Meeting Scam Artists Online
By Bob McDonnell
Hemu Nigam locked away child predators in Los Angeles for 10 years. He prosecuted internet child exploiters across the nation, advised Congress on online child safety, and advised the President on cyberstalking.
He now runs security for MySpace.com, the biggest social networking portal on the planet. He, along with many other national technology leaders, is also a member of our Attorney General Youth Internet Safety Task Force.
“At the mall, you don’t go up to strangers and give them your home address and phone number,” Nigam said. Yet millions of kids are doing essentially that, and more, every day on the internet.
As the kids head back to school, parents should take an active role in their children’s internet socializing, knowing where they’re going online, who they’re talking to, and what they’re sharing.
Thanks to social networking over the internet, people are able to meet friends they otherwise would never have met. But scam artists and sex predators also use these opportunities to steal personal info and ruin people’s lives.
Last month, the Office of the Attorney General’s Computer Crime Unit successfully prosecuted a thief who stole $30,000 from victims across Virginia. She pieced together personal information on her computer, stole bank account numbers, and used a teenager’s identity to open credit cards. She’s now in jail, is required to repay the victims, and won’t be allowed back on the internet again for decades.
Comprised of educators, public safety officials, legislators, concerned parents, technology industry leaders, and other experts on child safety and internet issues, our Task Force is meeting across the Commonwealth. Its next meeting is on Sept. 19 in Henrico County at Deep Run High School. “The Task Force is a tremendous step forward in providing online safety to the citizens of Virginia,” Nigam of MySpace said. “We want to work with Attorney General McDonnell because he is a leader in this area.”
At every Task Force meeting there is time for public comment, and I encourage you to attend and let us know what you think should be done to keep kids safe online. (You can keep up with the latest news from our task force at www.vaag.com by clicking “Family Internet Safety.”)
Children should be cautious about posting their address, phone number, personal information, or where they work or hang out. In the past five years, millions of Americans have been victims of identity theft, including many students.
If you have been victimized over the internet, report it to your local police, then call our Victim Notification Hotline at 1-800-370-0459. We take our consumer protection job very seriously in the Office of the Attorney General. By working together and staying informed, we can help prevent crime and keep kids safer.