• Figures from the PSNI show that child grooming has increased by 1400% in the last four years. 
• In the same period, online sex crimes against children increased by 270%.
• This news comes as the Department of Education launches the SaferSchools NI App for children, having previously been available to teachers, parents and carers.

• Facebook has officially launched Messenger Rooms worldwide, a group video chat function.
• It is believed that Messenger Rooms is their response to the increased popularity of Zoom and other video group chat platforms.
• Messenger Rooms will allow up to 50 people to talk in a single room. Each chat has no time limit and users don’t need a Facebook account to join. 
• The good news is that privacy features include locking rooms, blocking people and removing unwanted participants.

• Over 25% of the most viewed coronavirus related videos on YouTube contain misleading information.
• Research conducted by BMJ Global Health, looked at the most widely viewed coronavirus-related videos in English, as of 21 March and found that misleading videos have been watched over 62 million times.

• A California based church is suing the video conferencing platform Zoom after a bible study class was ‘zoombombed’ with images of child abuse. 
• A spokesperson for Zoom has said they ‘identified the offender, took action to block their access to the platform and reported them to the relevant authorities.”
• This recent ‘zoombomb’ comes amid Zoom announcing new security features to stop this sort of incident from happening in future.
• To help you stay safe while using online video conferencing check out our ABCs of Live Video Conferencing.

• Victim Support has said organised criminals will try to exploit people’s loneliness during the lockdown using romance scams.  These scams groom victims into handing over cash to help their ‘new love’.  
• Research has shown that people have lost upwards of £47,000. 
• Organised criminals will target those they think are lonely and build relationships over weeks, before asking for large sums of money.

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