A concerned dad has taken to Facebook to warn parents about predators posing as kids on the popular app Musical.ly.
Brad Summers’ seven-year-old daughter was playing with the app on a mobile phone when she received some very disturbing messages.
Brad explained that his daughter Madi doesn’t have a phone of her own but her parents allowed to play on one of theirs.
He wrote: “We were naive in thinking that our daughter was safe on what we thought to be a kid friendly app. We have learned the hard way. I ask that you not judge us (many still will) but let our experience teach us all".
His daughter was followed by another user calling themselves Jessy while playing on the app. She followed back and Jessy began sending her messages.
Brad said: “She used this app to connect with her cousins and make goofy duets of songs together. We have accepted friends of theirs and our daughter believed this was another one. I never thought of someone pretending to be nine to gain access to my child”.
Jessy purported to be nine years old and asked the little girl how old she was. Once they had ascertained Madi’s age, the next request was for a photo. Madi, thinking she was talking to another child sent a smiling selfie.
She soon received a creepy message which read: “Looking nice. Send your pics without t-shirt”.
The confused little girl replied with a close-up of her face, not understanding what the sick message really meant.
The next message told her to “Make some pics without t-shirt” and encouraged the little girl to go into the bathroom to take a photo.
However, Madi knew something was wrong and told the pervert firmly: “My mom says I can’t” and found her dad to tell him what had happened.
Brad alerted the police who tracked down the IP of the person and are investigating the case at present.
He said he was “very proud” of his daughter for alerting him to the creepy messages.
“This post is meant as a warning call to others that let their children use this app. This post wasn't meant for people telling me how to raise my child.
"My child came and told me and it didn't get any further luckily. She followed what I taught her. I'm sure that others families aren't so lucky. The world we live in needs focus on these types of things, say what you will”, he wrote.
Unfortunately, it’s not the first time a parent has discovered disturbing messages on this app.
Earlier this year, mum Brenda Jennings found messages from a stranger, pretending to be the mother of another user, asking Anna if she was interested in “modelling” and asking her to send photos of herself.
Are you concerned by this story mums? Let us know.
