Merseyside Police take part in week of action around Safer Internet Day – here’s the latest advice.

Merseyside Police is taking part in a week of action to help raise awareness of online safety as part of Safer Internet Day 2023 today (Tuesday, 7 February).

Coordinated by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the national event works to promote the safe, responsible and respectful use of technology to help protect internet users from fraud, theft, abuse and exploitation.

Each year, Safer Internet Day covers a new theme and for 2023 it’s ‘Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’, with a key focus on how to protect children and young people.

Merseyside Police is getting behind the campaign and encouraging everyone to make sure they have secure passwords and use two factor authentication (2FA) where possible to help protect email, social media and other accounts. 

This week, officers from our Cyber team will be visiting local primary schools to help educate youngsters on Safer Internet Day and spread the key messages.

We will also set-up ‘mobile police stations’ at North Liverpool Academy, Range High School, West Derby School and The Prescot School to discuss the topic with older pupils.

There will also be a live Q&A on our Merseyside Police Facebook page tomorrow (Wednesday 8 February) between 7-8pm when Constable Cyber Investigator Darren Devonport will be answering all your questions.

Detective Inspector John Black from Merseyside Police Cyber Unit said: 

“We are joining this national day of awareness to warn children, young people and adults of the dangers of being manipulated online by strangers. We also want to alert parents, teachers and guardians to the warning signs that children may be at risk.

“There are plenty of practical things we can all be doing online, not only to stop our kids from being exposed to potentially harmful and inappropriate material online, but also stop becoming a victim of online fraud ourselves. 

“We would ask that people make sure they have secure passwords and wherever possible use two factor authentication to help protect email, social media and other accounts.”

Across the country there have been an increase of reports of social media accounts being hacked, which mainly affects young people between the ages of 21-30.

There was a 23% increase in reports of hacking last year compared to 2021 and 75% of all hacks start by criminals targeting a single email address.

The main social media platforms targeted are Facebook and Instagram.

DI Black added: “People will target young people through social media and use sophisticated technology to ‘guess’ passwords, and in many cases the victim had used the same password for multiple accounts, and would be exposed to greater risk as a result.

“We are seeing incidents where fraudsters are accessing people’s social media and asking friends for money – our advice is simple, never give money to someone or a business over the internet without checking it is a legitimate request first.

“In some cases fraudsters may use the profile picture of a friend or family member, and attempt to add you as a friend or send you a message. If you receive a friend request from someone you know to be your friend already, or a message which look suspicious, do not accept or reply. Instead, please make that friend aware and report the incident to the social media company.”

Another way that criminals attempt to extort money comes in the form of sextortion, which is when they threaten to release sensitive images or videos if a victim doesn’t send money.

DI Black said: “Sextortion is a form of blackmail and we take every report extremely seriously. It involves victims being lured into performing sexual acts in front of their web-cam, then unbeknown to them, their acts are recorded by criminals. These criminals then attempt to extort the victim, usually for money by threatening to reveal the intimate images unless their demands are met

“We work with other law enforcement agencies to identify offenders and bring them to justice, but the best way you can protect yourself is to ensure you use different and difficult to guess passwords for different online accounts, or better still use two-factor authentication.

“There are a range of password managers available, enabling you to securely store those difficult to remember passwords for different accounts so that the device you are using can make the process both simpler and safer. It is also recommended that you use three words that are easy to remember for you, but which would be difficult for a stranger to guess.

“Two factor authentication (2FA), or two step verification, requires two pieces of evidence that you are who you say you are, such as a mobile number as well as an email address and password, which makes life even more difficult for scammers.

“More and more online services already have 2FA switched on but most do not. If available, the option to turn on 2FA is usually found in the security settings of your account – such as email, social media or cloud storage.”

Advice and guidance for children, young people and adults to help them stay safe online is available at:

www.saferinternet.org.uk
www.childline.org.uk
www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre
www.nspcc.org.uk
www.thinkuknow.co.uk
www.childnet.com
www.parentinfo.org
www.ncsc.gov.uk