Predators change tactics fast — so do we. This is where we track the newest methods being used to exploit children, so your family is never caught off guard.
Fastest-growing · 2025AI-generated imagery
Your child's photos are now raw material
Predators feed ordinary, fully-clothed photos — school pictures, team rosters, social posts — into "nudify" and deepfake AI tools to create fake explicit images, then use them to shame or extort kids. The Internet Watch Foundation found 3,443 AI-generated child-abuse videos in 2025 — up more than 26,000% in a year.
Do thisSet your kids' accounts to private and ask schools and teams where photos get posted. A fake image is still a crime.
Most urgentFinancial sextortion
Sextortion: the scam that targets your son
A stranger poses as a peer, gets one explicit image, then threatens to send it to everyone unless your child pays. It moves fast and boys are heavily targeted — NCMEC logged 1.4 million online-enticement reports in 2025, up 156% in a single year.
Do thisTell your kids now — if anyone threatens them over an image, it's not their fault, they're not in trouble with you, and they should stop responding, save evidence, and come to you. Paying never makes it stop.
FBI alert · 2026Games & chat apps
Predators are hiding in games & chat apps
The FBI has confirmed all 56 field offices are investigating violent online networks like "764" that hunt for lonely or hurting kids on gaming apps, chat, and social media — manipulating them into sending images and harming themselves.
Do thisKnow the apps your kids use, keep the relationship open so a struggling child talks to you first, and watch for secrecy, new "online friends," or sudden mood changes.
If your child is already caught in one of these situations, they need support, not blame. This is happening to thousands of good kids in good homes — reporting is the path to help, and you are not alone.