Anonymous apps like Kik open the door to predators


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SALT LAKE CITY — It's a way for kids to chat privately, sometimes without their parents ever knowing. But while messaging apps are growing in popularity among teens, they're also attracting predators who can remain anonymous. And that means your child may have no idea who they're really talking to.

"We would never hand our kid a gun that's loaded and say 'go play with that,'" said Ben Horsley, Granite School District spokesman. "But these smartphones have a lot of capabilities that parents don't even realize, to access pornography and to correspond with dangerous people."

An estimated 90-95 percent of Utah high schoolers have a smartphone. It's a great way to keep up with friends, share pictures and chat with almost anyone.

"I've been asked what I'm doing," said Tanner Brain, a student at Skyline. "Someone asked where I lived and I didn't know who it was."

Nearly every form of social media has a way to message someone privately and more and more apps have that sole purpose in mind — apps like Viber, What's App, Message Me, Whisper and Kik.

Kik boasts 275 million users and claims it's used by 40 percent of American teenagers.

"You always see people commenting, 'hey you got a Kik?'" said Jenna Carter, Skyline High student.

But while Kik is gaining popularity among teens, it's also a growing concern for school and law enforcement officials.

"The problem with Kik is that there are predators out there and they're doing dangerous things," said Horsley.

Anonymous apps like Kik open the door to predators

Here's what makes Kik stand out; you sign up with a username, not a phone number. That makes it easy to remain anonymous, even to law enforcement. It's also easier for teens to hide conversations because they won't show up on a phone bill.

"Generally when kids want to share something secret, they don't put it on their regular texting," said Horsley. "So if you're just checking your kids' regular texting app, and you don't know these other apps can message, you're missing most of the conversation."

And it may be a conversation you don't want to miss.

Just five weeks ago in Virginia, 13-year-old Nicole Lovell was kidnapped and killed. An 18-year-old man has been charged with her murder. Police say Nicole had been messaging him on Kik.

Headlines like this have been popping up around the country. In New York, prosecutors say a man used Kik to solicit child porn. In Alabama, police say a convicted felon raped a 14-year-old girl he met on Kik. Here in Utah, a St. George man is charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl he met on a popular texting app. Police declined to tell KSL Investigators which one it was.

"You don't generally find people over 20 using Kik," said detective Ken Hansen of the Unified Police Department. "Knowing that, where's the best place to go meet kids if you're a predator?"

Hansen worked with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for eight years. His mission was tracking down child predators. KSL Investigators asked him to set up a Kik account posing as a 15-year-old girl named "Sonica." All you need is a name, birthdate, photo and email address. Again, a phone number is optional.

Hansen made "Sonica's" username public and two days later she already had hundreds of messages, many too inappropriate to disclose.

"Here's one that says, 'Hi I'm Brad. You are so beautiful'," read Hansen. "Here's one that says, 'What's up? You just looking for friends or some sexy fun?' One guy said that he already had the hotel room and I just needed to go to where the hotel room was."

In two days, "Sonica" made 200 new friends. All of them were men.

School and law enforcement officials advise parents to:

  • Sit down with your teen and make sure you understand what every app on their phone does.
  • Know what apps your kids are downloading.
  • Set some phone rules, especially with the hours of use.
  • Talk to your kids about the dangers of messaging someone they don't really know.
Kik released the following statement Thursday morning:

"We have zero tolerance for any behavior that potentially affects the safety of our users. As well as our 24/7 support team, we offer blocking and reporting tools to allow users to flag unwanted content or contact. We are also reviewing all aspects of safety across the company in an effort to further improve the experience of our users, and to further address the concerns of parents. We continue to cooperate with law enforcement as needed anywhere in the world."

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Tania Mashburn

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