Online predator

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Mug shots of the fifty online predators charged in MSNBC's  Riverside, California To Catch a Predator operation
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Mug shots of the fifty online predators charged in MSNBC's Riverside, California To Catch a Predator operation

An online predator is an Internet user who exploits vulnerable people for sexual or financial purposes.

Children and the elderly are most often the victims of online predators. Experts recommend not providing personally identifiable information such as a name, password, phone number, address or credit card numbers.[1]

While chat and instant messaging is a widely known playground for online predators, you can also see them popping up in other well known places. For example MySpace has received a great deal of attention regarding online predators looking up profiles of children in hopes they can use any information the child provides against them and start the predatory process.[2]

Many parents are not aware of the danger their children may be in with regards to providing personal information on their blogs, profiles, etc..[3] Some parents on the other hand do understand that they need to discuss the potential dangers with their children and explain to them that they should never provide any personal information online.[3]

Other things that parents have been doing to prevent their child from being exposed to an online predator would be to use a monitoring software to keep an eye on their kids computer activity.[4]

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