Child contacted by pervert - who do I report this to?

[KittyAlfred]

My 14 year old DS has received a text message from an iCloud address saying hello, and asking him how big his penis is. This person has also found him on Instagram, taken a photo from there and put it in a collage of photos containing a picture of a penis. Clearly the idea is to make it look as if it’s my son’s penis, which it isn’t. This person is threatening to spread this photo to school, social media etc.

I suspect this is a random hacker rather that a local paedophile targeting my son specifically, but I still want to report it.

Do 101 even answer the phone these days? I tried to report it online but it’s not on the list of things to report.

what would others do? Is it worth bothering?

I'd report it to school as well.

Almost certainly it's a dickhead at school doing this.

But regardless, report it to school.

Make sure your ds is always happy to tell you about this kind of stuff going forwards and also never to reply in any way to such messages.

I’ve emailed school too

Then you need to educate yourself.

Then learn! Google search or YouTube search how to manage privacy settings on instagram, and any other social media accounts he uses. I totally empathise with not being great with technology but this incident surely needs to lead him to tightening his privacy on his accounts, and you want to be sure he's done it. I have all mine set to private, followers/friends only.

Thank you, that’s really helpful!

If they're discussing a 'deal' then there has been a previous discussion that you're not party to. Either this is linked to sextortion (which is prevalent) and your son doesn't want to tell you as he's embarrassed, or this is linked to someone at school who wants something from him. I think you're underestimating the power of peer pressure when you say that it would be preferable to have it be a 'little shit'. In my experience its easier to resolve issues from randoms online that it is to resolve pervasive issues within schools. Either way, you need an open, honest and non judgemental conversation with your son

Yeah that's another child with an axe to grind.
A perv would want something, either more photos, to engage with him sexually, money etc.

This is just spite, I'd be looking closer to home.

Yeah it sounds more like a kid has done it, you’re doing the right things though. Hope the little turd gets a shock when the police turn up at their door!

Just reading the thread now so not up to date but I'd be inclined to think it's another kid at the school. A firm assembly would have happened in my day about that sort of thing being illegal and the police will get involved if anyone tries such a thing - not sure what would happen in modern day schools

OP for instagram security settings start here: https://help.instagram.com/196883487377501

You will need to be logged into his account, and then limit as much as possible who can see, follow and interact with him. You should also read this: https://about.instagram.com/community/parents

and this https://about.fb.com/news/2022/11/protecting-teens-and-their-privacy-on-facebook-and-instagram/

and this https://www.bark.us/tech-guide/app-management-whatsapp/

What other socials does he have?

There are lots of resources out there, I googled 'Keeping my teen safe online' and this looks like a good starting place: https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/young-people/resources-for-11-19s

if it’s any consolation, it really does sound like another kid, to me. The fact that the photo is already available online does not indicate a hacker - nothing has been hacked to obtain the photos. The fact that they also knew a number to text suggests that they know him irl. The crappy crude cut and paste job indicates use of a free phone app or similar rather than any sincere intention to create a realistic picture for blackmail etc. The messages don’t suggest any sort of grooming or desire to see naked photos of him: just silly immaturity.

I’d bet it’s a kid from him school being an idiot with no grasp of how serious this is!

Yes this is what I was trying to get at. Any child can Google pictures or take them off Instagram, put together a collage on Pics Art or something, and send an email. It will be by a person, probably a mischievous child, and not some kind of bot as you implied earlier OP.

The fact that it's to do with slander/blackmail/distribution of fake child porn etc is already a big deal. My worry is if you say stuff like "hacker", you risk being seen as overreacting

Oh sorry just seen that it's a text not an email

Are you sure you're being told the whole story?
This read like sextortion demand and you may only be seeing some of the messages if your child is embarrassed.

The police will take any report seriously, keep all messages and report via 101