Beware of Cyber Stalkers in Facebook!
>> Oct 25, 2010
If you’re an Indonesian, perhaps you followed the news about Devi Permatasari, 13 years old, a second grade Junior High School student in Bandung who has been kidnapped for about two weeks by a guy that she met in facebook. I’m so glad it ended with happy ending. Police can successfully save the girl at the kidnaper’s house at Oct 21th 2010 and now he’s in jail. It was the right time operation, as the bad guy – Taufik Hidayat- wanted to sell Devi to other bad men.
This crime can be assumed as cyber stalking, a new type of computer related crime going on in our society. In general terms, cyber stalking is when a person is followed and pursued on line. The victim’s privacy is assaulted and their every move is watched. It’s usually occurs with women, or children who are stalked by adult predators or pedophiles.
Cyber stalkers meet or target their victims by using search engines, online forums, bulletin and discussion boards, chat rooms, and more recently, through online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and many other more. In this case, Devi met the cyber stalker in facebook. Taufik Hidayat (23 years old) faked his identity and pretended as a student of a favorite senior high school named Reno. Cyber stalkers will do and offer anything to attract the victims!
This crime can be assumed as cyber stalking, a new type of computer related crime going on in our society. In general terms, cyber stalking is when a person is followed and pursued on line. The victim’s privacy is assaulted and their every move is watched. It’s usually occurs with women, or children who are stalked by adult predators or pedophiles.
Cyber stalkers meet or target their victims by using search engines, online forums, bulletin and discussion boards, chat rooms, and more recently, through online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and many other more. In this case, Devi met the cyber stalker in facebook. Taufik Hidayat (23 years old) faked his identity and pretended as a student of a favorite senior high school named Reno. Cyber stalkers will do and offer anything to attract the victims!
Devi is still a naive girl and she has no idea what really happened. She believed every thing ‘Reno’ said. She is more attracted to ‘Reno’ after he promised to buy her a blackberry phone and give money Rp100.000, - (about $10-11) every day. That’s why – when ‘Reno’ asked her to meet for the first time at Oct 5th- Devi felt very happy and told one of her friends that she will meet the great and kind guy. Based on her friend’s information about ‘Reno’, the police can catch the kidnapper.
As parents, you can’t watch and protect your children, especially your daughters, every minute. I think Devi’s parents don’t know much about internet and facebook so they don’t give related and enough information to build their daughter’s self-awareness.
If your daughter has been told to be always aware and alert while doing online and every where, the kidnap won’t happen. She will keep personal information, won’t be easy to trust someone that met online, won’t be easily attracted to any interesting offer, and won’t be brave to meet the guy just alone.
Always remind your daughter/child to use internet technology with smart and high self awareness. Alert, alert, and alert!
