-Did you agree with the safety issues I mentioned in the power point? If not, what do you think is not an issue or what do you think I failed to mention? -Did you find my suggestions for reducing your risks online were helpful? Please answer these questions in the comments section so that I can get some good feedback on the information I provided in my project

1. Dangers Of The Internet And How To
Avoid Them
-by Christian McGourty

2. TOPIC
• The internet is a great resource for a number of different
situations such as keeping in contact with family and
friends, shopping, dating, and more importantly, to
research and learn about just about anything you can
imagine. This being said, the internet can also be
extremely dangerous; every day decisions made on the
internet can be costly for your safety. That is why it is
important for people to take precaution and use the
internet safely and wisely.

3. Children using the
Internet
The internet is one of the greatest resources used in
teaching children of all ages but it is important to make
sure that your child is using the internet safely and not
exposing themselves to any danger. There are many things
that children can find on the internet that they may not be
ready to know about or see yet. Just as your child is on the
internet, so are many dangerous people that could
potentially harm. There are many horrible things that have
happened to children as a result of not using the internet
safely.

4. Meeting With Online
Predators
• Between 1995 and 2000 about 135 children were
abducted or molested because of the internet.
• 16% of teens considered meeting someone they've only
talked to online.
• 8% have actually met someone they only know online.

5. Children exploring cites
with harmful material
• Many children use the internet to discover pornography.
According to statistics gathered by Family Safe Media
(FSM), the largest group of viewers of internet porn is
ages 12-17.
• There are also a great deal of websites where children can
watch very graphic videos involving real life fighting and
other violence.
• Children can also be exposed to harmful material by
going on certain chat rooms.

6. How to Prevent Children
from Harmful Effects of
the Internet
• Talk to your children about the risk of online predators and
what to be weary of. Encourage them to tell you if anyone asks
them for photographs or to meet them in person, particularly if
you don't know them or haven't met them or their parents
before.
• Set up a security setting on your computer that blocks your
child from websites with inappropriate content.
• Monitor your child’s time on the computer each day and limit
how much time they can spend on it.
• Keeping your computer in a common area in the house, such
as the living room, family room, or kitchen can help you to
monitor your child’s internet use

7. Safety Issues for Adults
• Its not only children that run into safety issues on the
internet, adults are also at risk.
• Adults can be at risk of identity theft on the internet
• Adults are also at risk when socializing on the internet

8. Identity theft
• Since banking and financial systems have become so electronic and
internet accessible, it has made the internet a convenient place for
criminals to steal people’s identities, and having your identity stolen
can be a very difficult and stressful thing to go through.
• Phony advertisements asking for your personal information are all
over the internet.
• The average victim spends on average 600 hours trying to restore his
or her identity.
• 18-29 year olds are at most risk for identity theft because they are
less likely to check their credit and are more likely to apply for credit
cards without making sure they aren’t scams.
• In 2006 the total cost of identity theft to society was 49 billion
dollars, with victims losing around 4.5 billion (companies and banks
pay the rest)

9. Ways to Reduce Risk of
Identity Theft
• Actively monitor your credit history. (You have the right
to one free credit disclosure in a 12 month period from
each of the 3 national credit reporting companies.
• If your identity has been stolen, contact your bank and
other financial institutions immediately.
• Identify family members and friends as well because they
can be effected from your identity being stolen as well.
• Decide if you want your information viewable in online
services (It costs money to keep your info private most of
the time but the cost can be worth it)

10. Socializing on the
Internet
• Adults can run into problems when using sites to
socialize with others such as:
• Online dating sites
and…
• Social Media sites

11. Online Dating
• Scams: There are many online dating scams out there. The
scammer pretends to be interested in the person and chats back
and forth with them for a while until they make a “connection”
with them. Then, the scammer comes up with some reason
why they really need a loan or some sort of financial aid and
tries to convince the person to send them money. In the past 2
years, 10% of free-to-subscribe dating sites have turned out to
be scams.
• Online Predators: Like children, women are also at risk for
being targeted by online predators, especially on online dating
sites. Online dating has materialized into the form of
rape, abductions, and even murders of numerous woman.

12. Social Media Sites
• Social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and twitter
allow people to create a profile with pictures and info about
themselves that they share for their friends and potentially
anyone to see.
• There is a lot of info that people put on these sights that puts
them in potential danger, such as where they live, pictures of
their family, and information about what they are doing that
day.
• There have been numerous cases involving stalkers and ever
murderers where they have been able to easily keep tabs on the
victim and find where they are from postings that the victim
had made on their social media pages.

13. Safety Tips For Using Online
Dating and Social Media Sites
• Maintain as anonymous as possible to protect your identity (don’t include your
full name, where you work, detailed info about your current location, etc. on your
profile)
• Use the email system provided by the dating or social media site when contacting
new people rather than your real email.
• Be SMART about choosing profile pictures (don’t give away too much info about
yourself in them, don’t have your children in your profile picture)
• Ask a lot questions when meeting new people online (look for any
inconsistencies in answers or anything that strikes you as odd or dangerous, be
conscious of whether or not the person seems to have a short temper, seems
controlling, etc.)
• If a potential date on a dating service asks you for any sort of money or loan do
not give it to them. (No matter how sad the story may seem it is almost always a
scam and its not worth taking the chance)
• Make sure you choose the right privacy setting for your profile (most cites have a
number of different styles of privacy settings, try to pick the one that protects
your personal information the most)

14. Conclusion
The internet is a wonderful invention. Its full of hundreds of
thousands of websites with useful information and it is accessed
by millions of people a day. But with all of these different users
and websites out there, there is obviously a great deal dangerous
people on the internet using it to do harmful things to
others, along with websites that contain very inappropriate and
illegal subject matter. It is important to learn and understand the
dangers of the internet so that you can make the right decisions
when using the internet to keep yourself safe from any scams or
predators. It is also very important to teach our children about
the safeties of the internet to keep them safe as well.