Source NSPCC published on this website Thursday 29 August 2024 by Jill Powell

The NSPCC say:

“The new government needs close the legal loophole in England and end the use of physical punishment against children.

“In the last year, the NSPCC has received triple the amount of calls to their Helpline surrounding concerns about children experiencing physical punishment.

“45% of these calls were serious enough to require a referral to social services or the police.

“The new government must scrap the defence of 'reasonable punishment' and give equal protection against assault for both adults and children.”

To read their news article

Source: SWGfL published on this website Tuesday 27 August 2024 by Jill Powell

Social media has transformed how we communicate, share information, and connect with others, which has created new and positive opportunities for many people. However, alongside these benefits, social media platforms can also introduce individuals to harmful content. From cyberbullying and harassment to the spread of misinformation and impersonation, the impact of harmful content on social media can have a significant impact on others.

SWGfL’s Report Harmful Content service has seen first-hand how harmful online content can affect others, and works alongside participating platforms as a national alternative dispute resolution service empowering anyone over the age of 13 and living in the UK to report online harm.

Read their article to explore the advice Report Harmful Content has for reporting harmful content online.

Source: Action Fraud published on this website Wednesday 28 August 2024 by Jill Powell

Students and those going back to university are being warned about the top fraud types affecting young people, as new data reveals almost 69,000 reports were received from people aged between 11 and 29, losing a total of £143.7 million in 2023.

Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, has launched a student safety campaign, revealing the top frauds to look out for and how to prevent themselves from becoming a target.

This year, Action Fraud reveals the top five frauds most reported by those aged between 11 and 29 to give students and young people a heads up on what to look out to protect themselves.

What are the top fraud types to look out for as a student?

1. Investment fraud: with a total loss of £29,509,631

Criminals will target students looking to make quick-wins with available cash through cryptocurrency or schemes with a promise of high return investment. They are usually easily targeted through social media and online where many investment schemes operate.

1. Fake job fraud: with a total loss of £149,719

Students looking for job opportunities can be targeted by fraudulent adverts aimed at stealing personal information or money. Students might be asked for an upfront payment for a fake consultation or extra help finding a job, but the fraudster does not deliver.

1. Rental fraud: with a total loss of £4,270,255

Rental fraudsters often target students looking for university accommodation. Fraudsters ask students to pay fees in advance without seeing a property first, and as a result they lose money as well as somewhere to live.

1. Online shopping fraud: with a total loss of £9,199,951

Often fraudsters will create fake websites or replicate legitimate online stores to trick customers into providing their personal and financial information for a purchase that isn’t real. This can lead to those details being used for criminal activity.

1. Ticket fraud: with a total loss of £1,053,493

Fraudsters will use opportunities, like highly in-demand events, to target students by selling fake tickets. Students looking for cheap deals for freshers’ events can also be targets.

What can you do to protect yourself from fraud?

Here is some guidance to help students and others protect themselves online, whilst starting the new the school or university year.

• Protect your online accounts: the password you use for your email account should be different from all your other passwords for online accounts. Use three random words to create a strong and memorable password, and enable 2-step verification (2SV).
• Be cautious about how you send money: avoid paying via bank transfer and don’t be pressured into transferring large sums of money. Any trusted organisation will not force you to transfer money on the spot and only a fraudster will try to rush you. For making purchases online, use a credit card if you can.
• Be wary of unsolicited emails, texts or contact on social media: from seeing unbelievably good deals on tickets, to seeing a suspicious rental property advertised, always double check the authenticity of what you are going to buy online before making a purchase or paying upfront fees.
  • Report suspicious emails by forwarding them to: report@phishing.gov.uk
  • Report suspicious text messages or spam calls free of charge to 7726

• For more tips on student safety: actionfraud.police.uk/studentsafety

If you’ve lost money or provided your financial information to someone, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

Source: Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) published on this website Friday 23 August 2024 by Jill Powell

Reports involving sexual extortion are on the rise as criminals become more ‘adept’ at targeting younger children

Children as young as 11 are being preyed on in sextortion scams, as criminal gangs are targeting younger victims and girls in an “exponential increase in cruelty”.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is warning that younger children, as well as increasing numbers of girls, are now being exposed to sexual extortion, commonly known as “sextortion”.

This is where a criminal will coerce or trick a child into sharing nude or sexual imagery, often while pretending to be someone else, then threaten to share the imagery with the victim’s family and friends, or on the open web, if money is not sent.

Children and young people targeted this way are exposed to violent threats and abuse, and made to feel isolated and humiliated. Some children and young people have even taken their own lives as a result of the shame and distress inflicted on them by the criminals.

The IWF, which is the UK’s front line against child sexual abuse imagery online, is now warning that organised criminals are becoming “more adept” at extorting money from children.

New data released today (23 August 2024) by the IWF shows:

Overall – in the first six months of 2024, child sexual abuse reports related to sexual extortion are up 19% compared to the same period in 2023.

Victims are getting younger – with a 25% increase in reports involving 14-15 year olds compared to the previous year.

IWF analysts have even seen some children aged between 11 and 13 years old.

While boys still make up the majority of victims, there has been a 2,600% increase in reports involving girls.

In the first six months of this year, the IWF dealt with 89 confirmed reports of child sexual abuse imagery involving sextortion. This is a 19% increase on the 75 such reports it confirmed in the first half of 2023.

While children aged 16 and 17 still make up the majority of victims, there has been a 25% increase in younger, 4 and 15-year-old victims (40 reports compared to 32 in 2023).

This year, for the first time, there have even been three confirmed reports involving children aged 11-13 years.

The IWF, along with Childline, runs the Report Remove helpline – a world-first service which gives children the power to identify and report images of their own sexual abuse. If this imagery is criminal, the IWF can then remove from the internet, or pre-emptively block them before scammers or other criminals can share them on the open web.

Heidi Kempster, Deputy CEO of the IWF, said: “These crimes really do plumb the depths of cruelty and hatefulness. For the victims, being threatened like this can put them in a desperate, lonely place. They are children, and they are frightened. To them, I want to say, you are not alone, and you are not powerless. We are here to help.

“Report Remove can give children and young people back the power, and can be a ray of hope for the increasing numbers of children being snared by these criminals.

“We also want to see the Government bring forward legislation to ensure AI nudifying technology is not available to UK-based users, and to encourage other governments globally to take similar measures.

“We know offenders are already exploring the possibilities of using AI-generated nude imagery to begin the process of blackmailing children and young people. This technology could pour petrol on what is already a fire that risks getting out of control.”

In previous years, criminals running sextortion scams had largely targeted boys. In the first half of 2023, almost all the sextortion reports dealt with by the IWF involved boys.

So far in 2024, IWF analysts have confirmed 27 reports of sextortion involving girls, a 2,600% increase compared to the same period last year.

Tamsin McNally, Hotline Manager at the IWF, said: “These criminals are becoming more adept at exploiting children online, and they are widening their nets to catch as many children as possible, including more girls than we have seen in previous years.

“I’ve been at the IWF for ten years and the way these children are being targeted is among the cruellest things I’ve ever seen. The exponential increase in cruelty associated with sextortion has been on a whole other level.  

“I see at least one sextortion report come in every day. The sense of shame and fear inflicted on victims, makes it so hard for them to speak out about what is happening to them. We need to keep pushing the knowledge there is something they can do to take power away from the criminals.

“We must warn young people that the people you talk to online may not be who they say they are. Have that in the back of your mind but young people need to know we are here and there is something they can do. There’s no judgement, we are here to help.”