Devious predators are setting up false celeb profiles and using them to fool children into taking sexual photos
SICK perverts are setting up fake celebrity social media profiles and using them to trick kids into sending them explicit sexual images, cops have warned.
Vile "sex offenders" are setting up accounts in the name of stars including Justin Bieber and Harry Styles.
Reuters
These profiles are then used to approach underage children and ask them to take pornographic pictures of themselves.
Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, who runs a police department in Queensland, Australia, that's dedicated to combating child exploitation, told the BBC that "identity assumption by child sex offenders is increasing quite steadily".
"The fact that so many children across the world could believe that they were talking to Justin Bieber, and that Justin Bieber would make them do the things that they did, is really quite concerning," he added.
"I think a re-evaluation of the way we educate children about safe online behaviour is really needed."
The Beeb spoke to a mother of an eight-year-old girl who had been using "a popular social media app" for just two days before she was approached by a pervert pretending to be a celebrity.
At first, the messages seem innocent enough, inviting the girl to enter a competition.
"Then the second message that came up was along the lines of 'all you need to do is send me a photo of you naked or of your vagina'," the mother said.
"Then the third message said: 'don't worry about it. All the girls are sending me these photos. Just do it. It'll be our secret'.
"And then the last message was 'do it now'."
Earlier this year, Harry Styles' sister Gemma sparked a probe into a "horrifying" fake Harry Styles Twitter account that was "preying on vulnerable girls".
An account was set up under the handle @PrvtHarryStyles which claimed to be a private page belonging to the One Direction star in which he could give advice to girls with mental health issues.
Droves of the singer's fans flocked to social media to voice their anxiety about the account.
Some claimed that the "catfish" pretending to be Harry had been asking young girls for pictures and "preying" on them.
A One Direction fan page wrote: "Teen girls have been sending that account things & I've been horrified that someone is preying on them."
Another said: "There is an account called @PrvtHarryStyles who is preying on minors. Delete them now."
And a third added: "These poor fans were posting way too much personal info out there for this man. Scary."
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