Police are searching for four men as an Australian city is rocked by a series of attempts to lure young students into vans.
Last month, four boys aged between 10 and 15 were approached by men in white vans in suburban Melbourne.
All the children escaped by running away or refusing the offer and walking away before raising the alarm.
The most recent incident occurred on Tuesday when a man in a white van approached a 10-year-old boy in Boronia, in the east of the city, around 10:30 a.m.
A day earlier, at 9.40am, another man asked a 15-year-old girl walking along a Doncaster street to get into his van, but she was able to escape and sought help at a nearby shopping centre.
A similar approach was made to a 14-year-old girl in Tullamarine at 5.45pm on November 27.
The first incident police are aware of occurred on November 18 when a man told an 11-year-old boy in Blackburn that his mother had asked him to take the student.
No suspect has been identified and investigators believe four different men were involved, Acting Superintendent Paul Cripps said.
Pictured is a computer-generated image of a person police want to speak to in relation to an attempted kidnapping in Melbourne.
Last month, men in white vans approached four boys aged between 10 and 15 in suburban Melbourne (one of the vans is pictured).
Interim Superintendent Paul Cripps on Thursday urged parents to talk to their children about not getting into strangers’ vehicles and to report any suspicious behavior.
“There are similarities – being a white van – but at this stage we have not been able to establish any link between the offenders,” he told reporters in Rowville on Thursday.
All of the incidents involved “malicious intent,” but the children are doing well despite a terrifying experience for them and their parents.
The attacks were concentrated around schools, prompting police to intensify patrols in affected areas and schools to reinforce security.
The increase in reports of children being lured into cars is one of the highest priority investigations for the force, Law Superintendent Cripps said.
All of the men took a “friendly approach” when speaking to the children and used similar language, with slight variations in the descriptions of the vans involved.
“One thing we have to keep in mind is that we are dealing with children, so their descriptions are not always as accurate as those of adults,” he said.
Parents are encouraged to “be alert but not alarmed” and talk to their children about what to do if approached.
“We ask parents to talk to their children and tell them what to do in these situations: don’t get in vehicles, safe behaviors, talk to their parents or teachers, report it immediately and let us know about it,” he said.