How Convicted Felons Can Discover Where Your Kids Live    by Matt Marshall

When 15 year old Melissa got her first MySpace page, she was thrilled. All her friends had one and she was one the last ones to sign up.

It took her a few minutes to get set-up, but soon she was off to the races. Posting comments, chatting with her friends, even posting pictures of herself.

Melissa was no fool. She knew that pedophiles and perverts trolled Myspace pages looking for their next victim. So she avoided posting any pictures of her or her friends in a bathing suit or a skirt.

So when a new instant message popped up from an unknown man, she was a little surprised. He demanded that she send him nude pictures of her self.

She refused and closed the window. But it popped back open when he wrote...

"Do It Or I'll Come To Your House TONIGHT. I Know Exactly Where You Live."

Melissa just laughed and closed the chat session. She thought he was bluffing. The whole neighborhood heard her shriek when he showed up her door later that evening.

The story above is a fictional, but it could happen.

When Melissa was posting pictures online, she took great care not to reveal any personal information. Unfortunately, the license plate of her father's car was visible in the background of one of the pictures she posted.

For a savvy ex-convict, it's relatively easy to use the license plate number of a vehicle to find out who the vehicle is registered and what their home address is.

Bingo. The whole process would take an experienced hack less than 30 minutes.

What Can Parents Do?

As a parent, it's your responsibility to be 100% aware of your child's activities online. Unfortunately, that's incredibly difficult these days.

Most parents don't even know if you their children have Myspace pages. And even if you are aware, your child could have "secret" MySpace pages or blogs that no one knows about.

So what can you do? For the ultimate awareness tool, I recommend investing in a quality computer monitoring service. Depending on which one you select, you'll know exactly what your child is saying during chat sessions, what's being said to your child, what websites your child is visiting and what your child is saying via email.

Some people might consider this over the top. But for those parents who value complete peace of mind, the ends justify the means.

About the Author

*** Matt Marshall is the author of "Behind Your Back & Under Your Nose: What Your Kids Are Really Doing Online." He teaches concerned parents how to protect their kids from online threats. To get your free report, please visit http://www.WhatEveryParentMustKnow.com

Home Page > Directory-Home > HOME AND LEISURE > convicted felons online