An online predator is an adult Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual

Human sexuality

Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...

 or other abusive purposes.

Online victimization of minors can include child grooming, requests to engage in sexual activities or discussions by an adult, unwanted exposure to sexual material (email with naked pictures, etc.), and online harassment, threats or other aggressive communications that are not sexual in nature but cause distress, fear or embarrassment.

Chat rooms, instant messaging

Instant messaging

Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...

, Internet forums, social networking sites, and even video game console

Video game console

A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

s have all been accused of attracting online predators. A 2007 study, however, found no cases of minors being targeted by Internet predators on the basis of information they had posted on social networking sites.

Software that attempts to monitor computer activity has seen some popularity with parents concerned about Internet predators. Many experts recommend talking to children and teens about online safety.

There are many organizations that fight against online predators. During 2006 and 2007, the American news-magazine Dateline came out with To Catch a Predator

To Catch a Predator

To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television newsmagazine program Dateline NBC. It is devoted to impersonating underage youth and detaining adults who contact them over the Internet for sexual liaisons...

. What began as a single episode turned into a long running and explosively popular continuation of the concept that lasted for several months, and prompted a national dialogue on internet safety for preteens and adolescents. With the participation of vigilantes by the name of Perverted-Justice.com, would-be child abusers were lured to numerous residential homes throughout the US under the ruse of having sex with a young boy or girl.

Statistics

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is a private, non-profit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress.-Establishment and overview:...

 funded a study by the Crimes Against Children Resource Center in 2006 of youth Internet users over a five year period. They found:

• An increase in encountering unwanted exposures to sexual material (from 25% to 34%).
• An increase in cases of online harassment (from 6% to 9%).
• A decrease in those receiving unwanted sexual solicitations (from 19% to 13%).
• 40% of all youth Internet users said online solicitors asked them for nude or sexually explicit photographs of themselves.
• Only a minority of youth who had unwanted sexual solicitations, unwanted exposures to sexual material, or harassment said they were distressed by the incidents.
• One-third of the solicitations (31%) were aggressive, meaning the solicitors made, or attempted, offline contact with youth.

The validity of these statistics has been questioned.

See also

• Advance-fee fraud
• Adult grooming
  Adult grooming
  Adult grooming is the adult equivalent to child grooming and applies to any behaviour where an adult is prepared so they unwittingly allow abusive behaviour or exploitation to occur later. The abuser typically befriends or builds a relationship with the victim in order to establish a relationship...
  
  
• Child sexual abuse
  Child sexual abuse
  Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
  
  
• Computer crime
  Computer crime
  Computer crime, or cybercrime, refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Netcrime refers to criminal exploitation of the Internet. Such crimes may threaten a nation’s security and financial health...
  
  
• Cyberbullying
• Cyberstalking
  Cyberstalking
  Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization. It may include false accusations, monitoring, making threats, identity theft, damage to data or equipment, the solicitation of minors for sex, or...
  
  
• FBI
• Federal crime
  Federal crime
  In the United States, a federal crime or federal offense is a crime that is made illegal by U.S. federal legislation. In the United States, criminal law and prosecution happen at both the federal and the state levels; thus a “federal crime” is one that is prosecuted under federal criminal law, and...
  
  
• Identity theft
  Identity theft
  Identity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
  
  
• Online identity
  Online identity
  An online identity, internet identity, or internet persona is a social identity that an Internet user establishes in online communities and websites...
  
  
• Pedophilia
  Pedophilia
  As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
  
  
• Sexual harrassment
• Sex crime
• Stalking
  Stalking
  Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
  
  
• White Collar Crime
• Wire fraud
  Wire fraud
  Mail and wire fraud is a federal crime in the United States. Together, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, and 1346 reach any fraudulent scheme or artifice to intentionally deprive another of property or honest services with a nexus to mail or wire communication....