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Online Safety

Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You
Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You A boy named Andrew Bucklandon hasn't gone missing. He didn't leave for school and not return. He doesn't even exist. For those who've seen -- or, worse, shared -- the Facebook post about a purportedly missing boy the past couple of days, here are a few questions: Does the post include a town? A link? Contact details? It doesn't. Because it's bogus. Like any good phishing scam, the missing boy ploy tugs at the heartstrings and plays on the fears of those who want to help. They're actually helping the scammers find more victims. Phishers threw their latest line into social media waters on…
Girl 'Meeting Boy She Met Online' Found Safe: Authorities Girl 'Meeting Boy She Met Online' Found Safe: Authorities
Girl 'Meeting Boy She Met Online' Found Safe: Authorities UPDATE: Jasmine Vought, 16, has been found safe according to the Adams County Crime Stoppers.as of Friday, Nov. 18. No additional information was released. ORIGINAL: 16-year-old Jasmine Vought has been missing ever since she left her residence to go "meet up with a boy she met online," authorities say.  Vought had been living at Hoffman Homes located at 815 Orphanage Road, Littlestown, was last seen on Tuesday, Nov. 15 around 11:30 a.m., according to a release. She was wearing a black coat and carrying a black backpack when the left to meet the boy, shortly afterward a light orange…
Seesaw App Used By Elementary Schools Sends NSFW Photos To Parents In Apparent Nationwide Hack Seesaw App Used By Elementary Schools Sends NSFW Photos To Parents In Apparent Nationwide Hack
Seesaw App Used By Elementary Schools Sends Nsfw Photos To Parents In Apparent Nationwide Hack Elementary schools across the US are urging parents to not open the messages on the Seesaw app after an apparent hack sent out "inappropriate" images starting on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022.  "The platform was hacked and is experiencing a nationwide issue where some school district families and teachers were receiving links/URLs to inappropriate images," officials at a Schodock elementary school in New York said on its website.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Seesaw (@seesawlearning) Most schools are simply asking parents and guard…
Shooting Threat Shutters Entire School District In Central PA Shooting Threat Shutters Entire School District In Central PA
Shooting Threat Shutters Entire School District In Central PA A central Pennsylvania school district has closed for students due to a threat on social media on June, 1, according to the school. "Upon advice from Local Law enforcement. Today, Wednesday, June 1, 2022 The Waynesboro Area School District will be closed for students," the school said. A "masked individual displaying a handgun posted a threat on social media advising that students should not go to school," Waynesboro Area police say. The poster's account was determined to be fake though the account creator remain unknown, according to investigators. The FBI is "assisting in determining th…
FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know
FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know Reports of adults ‘sextorting’ teenage boys into sending them sexual videos or photos online are booming, particularly involving victims 14 to 17 years old, the FBI warns. In 2021 alone, its Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 18,000 sextortion-related complaints of various types, the bureau announced on Wednesday, April 13. A growing number involved late-teen boys targeted by predators posing as someone else, federal authorities said. It ordinarily begins with a contact through social media or on a gaming site. The adult predator or scammer "convinces the child to s…
NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults
NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults New Jersey law enforcers are co-leading a multi-state investigation into whether TikTok puts youngsters at physical and emotional risk, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced. The probe centers on what Platkin called techniques used by TikTok to "increase both the frequency and duration of engagement by young users – children, teenagers and young adults – and on the potential harms that may result from such engagement." It will also explore "what TikTok knows about such harms," the attorney said in announcing the endeavor on Wednesday, March 2. A coalition of attorneys genera…
VA Teen Raped By PA Man Reunited With Family: Police VA Teen Raped By PA Man Reunited With Family: Police
VA Teen Raped By PA Man Reunited With Family: Police A 15-year-old Virginia girl has been reunited with her family after she was located by police on Monday, according to a release by Shippensburg police. The Ashland police department in Virginia contacted the Shippensburg police department about the girl who had gone missing from the Ashland area on Saturday, Jan 15, according to the release.  Through an investigation, police learned that the teenager had met up with a man she met through a social media application.   Edward Lee Jr., 24, of Shippensburg, was identified as the man, according to police and court documents.…
Suburban Philly Girl Dies Doing TikTok 'Blackout Challenge' Suburban Philly Girl Dies Doing TikTok 'Blackout Challenge'
Suburban Philly Girl Dies Doing TikTok 'Blackout Challenge' A Pennsylvania family is raising awareness to a TikTok challenge that left their 10-year-old daughter dead. Nylah Anderson, 10, was found unconscious in her Chester bedroom Dec. 12 after trying the "Blackout Challenge," which encourages participants to hold their breath until they pass out. Nylah was rushed to a local hospital where she died. A TikTok spokesperson released the following statement: “This disturbing ‘challenge,’ which people seem to learn about from sources other than TikTok, long predates our platform and has never been a TikTok trend. We remain vigilant in our commitment …
GUILTY! Pennsylvania Man Kidnapped Girl, 13, From Indiana GUILTY! Pennsylvania Man Kidnapped Girl, 13, From Indiana
Guilty! Pennsylvania Man Kidnapped Girl, 13, From Indiana UPDATE: Howland has been sentenced to a maximum of 105 years in prison, click here to read more about his sentencing. ORIGINAL:  A Lancaster County man has been found guilty for the Dec. 2020 kidnapping of a girl from her home in Indiana, according to court documents and a release by the Lancaster County district attorney's office. Andrew E. Howland, 39, lured the girl from her home after pursuing her online, according to police. The young accuser testified during the three-day long trial, according to a release by the Lancaster County district attorney's office. During her testimon…
Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges
Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges A New Jersey state wrestling champion and coach who made national headlines when he revealed that he’s gay was arrested by the FBI Wednesday on child porn charges, federal authorities said. Alec Donovan, 24, of Brick Township also used an app to “solicit and engage in conversations with minors, including requesting nude photographs from the minors and sending nude photographs to them,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Donovan, who records show has coached at the Shorething Wrestling Club in Lakewood, “sent three videos containing images of child sexual abuse and received two vide…
Hookup Turns Into Robbery After NJ Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date' Hookup Turns Into Robbery After NJ Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date'
Hookup Turns Into Robbery After NJ Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date' A Leonia man was set up by a woman who met him online, drugged him at his home and then robbed him with help from two other men, authorities said. Katherine Berg, 32, of Paterson went to the victim’s Grand Avenue home in the early morning hours of June 26 and slipped him a drug that knocked him out, Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. A medical call brought police around 11 a.m. the next day, the chief said. A family member had found the 30-something victim with “numerous injuries and no memory of what had occurred,” Tamagny said. More than 24 hours had passed and the victim was immediately…
Police: NJ Citizens Posing As Minors Bust PA Man Luring Boys Online Police: NJ Citizens Posing As Minors Bust PA Man Luring Boys Online
Police: NJ Citizens Posing As Minors Bust PA Man Luring Boys Online Men from Atlantic City, NJ and Chester County, PA were busted by concerned citizens posing as minors trying to lure boys online, authorities said Tuesday. The concerned citizens posed as underage children on various social media sites and confronted the two men before notifying local law enforcement, ACPD spokesman Lt. Kevin Fair said. Officers on Saturday responded to the 2400 block of Formicas Way on a report that Robert Catalano, 58, of Atlantic City attempted to lure a child to engage in sexual contact, Fair said. The concerned citizens provided officers with screen shots and detailed …
TO CATCH A PREDATOR: Civilian Exposes NJ Man By Posing As Girl, 14 TO CATCH A PREDATOR: Civilian Exposes NJ Man By Posing As Girl, 14
TO Catch A Predator: Civilian Exposes NJ Man By Posing As Girl, 14 A Tenafly man was arrested after a vigilante who publicly exposes child predators lured him to the Bronx for what he thought would be a hook-up with a 14-year-old girl, authorities said. A video posted on YouTube shows the unidentified vigilante confronting Jonathan Soto, 28, in a parked minivan. “What’s your mother gonna say about this?” the man asks during a nearly 15-minute conversation peppered with profanity and sexual descriptions. WARNING: The video contains profanity and descriptions of sexual situations. Authorities obtained search warrants after intensely investigating the auth…