Safety Online is an Uphill Climb

Over the weekend, a few posts went viral concerning a man that was booked into Henry County Jail on Sunday afternoon on a $50,000 bond. The man is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor after he took photos from various women’s and children’s social media accounts and reposted them to his account with lewd comments on some. The Henry County Sheriff’s office has the man in custody and is investigating.

I restate all this from the news story to say, I recognize some of these women and girls and you probably do too. For some, it hit too close to home, seeing photos of their children.

Ladies, please consider taking some extra precautions to keep you and your daughters safe. Lock down your profiles (make them private), change the profile picture to something else besides your beautiful faces. Don’t post photos of your home, your vehicle, your address, or other identifying information on social media. I’m sorry, I know it’s not fair to ask you to hide.

I, too, have posted lots of identifying info in my time online. It’s easy to do and hard to remember that not everyone has the same heart as you.

Something a friend told me recently after a security breach exposed social security numbers, is to lock my credit with the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) to prevent identity theft.

Hear me out.

While I was on Experian, I discovered tools to monitor my info on the “dark web,” monitor use of my social security number, the app notified me when a sex offender moved into my area, and Experian has tools to remove your info from websites throughout the internet.

It’s important to note, that if you need to apply for a loan, etc., you can temporarily lift or unlock your credit for that interaction.

Locking your credit is free, the previously mentioned services have a fee.

While it can’t stop someone from stealing your image and reposting it, it can help prevent others from stealing your whole life.

It feels like an assault on all fronts when you lock the doors, lock the windows, but the wolf still gets in via the internet.

These days you have to work twice as hard to keep your families safe.

Please talk with your children about safety online.

I hope this incident raises awareness and helps prevent something worse from happening.

If you are interested in learning more about Experian’s services, go to www.experian.com or download the app from the app store.

No, Experian did not sponsor this, unfortunately.

Stay safe.