BCA reports recent increase in tips about suspected online crimes involving children

BCA reports recent increase in tips about suspected online crimes involving children Photo: KSTP-TV.

Josh Skluzacek
Updated: May 18, 2020 01:26 PM
Created: May 18, 2020 01:10 PM

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Monday said its Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has seen a 30% increase in tips about suspected criminal online activity involving children in the past two months.

The department urged Minnesotans to take some precautions to protect yourself and your children, such as:

Scrub your social media of anything too personal or revealing and don't share explicit images. Once you share a photo, even if it only appears for a few seconds, you can no longer control it.
Use your privacy settings and don't accept just anyone as a friend. If you don't know one of your contacts or followers, block or delete them.
If there is an image of you or your child online, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a detailed process you can follow to get help removing the image here.

The BCA also urged Minnesotans to report suspicious online conduct involving children online or by calling 1-800-843-5678.

As always, if you or someone you know is being victimized, call the police right away.