Muscat: Children spending time on virtual world with studies going online were told to report any unusual approach from any corner to their parents immediately.
Be it a request for friendship or a solicit to an evening outing or to venture out on a new idea, keep your parents in the loop before you even think of it, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said.
"Also, all children on social media should report any unpleasant experience or strange approach from anyone immediately before even they are trapped," an official has said.
"This is applicable even if they are, by any chance, exposed to electronic blackmail or anything of that sort and no child should share his or family's private and personal photos over social media," he added.
This statement is based on an incident in which the police arrested a person on charges of blackmailing a girl and violating the Telecommunications Law. The perpetrator befriended the girl who spends much of her time on social media as part of her studies. Later, he collected her photos and details of the family members and the like.
Statistics available with the official IT sources show that in six months, 35 to 40 children were victimised of bullied by cyber criminals in Oman last year.
Mostly, children between 13 to 16 years are vulnerable to cybercrimes during the period and 22 cases were reported the previous year, according to the Oman's IT statistical data. There were 27 extortion incidents, 3 fraud cases and 5 hacked accounts last year.
They are mostly prone to either phishing scams where their personal information from their computers are stolen to bully them or identity theft scams, online harassment or cyberstalking or invasion of privacy.
"What parents and families should do is to educate their children about the dangers of these behaviours and follow up their use of social media to avoid falling prey to the vicious circle of electronic extortion."
"Parents should install parental control apps to monitor and control usage of smart devices by children. I advise all parents to sit with their children and explain the Internet risks, benefits and what to do in case of any suspicious action," said Sumaiya, popular Omani blogger on motherhood.
She recommended that all families should have certain rules in the house to monitor and reduce the time spent in using smart devices and engage children in physical and other activities away from screens.
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