Latest Online Threats to Children Onlne (March 2025)
- John O'Maley
- Mar 17
- 12 min read
Updated: Mar 21
Latest Online Threats to Children Online (March 2025)
Full report.
Newsetter #8B
Children today face a widening array of digital threats as predators and scammers evolve their tactics. From social media and gaming platforms to messaging apps and virtual communities, offenders are exploiting technology – even artificial intelligence – to target minors. Below we explore the latest scams, AI-generated tools (like deepfakes and chatbots) used against children, and the grooming methods predators employ. We also provide practical recommendations for parental controls and protective measures to help keep kids safe.
Social Media and Messaging Risks
Predators on Social Platforms: Social networks and chat apps remain prime hunting grounds for online predators. The FBI estimates at any given time, about 500,000 predators are active online scanning social media, gaming apps, and chat rooms for children to target.
These adults often pose as kids or teens, sending friend requests or direct messages to earn a child’s trust. On popular apps like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or Kik, predators may create fake profiles (sometimes using stolen or AI-altered photos) and gradually groom victims by showing interest in their lives and hobbies. They often target younger users (preteens and early teens) who are more impressionable and may have public profiles or loose privacy settings.
Some even lurk in “kids-only” groups or hashtags, or abuse platform algorithms – for example, researchers found Facebook groups openly soliciting minors (e.g. titled “looking for 11-13 year old girlfriend”) that went unremoved and then led to recommendations of similar exploitative groups.
Grooming Tactics via Chat: Predators use messaging features to engage children in private conversations away from public view. On chat apps (WhatsApp, Discord, Facebook Messenger, etc.), they may shower children with compliments, sympathy, or gifts (like game credits) to build emotional bonds. Groomers often exploit a child’s trust and isolation – they look for kids who appear lonely or eager for attention.
Over time, they manipulate the child into sharing personal information, photos, or secrets, and may introduce sexual content once trust is established. A typical online predator may be grooming 10 or more victims simultaneously, moving from one child to the next in search of those most vulnerable.
Because identity is easy to fake online, kids might genuinely believe they’re talking to a fellow teen or a friendly mentor. Predators also exploit ephemeral messaging (like Snapchat’s disappearing snaps) – even though messages vanish, screenshots can be saved and later used for blackmail.
In anonymous chat apps (e.g. Whisper or Omegle), strangers can approach kids with little oversight, sometimes using location-based features to find local minors.
All of this makes social media and messaging a risky space where grooming, cyberbullying, and exposure to sexual content can occur if protections aren’t in place.
Online Gaming Platforms and Virtual Worlds
Risks in Gaming Communities: Popular games and virtual worlds have millions of young players – and unfortunately attract predators and scammers as well. Platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, and VR chat games let users interact via text and voice chat, which predators exploit to initiate contact during play. Children may view fellow players as teammates or friends, not realizing adults with bad intentions could be behind the avatars. Reports have highlighted that some gaming platforms struggle to filter inappropriate content or predators; one investigative report even alleged Roblox was rife with predatory behavior due to insufficient safeguards.
In open game lobbies, predators will often join games popular with kids and strike up conversations. They might pretend to be another kid who loves the game, helping with quests or sharing virtual items to build rapport. After gaining a child’s trust, they may suggest moving the chat to a private channel (like Discord or Skype) where parents or moderators have less visibility. In voice-enabled games or virtual reality, predators have been known to engage children in inappropriate talk or even simulate physical contact with avatars in VR spaces, taking advantage of the immersive environment to lower a child’s guard.
.Disturbingly, investigators have found cases in VR platforms where predators convinced children to participate in simulated sexual acts or “erotic role-play” as part of grooming – later coercing them into sending real explicit images or videos for “sextortion”.
Scams in Games: Beyond grooming dangers, online gaming has become a hotbed for scams targeting kids’ desire for in-game rewards. Cybercriminals know many children will click on anything promising free currency or rare items. One sophisticated scheme involves malicious “poison PDFs” that show up in web search results advertising “free Robux” or “exclusive Fortnite skins.” These PDFs are rigged to lure kids (and even those not actively playing the game) onto fake websites, which then steal login credentials or personal data (sometimes even credit card info).
Common gaming scams include:
Fake Freebies or Generators: Links or videos that claim to generate free game currency (Robux, V-Bucks, coins) but instead install malware or phish for passwords.
Item Trading Scams: In games with player trading, scammers trick kids into unfair trades – e.g. offering something enticing and then switching it last second with a low-value item, cheating.the victim out of their rare skins or items.
Impersonation Giveaways: Fraudsters pose as famous YouTubers, developers, or “admins” hosting a giveaway, and coax children into handing over account details or clicking bogus prize links.
For instance, there have been cases of YouTube star impersonation scams where kids get emails/messages seemingly from a popular influencer asking them to claim a prize – only to direct them to phishing pages.
Phishing Websites and Emails: Fake login pages mimicking game sites are used to capture a child’s username and password, which criminals then use to hijack the account or sell virtual goods.
Similarly, emails that look official (like “Minecraft password reset” or “Roblox support”) can trick children into divulging credentials.
Kids may not recognize these tricks as scams. As a result, gaming-related fraud rose significantly (up 64% in a recent year) as scammers exploit young players’ naivety.
Parents should be aware that a child begging for free game perks on YouTube or Discord could accidentally stumble into a phishing trap.
AI-Driven Scams and Deepfake Dangers
Generative AI as a Predator’s Tool: The rise of easy-to-use artificial intelligence tools in the last couple of years has created alarming new methods for predators to exploit children. Generative AI can produce hyper-realistic text, images, audio, and video – and predators have begun weaponizing these capabilities.
One major threat is the creation of deepfake child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Using AI image generators or “nudifying” software, predators can take an image of a clothed child and digitally create a nude or sexual image.
.These fake yet lifelike explicit images are spreading rapidly in predator communities – the Internet Watch Foundation reported a nearly five-fold increase in AI-generated child sexual abuse images in 2024.
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In one case, over 20,000 AI-generated abusive images of children were found on a single dark web forum in one mont.
Such content can be traded among offenders or used to groom and victimize children. For example, a predator might send an AI-created explicit photo that looks like a teen to a minor and say “I’ll send you a pic if you send me one back,” tricking the child into sharing real sexual images. In other cases, offenders use AI deepfakes to blackmail kids – they may generate a fake explicit image depicting the child and threaten to share it unless the victim sends actual sexual photos or performs on live camera.
The UK government recently noted that predators are leveraging these tactics, using AI to disguise their identities and create fake nudes to coerce children into further abuse.
This AI-enabled “sextortion” has become more common: scammers (often posing as attractive peers) use stolen or AI-generated nude images to entice a teen into sending their own, then extort money or more images by threatening exposure.
Many victims are adolescent boys who are too embarrassed to seek help, and tragically some have been driven to self-harm in such cases.
AI Chatbots and Voice Clones: Predators are also experimenting with AI chatbots and voice cloning to scale up their grooming operations. Advanced chatbots can mimic the slang, emojis, and style of kids’ speech, allowing a predator to deploy a “fake child” persona that feels very real to the victim. In fact, experts warn that AI-powered grooming bots can carry out conversations with multiple children at once, responding with “chilling accuracy” as if they were kids, which accelerates the grooming process and makes it harder to detect.
A predator could, for instance, program a chatbot to pose as a 12-year-old girl who loves the same games or music as the target, engaging the child in friendly chat 24/7 – something an adult would struggle to do manually. Similarly, AI voice cloning can imitate voices. There have been reports of scammers cloning a child’s voice (scraped from YouTube or TikTok videos) to call parents in fake kidnapping schemes.
While those “virtual kidnapping” scams target parents, one can imagine voice clones being used to deceive children too – e.g. a stranger could mimic a known teenager’s voice in a voice chat to seem more authentic, or even impersonate a parent’s voice in a voicemail to a child. These AI deceptions make it increasingly difficult for children (and adults) to distinguish real from fake. Law enforcement is struggling as well: investigators now face backlogs trying to determine which abuse images or videos are real and which are AI-generated, delaying rescues of real victims.
The bottom line is that generative AI has lowered the barrier for predators – anyone with an internet connection can access tools to create synthetic child abuse material or fake personas,
so parents and kids must be extra vigilant about believing everything they see or hear online.
Phishing, Fraud, and Other Online Scams Targeting Kids
Not all online threats are sexual in nature; many are financial or data theft scams adapted to prey on kids’ trust and curiosity. Phishing is a common one – children might receive an email or DM that looks like it’s from a game company, a popular YouTuber, or even a friend, asking them to click a link. These links can lead to fake login pages that steal passwords or to downloads that install malware. For instance, a child might get a message: “🎁 You’ve been gifted a month of Minecraft Premium! Click here to claim.” If they click and enter account info, it goes straight to scammers. Imposter scams also flourish on platforms kids use. Some scammers impersonate authority figures (like “customer support” or an admin) and claim the child’s account will be banned unless they verify their password – a ruse to steal the account. Others pose as a famous influencer offering a giveaway, or even as the child’s online friend asking for a favor (e.g. “I lost access to my account, can I use yours?”). Identity theft and fraud can result if a child unwittingly gives away family information. According to cybersecurity reports, AI is making phishing more convincing – scammers use AI tools to draft very personalized messages with correct grammar and details gleaned from social media, so even tech-savvy teens can be fooled. We’re also seeing the rise of deepfake videos in scams: for example, scammers have created deepfake videos of teachers or principals to send to students, directing them to fraudulent sites (this is an emerging form of school-targeted phishing).
While younger children may be less exposed to phishing emails, they are frequently targeted through in-game chats, text messages, and videos that promote scam links. Parents should keep an eye on things like unexpected pop-ups or “cheat tool” downloads on their kid’s devices – these often carry viruses or spyware.
Another growing menace is financial sextortion scams, which combine phishing with blackmail. As mentioned earlier, criminals (often overseas) trick teens into sending intimate photos by posing online as a flirtatious peer; once they have one or two images, they demand money under threat of sending the pictures to the victim’s contacts. The FBI has seen a huge increase in sextortion cases involving children and teens in the past two years.
These scams can start on any app or game – sometimes the predator threatens the child right away, claiming “I have a nude of you” (even if it’s fake) and demanding more images, but more often they first cultivate a fake relationship.
.Within minutes or hours of receiving compromising content, the scammer will pressure the victim to pay (often via gift cards or digital payments) and may harass them relentlessly.
The shame and fear make many kids stay silent.
Parents should be aware of this pattern and reassure children that no matter what was shared, they won’t be in trouble for coming forward – the predators are the ones at fault.
Safeguarding Children Online: Parental Controls and Tips
While the online landscape can seem daunting, parents and caregivers can take proactive steps to protect children. Here are key protective measures and parental control strategies to help safeguard kids online in 2025:
Open Communication and Education: Start the conversation early about internet safety. Discuss online risks and “red flags” with your children before they start using new apps or sites.
Encourage them to ask questions and let them know they can always come to you if something online makes them uncomfortable. Emphasize that people met online may not be who they claim,
and that anything shared privately could be saved or reposted publicly without their consent
offenderwatch.com. Establish an online safety plan with clear rules (for example: no friending strangers, no moving chats off-platform without permission, no sharing personal pics) so kids know your expectations up front.
Supervision and Device Controls: Especially for younger children, keep internet devices in common areas of the home where you can casually monitor activity.
Set reasonable screen time limits and use built-in parental controls on phones, tablets, and game consoles to restrict content by age rating. Regularly check your child’s friend lists, profiles, and posts (with their knowledge) to ensure they’re only interacting with people you know and trust in real life.
For teens, complete surveillance may not be practical, but maintain awareness of what platforms they use and remind them that you’ll randomly review things for safety. Utilizing parental control software or apps can help – tools like Bark, Qustodio, or Norton Family can filter out adult content, set time limits, and even flag suspicious messages by scanning for keywords related to bullying, sex, or self-harm. On family computers, consider installing robust antivirus and anti-malware programs to block dangerous downloads.
Review Apps, Games, and Settings: Before your child installs a new app or game, research it together. Look at the privacy settings and disable features that share location or allow strangers to contact your child.
For example, set social media profiles to private, turn off friend-finder features, and limit who can direct message them. Be cautious with apps that have end-to-end encryption, disappearing messages, or anonymous posting – these can be misused by predators.
If your child is on a gaming platform, explore its parental controls: many games let you restrict chat to friends-only, block chat entirely for younger kids, or use filters for profanity. On VR platforms, use available safety features (like “guardian” boundaries, or voice chat mute controls) and supervise when possible, since VR can feel very real to kids. Regularly update devices and applications too – updates often patch security flaws that scammers exploit.
Teach Privacy and Skepticism: Make sure your kids know never to share personal information (full name, address, school, passwords, etc.) or photos/videos with people they meet online.
Remind them that once something is posted or sent, it can live forever on the internet,
even if it’s deleted or set to disappear. Role-play some scenarios: What if someone online asks for your picture? Or says something weirdly personal? Helping kids recognize grooming strategies (like flattery, gift-giving, or adults asking them to keep secrets) can empower them to say no. Also teach them to be skeptical of too-good-to-be-true offers – e.g. free game items or get-rich-quick schemes – and to never click unknown links or download files from random people. Consider a family rule that any online purchase or new account signup must go through a parent.
Stay Alert to Changes: Pay attention to your child’s mood and behavior regarding online activity. Sudden secrecy, excessive use of a particular app, aggression or anxiety when not online, or receiving unfamiliar gifts/mail could be warning signs of an online predator or cyberbully. Watch for red flags like your child trying to hide their screen when you approach, or talking about a “new friend” you’ve never heard of. Such changes might warrant gentle questioning and possibly checking their devices. According to federal guidance, be alert for signs like withdrawn behavior, extreme distress after using devices, or new reluctance to go to school – these can indicate something harmful is happening online.
Keeping open lines of communication is critical; reassure your kids that they won’t be judged or punished for telling you about an uncomfortable situation.
Use Reporting and Blocking Tools: Teach children how to block and report abusive or suspicious users on each platform.
Nearly every social media and gaming service has a “block user” and “report” function – show your kids how to use them and encourage them to do so if someone harasses them or asks for inappropriate things. If a serious incident occurs (like receiving sexual solicitations or threats), document it and report it. Save screenshots or messages as evidence. You can report predators or exploitative content to law enforcement and cyber tip lines – for example, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline (report.cybertip.org) is a centralized place to report child sexual exploitation.
In urgent cases (like an apparent trafficking situation or ongoing extortion), don’t hesitate to contact your local police or FBI field office. Prompt reporting can not only protect your child but also help authorities stop the perpetrator from harming others.
By staying informed about these evolving threats – from AI-generated deepfakes to old-fashioned phishing schemes – parents and guardians can better prepare their children for safe online experiences. The internet will always have dangers, but with strong communication, smart use of parental controls, and a healthy sense of caution, kids can enjoy the benefits of social media, gaming, and online learning while minimizing the risks.
Keeping an open dialogue and educating children about how to navigate the digital world is ultimately the most effective way to guard them against online predators and scams
Deacon John O'Maley
Founder
Parents Protecting Childen,Inc.

Empowering Catholic families to navigate the digital world with faith, safety, & responsibility
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