Online groomers lure children with simple tasks before resorting to blackmail, CICC warns

Online predators are using seemingly harmless activities, group recognition, and rewards to gain children’s trust before pressuring them into performing dangerous or incriminating acts, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) warned.

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary and CICC Executive Director Aboy Paraiso explained how online grooming can gradually escalate from simple tasks into manipulation, blackmail, and threats against young victims.

During an interview on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon on October 14, Paraiso said online predators often begin by assigning easy activities, such as taking selfies, to make children feel accepted within an online community.

According to Paraiso, these groups create a sense of belonging by praising participants and allowing them to advance through different levels within the community.

“Tapos mararamdam mo, aangat ka ng levels within the community. But this is also superficially. Kasi parang ano yun yung structure nila. Talagang binibuild up ka nila,” Paraiso said.

However, he warned that these seemingly harmless interactions are part of a calculated process designed to establish trust and gradually increase control over potential victims.

Once children become emotionally invested in the group, predators may introduce more serious tasks, including activities that could expose them to criminal liability or demands to produce compromising photographs.

“After that comes the more serious part. Nagkakaroon na nung tasking na parang gagawa ka ng krimen or mag-picture ka na nakahubad or something that’s incriminating,” he explained.

Paraiso said the situation becomes more dangerous when predators begin using these materials to threaten victims and discourage them from seeking help from their families.

He explained that children may be warned that their private photographs will be circulated or that they will be reported to authorities if they disclose their interactions to their parents.

“Kasi sasabihin nila, pag kinausap mo yung magulang mo or nagsumbong ka, ipapakalat namin itong pictures mo, isusumbong ka namin sa bandas,” Paraiso said.

The threats, he explained, are intended to isolate children from their families, making them increasingly dependent on the online group while limiting their ability to seek protection.

Paraiso also warned that the final stages of this manipulation could involve pressure to commit violent acts or engage in self-harm.

He cited school shootings and cases involving young people taking their own lives as possible outcomes associated with such dangerous online manipulation.

His warning highlights how online grooming can extend beyond sexual exploitation, with perpetrators potentially using psychological pressure, social acceptance, and intimidation to influence children’s behavior.