Cyber Crimes On The Rise

The Boone County Cyber Crime task force met with parents to warn them about what investigators are finding on Thursday.”We are seeing a lot of sexting and cyber bullying,” Boone County Cyber Crime task force investigator Andy Anderson said, “The best way to prevent this is by having parents educate their children on the dangers of these crimes.”According to Anderson, when the task force goes undercover they notice that predators spend a lot of time creating relationships with them.”They spend a lot of time with your children and will do whatever it takes to get on good terms with them. After a while they will ask for inappropriate pictures or personal information,” Anderson said.According to Anderson, if predators try and meet up with children, it more often happens during the day because that is when children are less supervised. “You need to talk with your children about what is appropriate and what isn’t online. Especially when it comes to pictures and personal information,” Anderson said. “It’s also good to have a policy in your house of checking your children’s phones because it isn’t a bad thing to do.”Anderson recommends to act quickly if your child does fall victim to a cyber crime by either ceasing communication or reporting it to police.