KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kim McLaws’ daughter is like a lot of other girls. She’s a huge Justin Bieber fan.
Her 13-year-old daughter excitedly told her mother Wednesday that she had received a text from Justin Bieber. McLaws wanted to know how. She was stunned to learn that her daughter had sent her cell phone number via private message on Facebook to someone purporting to be Bieber. But McLaws knew there was no way it was Bieber himself.
One of the reasons McLaws said she knew it was an impostor because the fake Bieber only had 300 or so friends. She was then horrified to learn the person had listed her daughter as “a sibling” and that other girls have posted their numbers on the impostor’s wall so that anyone could see it.
“As parents, we try so hard to keep our kids safe on the Web, but unfortunately the creeps know that Justin Bieber overrides the common sense of any 13-year-old girl!” McLaws said. “That’s the scary thing, people know a little girl is going to want to believe that Justin Bieber just commented on their status.”
McCalls has reported the fake page to Facebook.com, but hasn’t received a reply. The page is listed as belong to Justin Drew Bieber.
Overland Park Police Department cyber crime detective Marcus Fizer said bad guys use ruses just like this Bieber one to exploit children and commit identity theft.
He said parents should contact police if their child is harassed or their identity stolen. He suggests parents remind their children of stranger danger on the Internet, know their children’s passwords and monitor their children’s social networking activity. He said it’s important to talk with children about their Internet activities.
McCalls found out from her sister that her daughter had shared her cell phone number with a stranger.
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