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There are many people who put children at risk by pretending to be someone they aren't online. If we don't look out for our children and know the facts then they can get seriously harmed.

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The goal of internet predators is simple. To coerce, manipulate, and even blackmail children, adolescents, and occasionally adults into performing sexual acts. Predators on social media have become more emboldened than ever, and with the amount of time children spend online these days, the need for more protection is at an all-time high. That's why we prepared a list of the most critical online predators statistics which will hopefully help bring more awareness about this alarming trend which has seen a steady rise over the last few years.

Online Predators Statistics (Editor's Choice)

As many as 500,000 predators on the Internet pose a threat to kids daily.

One in 25 children will be manipulated into physical contact within a year.

Children aged 12 to 15 are the most targeted by online predators.

82% of predators on the Internet are male.

The Coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a rise in online enticement cases.

Only 15% of parents are aware of what their kids do online.

Receiving sexual images from children is the most common goal of web predators.

Social media is the place where over 80% of child sex crimes start.

Online Predator Statistics: The Figures Behind the Crimes

1. Half a million internet predators pose a danger to children on a daily basis.

The Federal Bureau for Investigations (FBI) estimates that as many as 500,000 people are a daily threat to kids going online. Investigators further note that predators take advantage of multiple platforms, with social media, gaming, and online dating sites and apps being the most prominent. As social media becomes an integral part of everyone's life, employers increasingly rely on social media background checks as a way to learn more about candidates' behavior outside of the professional setting and discover things that traditional background checks don't show.

(KOAA NEWS5)

2. Online predators mostly target children aged between 12 and 15.

The FBI has found that adolescents aged 12-15 are most at risk, accounting for over 50% of all victims of internet predators. The majority (89%) of all victims are contacted through instant messaging and chatrooms, predator statistics show.

(KOAA NEWS5)

This figure comes from the Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS), and it acts as a point of reference for the likelihood of minors encountering child predators online. This number could conceivably be much higher, given that most kids will pass it off as a rude comment or someone their own age being overly sexual. Internet dangers statistics suggest many incidents don't get reported, so that figure could be much higher. Educating children on what falls under sexual offense and creating a safe space where they can share these experiences is essential for increasing the reporting rates.

(Crimes Against Children Research Center)

Predators statistics show around 4% of the children in the same survey reported solicitation by child predators on the Internet who tried to make offline contact via phone, mail, or meeting up in person. These offline encounters have the most potential to end in a sex crime.

(Crimes Against Children Research Center)

5. Online child predators don't necessarily lie about their age.

Facts about internet predators from YISS further indicate that the majority of predators don't mislead their victims about their age; instead, stats on sex offenders show that they appeal to adolescents' interest in romance, adventure, and sex. As a result, the majority of these sex crimes involve statutory rather than forcible rapes.

(Crimes Against Children Research Center)

6. Internet predators statistics show that 40% of all children from grades four through eight report chatting to strangers online.

As our children become more and more dependent on the Internet for schooling and socializing, they get more exposed to social media predators and grooming online. As many as 53% of those kids have disclosed their phone number to a stranger, while another 11% have met the stranger. If you find an unknown phone number or suspicious texts in your child's phone, you can run a reverse phone lookup to identify the holder.

(Center For Cyber Safety and Education)

7. UK study shows girls account for over 80% of cyber grooming cases.

Data analyzed by the UK Children's Charity shows that 84% of grooming cases involving sexual messages to children involved female victims. These online grooming statistics cover cases recorded by police in England and Wales over April 2017-March 2020. The research further pointed to Instagram as the social network used the most during the lockdown, accounting for 37% of cases where the platform was known.

(The Guardian)

8. The first months of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a 106% increase in reports of online predators.

The effects of COVID-19 have been felt all over the world and in every facet of life. With children being forced to spend the majority of their time indoors, naturally, this means more time spent online and what some experts call a perfect storm for child predators online. Sexual predator statistics have shown a dramatic increase in the number of reported online predators cases during the first months of the pandemic.

(McAfee)

9. Online enticement saw a 97.5% rise in 2020.

For the whole year of 2020, the NCMEC reported that online enticement incidents spiked to 37,872, from 19,174 in 2019. The online enticement is a broad category that involves communicating with a child online with the intent to commit sexual exploitation or kidnapping. Cyber predators statistics show that online enticement takes place over various platforms, including social media, messaging apps, and gaming platforms.

(NCMEC)

10. Only 15% of parents are "in the know" concerning their children's online habits.

Most parents are fairly ignorant about what their children get up to online. At the same time, data from different research indicates that as many as 58% of parents in the US are concerned over the threat that strangers pose to their kids online. Setting rules for your children's social media activity and creating a positive environment that allows them to share if any problem arises is essential to keeping them safe from online predators.

For extra security, you can run background checks on people in contact with your children like teachers, neighbors, and other adults on people finder sites to see if they have any criminal records or are registered sex offenders. For registered sex offenders in your area, you can search the National Sex Offender Public Website.

(GaurdChild, Child Crime Prevention & Safety Center)

11. The vast majority of child predators on the Internet are male.

Similar to what pedophile statistics indicate, online predators facts presented in an analysis of CyberTipline, the nation's centralized reporting system for suspected child sexual exploitation, showcase that as many as 82% of offenders are male. The predator statistics presented in the analysis, which covered 5,917 offenders, further showed that 9% of them were female. In the remaining 9% of the cases, the gender of the offender could not be identified.

(NCMEC)

12. Most internet predators have been previously unknown to their victims.

The CyberTipline analysis also showed that the bulk of offenders (98%) have likely been unknown to their victims in real life. Out of the remaining 2% who were known, the majority (53%) were identified as family members, primarily parents, step-parents, and siblings, child predators statistics show.

(NCMEC)

13. Acquiring sexually explicit images of the child is the most common offender goal.

The same analysis found that receiving sexually explicit images of children was the goal for 60% of offenders, followed by meeting and sexual contact for 32%. Sexual conversations/role-play online were the goal for as many as 8%, while some kind of financial goal was the motivation of 2% of offenders.

(NCMEC)

14. Child predator statistics point to sexual conversations/role-play as the most common grooming method.

While a goal for some predators, sexual conversations/role-play are more common as a grooming method, applied by 34%. Asking the children for sexually explicit images is a method used by 33% of predators, followed by developing a positive rapport with the victim (29%). Other, less common grooming methods include offering and sending sexually explicit images, pretending to be younger, offering a financial incentive, impersonating a modeling agent/photographer, or someone known to the child, catfishing statistics show.

(NCMEC)

Research has found that 82% of child sex crimes start with communication through social media websites. Online child exploitation statistics indicate that predators use these sites to gain knowledge about their intended victims' habits, along with their likes and dislikes.

(Organization for Social Media Safety)

Online Predator FAQs

How common are online predators?

At present, online predators statistics estimate that there are around 500,000 active predators on the Internet every day. These numbers are on the rise, with children spending more and more time online due to COVID-19. Parents need to be more vigilant than ever before to prevent their children from falling prey to web predators.

Who is the most common victim of online predators?

According to the FBI's online predator facts, children between the age of 12 and 15 are the most susceptible to predators on the Internet, with the vast majority of them being girls. These children are manipulated into an array of sexual interactions that contribute to online child exploitation cases.

How old are online predators?

Predator statistics show that they can be anywhere from 18 to 55. Contrary to popular belief, however, child predators online don't necessarily mislead their victims about how old they are.

What is predatory grooming?

Predatory grooming refers to maneuvering and coercing another person or minor into a position where the predators can sexually abuse or offend them. Online child exploitation statistics show that this is usually done over time so they can gain the trust of their victims. Grooming minors usually originates from online interaction.

What are the types of online predators?

Online predators statistics point to several common types - The Gatherer, who collects media containing photographic or video pornography, The Producer, which distributes child pornography, The Talker, who targets victims in chat rooms, and The Voyager, whose aim is to meet their victim in person.

Sources: KOAA NEWS5, Crimes Against Children Research Center, Center For Cyber Safety and Education, The Guardian, McAfee, NCMEC, GaurdChild, Child Crime Prevention & Safety Center, NCMEC, Organization for Social Media Safety, PURESIGHT, Youth Internet Safety

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15 Online Predators Statistics and FAQs for 2022 | Screen and Reveal

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The goal of internet predators is simple. To coerce, manipulate, and even blackmail children, adolescents, and occasionally adults into performing sexual acts. Predators on social media have become more emboldened than ever, and with the amount of time children spend online these days, the need for more protection is at an all-time high.

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The purple boxes include the story of a young boy who lost his life due to online grooming. His "friend" claimed to be someone he wasn't and had plans to harm the boy.

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After everything happened to Breck. His mother Lorin wanted to do something for everyone who might experience what she did as a parent and what Breck did as a kid. So she started a foundation.

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We reach thousands of children every year with Breck's story

Our organisation was founded in 2014 in response to the tragic loss of Breck Bednar, a 14-year-old boy who was groomed and murdered by someone he met online. Our work aims to prevent this from ever happening again. Our work saves lives.

Get involved in a better future

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Breck Foundation helps children and young people reclaim the internet - focused on online grooming, online safety and online exploitation. Together we can reach a future where children are safe online.

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Breck Bednar's mother also has talked about online grooming and has informed people about their story. There was also a 16 year old girl at the time named Lucy who talked about the situation because she wants people to be more aware of online grooming.

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BBC News NI Education Correspondent

The mother of a boy murdered after he was groomed through video gaming has given her first online safety classes in Northern Ireland.

Breck's mother Lorin LaFave set up the Breck Foundation after his killing to warn young people about online dangers.

On Thursday she visited Victoria College in Belfast to tell her story to pupils and parents.

Daynes murdered Breck after grooming him through their shared interest in online video games.

He had pretended to be a successful internet entrepreneur running a multimillion pound company.

Ms LaFave said that Breck was a thoughtful, intelligent boy with a lot of friends who was doing well in school.

"Unfortunately he was tricked and lured to a predator's flat where he was brutally killed," she told BBC News NI.

"There were so many lessons within Breck's story because people didn't recognise what grooming was.

"Nobody thought he was the kind of kid who would fall for something like this.

"So we use Breck's story to try to help young people realise it's not just that we're all paranoid and have all these rules.

"There are people that can be a danger because everyone online is a stranger.

"It doesn't mean they're all dangerous, but it means we can't tell who is who because we only get a snippet of who that person is."

In Victoria College, Ms LaFave shared the lessons she had learned about keeping safe online with all pupil year groups.

She also gave presentations to parents and staff.

"We teach young people what a real friendship looks like, because a predator will try to emulate that same friendship," she said.

"For instance, if a gift seems too good to be true maybe it is.

"Lots of children are offered phones, maybe designer kit.

"Breck was given software and games online so I didn't see it come through the door.

"We need to teach young people to question when someone is giving them so many things, and also isolating them from their friends and family, pulling them away from their support systems.

"It's important that friends look out for each other because the child being groomed may not recognise it because it feels good at the beginning."

Awareness

Ms LaFave said her message was not about scaring young people but enabling them to spot online danger signs.

What she had to say got the attention of pupils at Victoria College.

Lucy, 16, said that what happened to Breck had alerted her to the reality of online grooming.

"You always hear about it but you think are people are just exaggerating," she told BBC News NI.

"But then you hear stories like that and you just think 'right, it actually happens' and it takes your breath away.

"We talk about this quite a lot so we do get a good education on it, but not everyone gets that kind of safety talk in school.

"Not everyone is as fortunate as us."

Ellen, who is 15, said that Lorin's talk was very hard-hitting and informative.

"Breck was so innocent to everything that was going on, so it just really showed to always be safe and double check what you're posting online," she said.

Her classmate, 16-year-old Elise, said it had made her think about her social media use.

"You just need to be really careful and know who you're talking to," she said.

"Only really talk to friends that you know, say on Instagram or Snapchat."

As well as speaking out about online safety, Ms LaFave has called for social media companies to improve their account verification processes.

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Breck Bednar: Mother shares 'lesson' in online grooming

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BBC News NI Education Correspondent The mother of a boy murdered after he was groomed through video gaming has given her first online safety classes in Northern Ireland. Breck's mother Lorin LaFave set up the Breck Foundation after his killing to warn young people about online dangers.

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The green boxes include videos websites that you can read and watch to learn about how serious child grooming is.

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There was a 14 year old boy Breck who trusted Lewis. Breck thought he was friends with him. Turns out Lewis lied about who he was and really was a murder and wanted to hurt Breck.

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The Tragic Grooming & Murder Of Breck Bednar

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this video shows how people can pretend to be someone else and manipulate you to get what they want.

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#BeInCtrl - A Short Film on Online Grooming

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Young people are quick to embrace and explore the online world, but parents should be aware of the risks

What is online 'grooming'?

Online grooming occurs when an adult uses electronic communication (including social media) in a predatory fashion to try to lower a child's inhibitions, or heighten their curiosity about sex, with the aim of eventually meeting them in person for the purposes of sexual activity. This can include online chats, sexting, and other interactions.

The process may start with sending pornographic images to 'normalise' the discussion of sexual activities, and then move to requests for naked images or to perform a sex act on a webcam.

Any site, game, app or platform that allows one person to communicate with another can be used for grooming. Those that are particularly popular with young people will also be popular with online predators

Who is at risk?

All young people who use technology are at risk, some of course more than others. Online predators are very clever and will focus on those who are happy to respond when contacted. Social networking sites and gaming platforms are designed for communication and many allow the sharing of personal information, providing an easy way for online offenders to find their next victim.

Young people are naturally curious and trusting and will engage in online discussions about things that they would not openly discuss in the physical world.

Children may make poor decisions about allowing people into their online lives, believing that those who seem 'nice' online will be the same in person. Many will refer to a random online acquaintance as an "'online friend"', dropping their guard and allowing the grooming process to take place.

What to do

It is very important to talk to your child about these issues, so that are aware of things they may confront in the digital space. Do not avoid talking about predators for fear of upsetting them, as the potential harms can have far greater consequences. Let them know:

they can tell you about any problems they are having or if someone makes them feel uncomfortable online

they should only engage online with people they personally know and trust in real life to reduce risk

it is okay to trust their instincts: if something feels odd or strange then it probably is

'Good friends' don't make them do things that make them feel uncomfortable.

Check that your child has appropriate security settings in place for social networking sites to help protect their online privacy. Visit www.esafety.gov.au for more information.

Warning signs

Signs of grooming might include the following:

You find nude images or pornography on your child's computer. Online predators may send pornographic images first to 'normalise' their requests for pictures.

You see sexualised search results as your child 'googles' what they have been asked.

Your child engages online with people they don't know personally.

Your child uses sexualised language.

Your child spends an increasing and / or an excessive amount of time online.

Your child receives unexplained gifts (e-vouchers are common).

Your child is displays mood changes (hyperactive, secretive, hostile, aggressive, impatient, resentful, anxious, withdrawn, depressed).

Your child is excessively secretive about their use of communications technology, including social media.

There are people on your child's "'friends' list" that you do not know and your child has never met offline.

Police assistance

If you believe your or any child is in immediate danger please phone 000.

If you are at all concerned about the possibility of your child being the victim of an online sexual predator please contact the police for advice and assistance.

If you are at all concerned about the possibility of your child being the victim of an online sexual predator please contact your local Police Station or your local Sex Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT).

Printable advice sheet

To download a copy of this advice sheet, see:

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Young people are quick to embrace and explore the online world, but parents should be aware of the risks Online grooming occurs when an adult uses electronic communication (including social media) in a predatory fashion to try to lower a child's inhibitions, or heighten their curiosity about sex, with the aim of eventually meeting them in person for the purposes of sexual activity.

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The two pictures I put show that people don't know who you are behind a screen. People lie, make you think you can trust them and then they hurt you in many ways you can't think of.

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Online Grooming Case Study - Carly's Story