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I know you may be thinking, “Oh Lord. What now?” Yeah, there’s always something new in town on the web but this is nothing new. Just a new take on an old idea. The concept is simple: Some guy gets his hands on some not so appropriate images of your daughter (and in some cases, your son) and then uses those photos to extort her to perform sex acts via webcam or more photos, telling her that if she doesn’t want those original photos to go out to all of her family and friends, she better comply with his demands. There’s the story which hit the news, about a 40 year old man from Massachusetts who posed as a 17 year old to gain nude photos from underage girls, then extort them into performing sex acts on webcam. There’s also Anthony Stancl, an 18 year old senior who posed as a girl on Facebook to get nude photos of 30 of his fellow male classmates. He was arrested and is now doing 15 years in prison.

This is happening to teenagers and in some cases tweens, so what can you do to lessen the chances that your child will become a victim of one of these internet predators? We’ve outlined 5 steps you can take to help combat this problem.

1.Beginning when they’re young, start the dialogue (in an age appropriate manner) with your children about appropriate behaviors when they use the computer. The internet is not some OTHER life, it is part of their life. What they do on the ‘net has real consequences in real life. Future employers will use what they find on the ‘net to judge whether or not your child is a good candidate for a job. Colleges will do the same. If your child gets married or has children one day, the things they’re doing now may still be accessible, so would they want a future husband or children seeing what they’ve been doing? As your child enters the tweens and teens, be REAL. Be fank  and honest about posting suggestive images on the ‘net. Include this discussion as you begin to talk about courting and sex, you now, “the talk.” Add this to it, because more and more teens are using photo sharing as a part of courtship.

2.Keep your anti-virus up to date! One of the recent sextortion cases was made possible through the exploitation of over 200 persons computers via something called “Malware.” If you don’t know what that is, Wikipedia defines it as, “Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner’s informed consent.” In additon to an anti-virus program, you should have a malware, app like Spybot or read this article on one of my favorite sites, Lifehacker. It’s a roundup of the five best malware apps. Give it a read and see which one is right for you based on their recommendations.

3.Use parental control software. For older children like tweens and teens, we recommend NetNanny for your computer and MobileWatchdog or SMobileSystems’ Smobile Parent Controls (review of the latter pending) for your children’s cellphones. You don’t have to monitor everything they do, but the knowledge that you can see whatever they’re doing on their computers can often be a great deterrent in and of itself. Just keep in mind that good parental control software is never 100% fool-proof and doesn’t replace good parenting. The best thing you can do is talk to your children and even more importantly, listen to them. Nothing replaces a good relationship with your little, or not so little ones. Parental control software is in place because good kids make bad decisions and when they do, this provides you with another tool in your parenting arsenal to be able to have a corrective discussion with you children and address any issues which you may not have otherwise been privy to until they’ve become larger problems.

4.Choose an internet safety blog or three and make time to read them on a regular basis. I hope you’ll choose this one as one of your sources of information, but there are literally thousands out there in the blogosphere and many have great, up to date information about the latest threats and trends effecting your children. A couple we like are TheOnlineMom and GetNetWise.

5.This is an age-old tip, but one which bears repeating based on some of the sextortion problems which have arisen, NO COMPUTERS OR LAPTOPS IN THE BEDROOM. And if you do allow this, make sure there are no cameras on the laptops or computers and doors should be open during use. I’m still, very much, a proponent of keeping them out of children’s bedrooms altogether but I do realize that there are instances where a child’s desk and study space are in their bedroom. In that case, just follow the previous four tips and add this last one: if your child does have a computer in the room, position the desk so that the computer’s monitor is facing the door. I call this “SAFETY FENG SHUI.” If that screen is toward the door, mom or dad can drop by the room anytime unannounced and see what’s going on on that screen. Again, a great deterrent to a potential momentary lapse in judgment.

Fox11 News in Los Angeles just did an investigative story on some of the most notorious sextortionists on the web right now, and their M.O.s

You can also check out Hemanshu Nigam, a noted expert in the field of internet security speaking on the topic here:

What are some things you do or have done in your home to keep your children safe online so they don’t fall victim to schemes like this? One of the things we recommend offline is good, old fashioned spending time cultivating your relationship with your children. Check out our Daddy/Daughter Tea Tweet Up for a suggestion for dads and daughters which could go a long way to helping establish the lines of communication which would hopefully help keep your daughter from wanting the kind of attention that sending suggestive photos brings.

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