Internet and social website Safety

The Internet and social websites are part of everyday life, but it could be dangerous and you should ensure your safety online. Children are especially susceptible to the threats that the Internet and social networking websites present. By teaching children about Internet safety, being aware of their online habits and guiding them to appropriate websites, parents can make sure that their children become safe and responsible users on social networking websites.

Social media acronyms that parents should know
Most of the acronyms listed below have sexual meanings and motives behind them and may be used by predators. Many of the acronyms also show that teens have ways to make sure you do not catch a glimpse of something they may be sending or posting. The list below is only a mere sample of acronyms used on social media websites. There are various websites that provide updated lists which you should take note of.
GNOC - Get Naked On Cam
TDTM - Talk Dirty To Me
NIFOC - Naked In Front Of Computer
PAW - Parents Are Watching
PIR - Parent In Room
POS - Parent Over Shoulder
CD9/Code 9 - Parent/Adult around
ASL(R P) - Age Sex Location (Race/Picture)
(L)MIRL  - (Let us) meet in real life
MOS - Mom Over Shoulder
P911 - Parent emergency
PRON - Porn
S2R - Send To Receive (pictures)
FYEO – For Your Eyes Only

Follow this link for more internet safety tips from SAPS.

Tips to keep your children safe

Train your child to be cyber smart so that they can recognise potential dangers and know how to avoid threatening situations.

• never arrange or agree to any face-to-face meeting with any person they met online;
• never post to the Internet, or send to people they do not personally know, any pictures of themselves;
• never give out any personal information about themselves, even if the information seems unimportant and innocent, to any person online;
• never download pictures from an unknown source since there could be sexually explicit images;
• never respond to messages online that are sexually suggestive, obscene, aggressive or harassing;
• never believe as true anything that may be said by people online. Remind them that people online are not always who they pretend to be and paedophiles are adept at pretending to be of the same age as your child;
• never open email attachments unless they know the person sending them and know what they contain, and
• never enter a private chat room.

Read more on the FPB website.

Tips:

• Phishing sites and emails often ask for information that a Bank would never ask you for or will never request you to update, such as personal or banking information.
• Never give your personal details to anyone without verifying their identity. You should view emails and pop-up windows asking for your personal information with the same amount of suspicion you would the person behind you in an ATM queue.
• Treat emails that appear to be from a Bank asking for personal details with suspicion. Never reply to their email or get into a conversation with them.
• Never provide your personal details, for example, your PIN or account details, by email.
• Do not follow any links in emails to reach Internet banking websites. Malicious software could redirect the link to a fake site.
• Always enter your bank's website address (i.e. www.standardbank.co.za) in the address bar to connect to your Internet banking site.
• Do not create shortcuts on your desktop to Internet Banking. Malicious software could redirect the shortcut to a fake site.
• Never disclose private information when social networking.
• Be wary about who you invite or accept invitations from when social networking..
• Be careful about clicking on links in an email or social networking posts.
• Make sure children are educated about the risks of going online.
• Get to know and use parental control settings.

How to spot spam

Spam emails may feature some of the following warning signs:

• You don’t know the sender.
• Contains misspellings (for example ‘p0rn’ with a zero) designed to fool spam filters.
• Makes an offer that seems too good to be true, such as Lotto, inheritance or SARS payouts.
• The subject line and contents do not match.
• Contains an urgent offer end date (for example “Buy now and get 50% off”).
• Contains a request to forward an email to multiple people, and may offer money for doing so.
• Contains a virus warning.
• Contains attachments, which could include .exe files.

All 419 scams and letters can be reported to SAPS (Tel 012 393 1203 or e-mail: 419scam@saps.org.za )