While many of us and our children have gone back to work and school, a lot of people across the country are still dealing with blended online and in-person meetings, lectures, webinars and school lessons.The FBI continues to educate the public about the threat of “Zoombombing,” or the infiltration of malicious actors in private online meetings, and has reported over 240 instances of Zoom disruptions from March to May of this year. Many Zoombombs include broadcasted videos depicting child sexual abuse material, nudity, discriminatory images and profanity.Here are some quick tips from the OffenderWatch team to keep you and your children safe during Zoom or other web conference meetings:

1. Meeting ID Validation

Check to make sure every Zoom call you and your children participate in has a specific meeting ID and a unique password for entry. Sending direct links to a Zoom call is the easiest way to have unwanted visitors enter the meeting if it falls into the wrong hands.Also, if you do utilize a Zoom meeting room attached to your personal meeting ID, never share this on social media. This is seen as an open invitation to enter a meeting from online trolls and predators that are out combing the internet for potential targets.

2. Limit Screen Share Access

If you are the host, make sure to adjust settings to restrict screen sharing capabilities by default. If you need another person within a meeting to share a screen, you can allow specific permissions when it is necessary while in the meeting.

3. Utilize Waiting Rooms

By prescreening guests upon entry, most unknown visitors will not be able to drop in when they are unwanted. To adjust this setting, go to your master account settings, go to the “Meetings” tab and click on “Waiting Room” options to make it the default for all meetings.Make sure to also disable the option that allows others to join before the host. This should be disabled by default, but make sure to check your settings to confirm.

4. Lock the Meeting

Once everyone has joined the meeting, a host can simply lock it from allowing additional individuals to join. While this may not prevent the deftest of hackers, it will stop most rogue actors.

5. In Case of a Zoombomb

Say that you’ve followed all of the advice listed above and an unknown individual has entered the Zoom meeting. Stay calm and immediately go to the “Participants List” in the navigation sidebar and click “Mute All Controls” to prevent unwelcome audio. Then, on the same menu, click the “Lock Meeting” section to begin removing an unwanted participant.To prevent future unwanted events, Zoom has recently created a new K-12 program that heavily restricts screen share access to meeting attendees. They’ve also offered additional training services to equip educators for remote and hybrid learning environments that are accessible through their website.

The average person has over 45 apps.  Parents should look out for these potentially dangerous apps on their child's phone.

ASKfm is a social media app that encourages people to allow anonymous users to ask them questions. It is known for cyber-bullying, trolling, swatting, and encouraging suicidal behaviors. Avoid this app. Badoo is an adult dating app. While age restrictions are listed, it is easy for a curious teen to create a profile to meet older people online. Bumble is another dating apps for adults, but teens still find ways to join. Bigo Live is a live streaming app. Users can keep a video diary (vlog), live stream while playing video games, and host their own shows. There is no age verification and users must provide their age and location. Bullying, nudity, violence, and profanity is common. Calculator Apps are a group apps disguised as calculators that allow kids to hide their photos, videos, and their browser history from you. Grindr is a dating app for the LGBTQ community. Users can share photos, send messages, and meet up based on the phone’s GPS location. Holla is a video chat app that allows users to post videos and connect with strangers in their area. It is easy to fake age and can put your child at risk of interacting and meeting with predators. Hot or Not rates users on attractiveness. There is no age verification and users can send each other messages. Kik Messenger i s a messaging app specifically for kids, where users' profile pictures appear in a little bubble next to their text, and they can quickly text photos, sketches, or even pre-designed greeting cards. But anyone can join so anyone can contact or direct message your child. LiveMe is a live streaming app, but you do not know who is watching. Your child can be exposed to inappropriate content, with strangers, and your kid’s location is revealed. Look is a live video and text messaging app that also encourages users to connect with strangers nearby. Strangers can message kids easily, and since there are no content filters, kids can come across inappropriate content. MeetMe is mostly a dating app where your child can easily be in contact with users much older than them. Skout is a flirting app that is used to meet and chat with new people. Teens and adults are in different groups, but ages are not verified. SnapChat allows users to send messages, photos and videos that disappear after they are received. Kids may use the app to send racy pics because they believe the images cannot be saved and circulated. But users can take a screenshot before the image vanishes in the app. It also includes a map of other users that may result in messaging or meetings with people your child does not know. TikTok has recently become very popular for sharing user-created videos that can contain bad words and mature content. Tinder is a dating or an anonymous hook-up locator used by 20-somethings, college students, and even younger teens. Users view each other’s photos and can send messaging to arrange a meeting. This app puts kids at risk for catfishing, sexual harassment, stalking, and worse. Tellonym is a messenger app that allows kids to ask and answer questions anonymously. It is extremely popular in middle schools and high schools and has been linked to cyberbullying, violent threats, and sexual content. IMVU is an Instant Messaging Virtual Universe, where users interact with each other as avatars.All profiles are public. Sexual talk often occurs, and nudity and sexual encounters are found in areas that are for 18 and older. The Chat Now feature randomly pairs users and can lead to inappropriate interactions. There can be bullying and predators trying to get other users to share their phone numbers and to send pictures. Houseparty lets friends communicate with live video and texts in chat groups. You can create a “live” place to connect on and off throughout the day or meet people secretively. There is no screening and the video is live, so there's nothing to keep kids from inappropriate content. Voxer is a push-to-talk walkie-talkie app that allows users to quickly exchange short voice messages and chats. Although mostly used by adults and people using it for their job, is becoming popular with teens. However, cyberbullying can be more when spoken and can be played repeatedly. WhatsApp is an online phone app for making calls and text messages without using a phone carrier. It comes with unlimited talk, text, video, and picture sharing that is unmonitored. Whisper is an app where kids can share feelings and secrets without filtering while remaining anonymous. But it can reveal your child’s location for a meetup.

Is your child at risk online? Here are five questions for parents to reduce the risk that your child would become a victim of online exploitation, sextortion, or sex trafficking.  

What is your child’s age and gender?

• Teens and preteens (11-15) are most vulnerable as they are most curious about sex and most naïve about predators.
• Girls are targeted and exploited 5 times more than boys.
• Talk to her about making friends online and sharing photos. 

Have you reviewed the apps, messages, calls, and images on your child’s phone?

• Look for unusually suggestive images or conversations. Talk about it with your child.
• Do her conversations include new slang, or her appearance become overly sexualized?
• Does your child not allow access to her device? Is she becoming isolated or hiding their device?

Is your child meeting new ‘friends’ that they’ve only known through the Internet?

• Does she know them in real life? Do they strive to get many followers or to become famous?
• Does she have a new boyfriend —particularly an older one? Is she hiding a boyfriend or not willing to introduce family or friends to him?
• Is she prone to run away, perhaps to meet her friend?

Have you searched for dangerous apps on your child’s phone?

• Predators know which apps parents screen and will move the conversation with your child to another account or a secret chat app. Look for these 20+ Most Dangerous Apps
• Does your child have a second device and/or multiple accounts on social media?
• Consider getting apps that detect dangerous apps, monitor app use, and do location tracking with alerts, like the OffenderWatch SVN App.

Have you had a conversation with your child on online safety, how they choose friends, and how to respond should anyone make them feel uncomfortable or suggest something inappropriate?

• Review these Tips for Talking to children about sex offenders. 
• Is your Child at Risk Online? Consider checking for offenders nearby, and monitoring the movement and communication of your child with the OffenderWatch SVN App.
• If you suspect abuse, immediately contact local law enforcement office or dial 911 or contact the CyberTipline 1-800-THE LOST.

You may have received a notice of a registered sex offender that moved close to where you live. Maybe you are concerned because your child walks to the school bus past the home of a registered sex offender. Many parents print the map of offenders in their neighborhood before their children trick-or-treat or sell candy door-to-door for school fundraisers. Maybe you have the OffenderWatch App on your child’s phone. Now how do you talk to your child about sex offenders? 

How do I Talk to My Kids About Sex Offenders?

Grade-schoolers can begin to understand that a person who appears nice can have hurtful intentions.

• Tell her that while most people care about children and would help them in any situation, a few people hurt children.
• Stress to her the importance of being cautious of people she doesn’t know.
• She should not walk or ride bikes in the neighborhood without adult supervision, or if old enough, she should only do so in the company of two or more friends.
• Say that a man who was in prison lives nearby.
• Use the notice to point this man out to your child and tell her to stay away from him.

Answering your Child’s Questions

Many children will accept your directions for steering clear of the person. Others will have questions. You’ll need to explain further because if you don’t, she’ll find someone else to ask. You want her to get his information from you.

Child: Why was he in prison?
Parent: He hurt a child.

Child: What did he do?
Parent: He touched the child inappropriately.

Child: Did he hit her?
Parent: No, he touched her private area, close to where she goes to the bathroom. That’s not okay, it’s a crime.

Child: Why did he do that?
Parent: Some things you won’t understand until you’re older, and this is one of them. I don’t completely understand it myself.

Further Precautions

Even after your explanation and warning, you might need to see that an adult escorts your child and her friends home from school and you may want to keep her from roaming the neighborhood on her bicycle. If approached by the man in question, tell your child to get away quickly. She should let you know what happened when she gets home or tell an adult nearby, or if she has a cell phone, she should call you. Here are some more basic safety skills.

• Teach your child to trust her feelings and say NO and run away from a situation that doesn’t feel right.
• There are some strangers that can assist her if she needs help – other parents with children, other children, police in uniform or store clerks in the mall.
• Teach her to dial 911.

What if my Child is Contacted by a Registered Sex Offender?

Do not confront the individual. Respect the offender’s rights as a citizen. If the behavior of the individual seems inappropriate, contact your local law enforcement and inform them of your suspicion. If your child received an email or text message, be sure to save it and take a screen shot of it. If you received an email or post card notice about an offender, contact the local agency listed on the notice. Or call your local Sheriff’s Office. Your local enforcement will investigate for you.

Due to families spending more time at home and online, children are at an unprecedented risk of being exploited by sexual predators, and suspects may be more likely to coerce victims through sexploitation, according to the FBI.In a March 23 statement from the FBI, the investigative agency warned parents that “due to school closings as a result of COVID-19, children will potentially have an increased online presence and/or be in a position that puts them at an inadvertent risk.” Currently, virtual school conference calls across the country are facing harassment from “zoom-bombs” where individuals are entering meetings and exposing teachers and students to pornography.Here are some helpful tips on how to talk to your child about online predators:

1. Talk with kids about what is or isn’t appropriate contact on the internet.

Explain to a child that boundaries are necessary on the internet. Remind them that if they feel like they’re ever in an unsafe situation, reiterate that it is not their fault and you are always there to help them.

2. Monitor children’s behavior for common signs of online abuse.

If your child is experiencing an increase in nightmares, withdrawn behavior, angry outbursts, anxiety, depression, not wanting to be left alone with an individual or sexual knowledge, it could be a sign that they’re being harassed by a sexual predator.

3. Review all apps on their devices.

Talk to your child regularly about their favorite websites and apps. Review and approve games and apps before they are downloaded. Additionally, make sure privacy settings are set to the strictest level possible for online gaming systems and electronics.

4. If you see evidence of illicit material sent to your child, contact your law enforcement agency.

If you believe someone is a victim of child sexual exploitation, contact your local law enforcement agency and your local FBI field office. Submit a tip online attips.fbi.gov.

• Make sure to provide as much of the following as possible: name and/or username of the subject, email addresses, phone numbers, websites used by the suspect and all documentation of communication.

5. Download the OffenderWatch app.

To keep a child safer online, download the OffenderWatch Safe Virtual Neighborhood app to monitor unwanted communication from registered sex offenders. By signing up with Safe Virtual Neighborhood, parents are alerted if a registered sex offender engages their children through Snapchat, texts, phone calls or emails. Parents are also alerted if their child is near a sex offender’s home for an extended period of time.

Internet Safety Tips for Teens

Here are some things you can do to stay safe online.

• Be smart about what you post on the Web and what you say to others. The Web is a lot more public and permanent than it seems.
• Provocative and sexy names and pictures can draw attention from people you don't want in your life.
• Sexy pictures can get you into trouble with the law. If you are underage, they may be considered child pornography, a serious crime.
• Be careful what you download or look at, even for a laugh. Some of the images on the Internet are extreme, and you can’t “unsee” something.
• Going to sex chat rooms and other sex sites may connect you with people who can harass you in ways you don't anticipate.
• Free downloads and file-sharing can put pornography on your computer that you may not want and can be hard to get rid of. Any pornography that shows children or teens under 18 is illegal child pornography and can get you in big trouble.
• Adults who talk to you about sex online are committing a crime. So are adults who meet underage teens for sex. Some teens think it might be fun, harmless or romantic, but it means serious trouble for everyone. It’s best to report it.
• Don't play along with people on the Web who are acting badly, taking risks and being weird. Even if you think it's harmless and feel like you can handle it, it only encourages them and may endanger other young people.
• Report it when other people are acting weird and inappropriately or harassing you or others. It's less trouble just to log off, but these people may be dangerous. Save the communication. Contact the site management, your service provider, the NCMEC CyberTipline 1-800-843-5678, the FBI or your local police.
• Don't let friends influence your better judgment. If you are surfing with other kids, don't let them pressure you to do things you ordinarily wouldn't.
• Be careful if you ever go to meet someone you have gotten to know through the Internet. You may think you know them well, but they may fool you. Go with a friend. Tell your parents. Meet in a public place. Make sure you have your cell phone and an exit plan.
• Don’t harass others. People may retaliate in ways you don’t expect.
• You can overestimate your ability to handle things. It may feel like you are careful, savvy, aware of dangers, and able to manage the risks you take, but there are always unknowns. Don’t risk disasters.

Learn More: Crimes Against Children Research Center

What do I do if you feel threatened or in danger online?

Report it when other people are acting weird and inappropriately or harassing you or others online. It's less trouble just to log off, but these people may be dangerous. Save the communication. Speak with your parents, teacher, or other trusted adult. Contact the site management, your service provider, the NCMEC CyberTipline 1-800-843-5678, your local police, or dial 911.

Get alerts if a registered sex offender makes contact by email or text

OffenderWatch Safe Virtual Neighborhood is the only app that can alert parents of contact from registered sex offenders.