A warning tonight about the dangers of an online site that’s become more and more popular.
According to investigators, Instagram is the new place where sexual predators are trolling for kids.
“I’ve never seen so many complaints just within a one month period and it’s very concerning,”
Detective Mike Harris is with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office. He’s already arrested and convicted hundreds of sex predators.
“The teens call them ‘creepers’ and I call them predators.”
Detective Harris says these predators are commenting on kids pictures.
Inappropriate comments that are sexual and graphic and simply not suitable for teens.
“The problem is when you post these pictures you got to ask yourself the question who has access to them, and what type of people are accessing these pictures and for what reasons?”
With most social networking sites, users sign up to participate in Instagram.
They’re asked for a user name and many kids give their full real name and provide their cellphone number.
This information becomes public for anyone to see.
“Have you heard of people getting phone calls? They’re not getting phone calls but a lot of these kids are getting text messages, concerning text messages.”
So parents take note. Anywhere kids go, predators go. And Instagram is the latest hot spot.
Investigators say when you sign up for things be sure to set your privacy settings.
