Partly contributing to the increase is the economic shutdown that’s caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as children spend more time online for entertainment and education.
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With online gaming servers as their new “hunting grounds,” pedophiles pretend to be children themselves to lure vulnerable kids to do their bidding.
One of their tactics is to steal the children’s usernames and passwords, lock them out of their accounts, and extort them into performing livestreamed sexual activities in exchange for regaining access to their accounts.
Videos, photos and livestreams depicting sexual abuse are sold to buyers abroad.
Parents, since they can’t be around 24/7, are advised to be knowledgeable and make use of safeguards and tools to protect their children online.
Via: One News