Woman who worked in internet crimes against children issues warning about ‘digital kidnapping’ – after urging parents to take down photos of kids

A woman who worked on a child exploitation investigation has issued a warning to parents about posting pictures of their children on the internet.

Alex Hoffman said that by sharing images of children, parents can invite “digital kidnappers” onto social media pages – even when an account is private.

“Digital kidnapping is when someone steals your minor’s photos from the internet, usually a social media platform, and either pretends to be the child or pretends to be the child’s parents,” she explained.

The 24-year-old law student from California claimed innocent snaps of children could be altered and inappropriately edited using AI technology.

She said the only way to completely prevent a child’s image from ending up in the hands of a digital kidnapper is to avoid posting them and be wary of who follows your pages, even on a private profile.

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Alex said these online predators will take a picture of a minor they find on the internet and “edit it to look explicit or show the child is doing something inappropriate.”

“Digital abductors can also take photos of a child and make an inappropriate video of them using AI hardware,” she explained in a TikTok. video.

“If these photos or videos are placed on the dark web, they can often lead to more serious crimes such as identity theft or actual kidnappings.”

Alex said many digital kidnappers are female and use specific hashtags in their stolen photos and videos to promote what they are doing to their target audience.

The only way to completely eliminate the risk of these prowlers finding, modifying and publishing your child’s photos on the dark web is to never share images of minors online.

“If you post a photo of your child, make sure you’re on a private account,” she advised with a caveat.

“Really monitor your followers and make sure any photos of your child are appropriate and have no chance of being taken explicitly.”

Alex’s ‘scary’ warning sparked concern among parents who viewed the clip, but many were grateful for the sage advice.

‘Keep spreading the word! Well done,” one woman said.

‘Someone made a profile of my 14 year old son on Instagram. I reported it and it’s still not deleted,’ one mum shared.

“i just deleted all my videos with my face now i’m scared,” wrote another.

“You really give new and informative information. Well done. I’m just saying,” added a fourth.

Previously, Alex lifted the lid on another horrible reason why you shouldn’t post photos of your kids on social media.

Previously, Alex lifted the lid on another horrible reason why you shouldn’t post photos of your kids on social media

“The majority of photos of children uploaded to the dark web are taken from normal people’s Facebook and Instagram pages,” she said.

“If you see someone suggested on your Facebook page that you don’t have any mutual friends with, that means they’ve searched your profile at least three times.”

Alex explained that “the dark web is not a mysterious, exclusive place”, saying “all you have to do is download a browser” to access hidden internet sites.

“Child exploitation is a billion dollar industry and thousands of websites are created every day to share photos and videos,” she said.

“My advice to parents would be to really limit your child on social media, as photos and videos can be distorted and placed on the dark web extremely easily.”

Alex’s reveal video has been viewed over 7.9 million times and received thousands of comments within a day.

“The majority of photos of children uploaded to the dark web are taken from normal people’s Facebook and Instagram pages,” she said.

The aspiring lawyer filmed a series of follow-up clips detailing why it’s best to keep your kids off social media.

“A lot of photos of kids put on the dark web aren’t self-explanatory,” she noted, claiming to have seen lots of photos of kids in gymnastics and dance leotards.

“These parents often had no idea their child was on the dark web. Also, only normal photos of children can be distorted into explicit images even if there was never an explicit photo taken,” she added.

“Last, and probably most worryingly, there will be children going viral on the dark web, and there is no reason why. It happens, and there will be dedicated pages, websites and forums sending photos of this child.

Many commenters wanted to know if it was safe to post pictures of their children if they had their profile private.

“It depends,” she replied. “I think when you’re in private it dramatically decreases the chances that predators are likely to see your child’s photo. However, I strongly believe this is based on the content of the photo.

Alex explained that the problems arise when there is “erotic potential” in an image that a parent might not recognize.

“By erotic potential, I mean a photo of your child eating, a photo of your child in diapers, a photo of your child in distress, a photo of your child in a bathing suit,” she said. explain. “These are the types of photos a predator could distort out of context.

“They can add whatever they want. They can add a person to the photo. They can subtract things from the photo. They can create things that weren’t actually in the photo. We’re all adults. We know what is suggestive and we know what is not.

“But you also have to be a little careful and read between the lines and see what could possibly be taken out of context and what could possibly be created in a photo if you choose to put your child on the internet,” she concludes.

Many commentators were admittedly shocked by Alex’s warning.

‘Wait what?! They edit these photos before putting them on the dark web? Frankly, it’s scary. I had no idea,” one person wrote.

“It’s extremely alarming to me how many parents in all these comments didn’t know this was happening and how common it was,” another added.

“Ever since I had my kids, people ask me why I don’t share more pictures of them. This is exactly why! someone else noted. “But some people just don’t get it.”