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Inside our manual, you will find valuable insights into the tactics employed by groomers, common stages and warnings to watch out for, and practical tips on safeguarding personal information and online interactions. Through understanding the red flags and being informed about the issue of online grooming, we believe that individuals can take proactive measures to create a safer cyber space for themselves and their communities.
1. Targeting
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Groomer strategically selects their targets
They will find people to text out through social media, messaging apps or chat functions in online games.
They will take on a fake profile and will lie about their age, their gender, where they live, what they do and obviously their intentions.
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In the initial stage the predators look for ways to help or offer advice to their target. - this is a process of gaining trust and reliance from the child.
2. Engagement &
gathering information
The predators will listen to the disabilities and problems a victim has in school and will tailor his or her answers and advice. This stage affirms the possibility of online grooming as this stage confirms what kind of target the predator has approached.
Trust building is the main focus in this stage
predators will give lots of compliments, especially about a child’s appearance, in order to win the child over and to gain their trust.
Predators will look to build a give and take relationship with a victim by buying them presents. The forms of those presents would be gaming credits and online vouchers that don’t leave any physical paper trail.
3. Identifying &
exploiting needs
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Since now the predators knows everything they need to know about the child
they begin identifying weaknesses or vulnerabilities to dig into.
They would tailor their characteristics in order for the most effective outcome. For example - target teenager female – then a predator’s profile would be an attractive young age guy.
During this stage the victims would break down their defenses. Showing possibly for the predators to steer the conversation into whatever path they want.
4. Testing the boundaries & Isolation
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Before bring up their pure purpose the predators go through a stage of testing whether a child is able to keep a secret from their parents, etc… Also they will dive deeper into more personal questions (as boundaries have been taken down) such as the child’s personal schedule (when they will be away from family).
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In order to totally capture the child in the hands of the predators they use a tactic called “isolation”
predators would aim to influence conflict or force a distant relationship between the child and those typically closest. (most likely their parents) making them more in need of support and care which the predators would temporarily provide at this stage. This would influence the child to be distant, isolated and less likely to share information about the actions of the predator online.
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This would be the last stage of filtering after this stage it is show time. Ex) If the child is acting out of character and mutes when they typically wouldn’t, this could well be a “telltale” sign.
5. Sexulaization &
Control / Initiate Abuse
Groomers enact various tactics in order to bring the relationship from a friendship to sexual. They would send inappropriate images to the child to normalize the situation or verify that they are trustworthy. Then they would request for their pictures in return and once the child falls into that trap, its game time for the predators. Then some predators would ask to meet in person or online.
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They would threaten or blackmail the victim, in order to force this relationship to be in secrecy and to ensure that they remain in contact. The child has given too much to the predator and self indicates they have too much to lose. If the child does start refusing, the predator reminds them of all the inappropriate materials or conversations that they have shared. These predators are extremely persuasive, leaving these children more likely to be vulnerable.