No doubt that social media and messaging apps have many positive aspects and they have revolutionized our daily communications. But they are not without their downsides especially for kids. WhatsApp is the messaging app that most of use, including our kids use and this is exactly where scammers try to target us. Recently, a WhatsApp hoax called Olivia WhatsApp is being targeting kids and sending them messages tricking them into viewing explicit images. Here’s all the details about this hoax and how you can prevent it ans safeguard your kids.
What is Olivia WhatsApp hoax?
Police have warned parents about a series of WhatsApp messages targeting kids which contain pornographic links.
The sender of these messages pretends to be a friend of a friend or an existing friend with a new number. If the victim starts contacting the sender, they will receive a link to pornographic websites and content.
This WhatsApp hoax is called ‘Olivia’ since it is the name under which the sender sends messages. This hoax is not the first threat to kids on WhatsApp. From cases such as Momo WhatsApp persuading teenagers to commit suicide to a virus that does not really exist called Martinelli, hoaxes on WhatsApp have always targeted kids and teenagers as they are more prone to believing what they see on social medias.
In the picture above, you can see the tweet that Halton Brook Police has shared along with a screenshot of chats. As You can see, the scammers does its best to trick children into opening links containing pornographic content.
How to protect kids from Olivia WhatsApp?
As an adult, it is simple to stay safe from such threats and hoaxes. Any link persuading you to install something such as Gold WhatsApp or any link claiming to award you with free products if you open it is definitely a scam and should seriously be avoided. Just try not to contact anyone you don’t know and never respond to strangers claiming to be friends. Blocking them can also be an easy way to avoid them. Also refrain from clicking on suspicious links. Following these tips will safeguard you on WhatsApp to a great extent.
However, the worrying part is when kids and teenagers are targeted by scammers such as Olivia WhatsApp. Kids can be easily tricked into opening links and installing apps and this can bring about grave consequences.
Parents need to talk to their kids and warn them about such scams on social media platforms. In addition, they need to view their WhatsApp messages every once in a while to spot out suspicious conversations. Also, to view your kid’s WhatsApp messages, you can get help from parental control apps such as Underspy that can help worried parents to monitor their kids on the internet to a great extent. These apps allow you to see every single message your kids send and receive on WhatsApp and parents can even choose to hide the app if they don’t want their kids to find out they are being monitored.
Finally, always try to be like a close friend to your kids and teenagers. In this case, if they need to talk to someone about something they have seen on the internet, they would definitely choose you as a source that has enough knowledge and wouldn’t overreact or punish them.
