How do I protect my child from grooming, scams and online exploitation?

The short answer

Teach the pattern of pressure rather than asking a child to identify a stereotypical stranger. A person may pose as a peer, offer friendship, praise, gifts, work, game currency or help, then request secrecy, private contact, personal information, money, account access, an image, a favour or a meeting. Make the response concrete: pause, do not send more, take a screenshot of the conversation where safe, and tell a named adult even if the child has already replied or broken a rule. Reduce discoverability and unknown contact, keep location and payment access limited, use strong separate passwords and require adult approval for new money routes. Verify unexpected requests through an official or previously known channel. If harm occurs, do not blame the child. Secure accounts and money, preserve relevant messages, and use the route that matches the incident: CEOP for online child sexual abuse or grooming, Report Remove for an under-18's sexual image of themselves online, Report Fraud or Police Scotland for fraud, local children's social care or police for exploitation, and 999 for immediate danger. Do not pay or keep engaging with sexual blackmail.

• Teach secrecy, urgency, movement to private contact, gifts, escalating requests and threats as pressure patterns.
• Make telling safe even after the child has replied, shared, paid or broken a household rule.
• Reduce unknown contact, location sharing, payment access and account takeover routes.
• Verify identities and requests through a separate official or already-known channel.
• Preserve enough evidence, stop contact and use the reporting route designed for the type of harm.