Video clip sent to dc's cell phones...

[Bev in B'ville]

Last week both of my dc received a video clip sent to them by an unknown person. This video clip appeared innocent enough in the beginning, but soon morphed into animated pornography. I would have never known about this had my dd not said, "Hey mom, isn't this cute?" (referring to the beginning of the video clip).

 

The clip begins with an animation of The Wizard of Oz main characters skipping down the yellow brick road and the music "We're off the see the wizard...." playing in the background. Had my dd not handed me her phone when she did she would have seen the next scene which jumped to...well, let's just say Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion were being naughty and leave it at that. Thankfully, my dd never watched the whole thing. I immediately deleted it.

 

At first, I was furious and was wondering which of my dc's "friends" would have sent that to them, but once I researched the number it came from I realized we didn't know this person (not the same town, barely the same state). What bothers me the most about this was that my dc received the video clip, but I didn't, so if it was random I should have received it too, for the simple reason that our telephone numbers are sequential. It worries me that this clip seems to be designed with the sole purpose of luring children to watch it (hence the cuteness at the beginning) before morphing into something more lurid.

 

I filed a police report on this and the police are "looking into it." However, I thought all of you should be aware of this just in case the people putting this out there are targeting children or if this video clip gets forwarded by kids.

 

HTH.

[Brenda in FL]

Yuck!! I'm glad that the kids didn't see it. Are you able to block that phone number in case they try it again? Or disable the service from accepting video clips?

[King Alfred Academy]

That's awful! Glad your dd didn't see it.

I hate that there are people out there who only want to hurt our children.

It sickens me.

[Bev in B'ville]

"premium" texting, which is marketers. Since this came from a private phone number I will have to have that particular number blocked. The Verizon person had no other suggestions and the policeman just told me to have the phone numbers changed.

 

I'll wait and see what happens and see if we get another one before I decide about changing numbers, that's such a pain.

[Michelle in MO]

something like this was possible! Bev, thanks for letting us know!

 

I have a question about text messaging: is getting a minimal package safe? My middle dd has been begging for this, and initially I saw no use for it, but then I read an article in our local paper about a boy in a town just north of ours who was kidnapped for 12 hours. He managed to text message "HELP!" to his girlfriend and somehow escaped his abductor. So---text messaging helped save his life.

 

Do you think text messaging is a good idea? Is it safe?

 

Thanks for any help!

[Remudamom]

Ack! I don't think we can get videos on our cell phones??

[lovemyboys]

Last week both of my dc received a video clip sent to them by an unknown person. This video clip appeared innocent enough in the beginning' date=' but soon morphed into animated pornography.[/quote']

 

We had a similar weird thing happen. Just signed up for dvr with the cable folks. Our "brand new box" in shrinkwrap was loaded with previously taped stuff and it started recording on its own yesterday.

 

Fortunately dc don't know how to work it yet because the recordings are alot of those gruesome cage fighting shows.

 

But when I talked with the tech today, we agreed that it could have been ANYthing that the previous subscriber recorded, including porn.......

 

And they just send it out of the store like that? I'm calling the store tomorrow to register a more formal complaint about that, they could get themselves in trouble that way. They've got all these ads with John Walsh about internet safety, etc.

 

Just glad that you caught your disturbing cell video! And you got the police in on it.

[Bev in B'ville]

something like this was possible! Bev, thanks for letting us know!

 

I have a question about text messaging: is getting a minimal package safe? My middle dd has been begging for this, and initially I saw no use for it, but then I read an article in our local paper about a boy in a town just north of ours who was kidnapped for 12 hours. He managed to text message "HELP!" to his girlfriend and somehow escaped his abductor. So---text messaging helped save his life.

 

Do you think text messaging is a good idea? Is it safe?

 

Thanks for any help!

 

 

All of their friends have text messaging and this is one way my dc can stay in touch with them. They're just not allowed to text during school time.

 

Also, another feature that my dc's phone has on it is the Verizon locator. I can locate my children within a very small area (20 feet or so) if I need to. I insisted on this feature last year when dd (then 14) started working as a soccer referee. The soccer fields are located next to a lot of woods and it scared me that someone could grab a kid and drag them off into the woods. Sometimes she would have an hour break between games and while I had very strict rules about where she could/could not go, she's still a child and subject to bad decisions once in a while. With the locator I can find her anytime I want to. I could even set zones if I wanted to that, if dd entered, I would be notified on my cell phone. Can I just say I love this feature. It gives me a little peace of mind. I was afraid of something like what happened to the boy you mentioned above and what would happen if she couldn't text.

 

Now, for the nuts and bolts of text messaging. Verizon has two types: standard and premium. All you want is standard. The only difference between the two is that premium allows marketers to text message the cell phone. I gave Verizon an ear full one day when my dd received one of these messages from an online dating service trying to lure her onto their site. I had the "premium" service removed that day for all of our phones. I think it's deceiving to call it "premium" anyway. It makes it sound like a step up from standard, when in reality the only difference is the marketers ability to text you directly.

 

I'm still sipping my first cup of coffee so I apologize for any rambling. Need....more....coffee.

 

Bev

[Deidre in GA]

the phones for your children do not have to have internet or text messaging access. i had these features disabled on my son's account. it's a simple phone call to customer service or at least with AT&T it is.

 

unless you buy an unlimited package for texting, i think you're setting yourself up for a headache when you enable texting. the service charges for messages sent AND received. your child may be responsible for the amount of messages they text but they have no control over their friends and you pay for the messages whether you read them or not. i have a few friends who went into sticker shock when they saw the texting charges on the bill - i'm talking hundreds of dollars here!

 

as for internet access, i monitor internet access at home; why would i give him unrestricted internet access on his phone? no internet access - no unwanted videos in your inbox. ds 15 is in his first year of public school. not having these features on his phone doesn't seem to impact his social life at all.

[LisaNY]

"premium" texting' date=' which is marketers. Since this came from a private phone number I will have to have that particular number blocked. The Verizon person had no other suggestions and the policeman just told me to have the phone numbers changed.

 

I'll wait and see what happens and see if we get another one before I decide about changing numbers, that's such a pain.[/quote']

 

Bev, how do you block "Premium texting"?

[Bev in B'ville]

Bev, how do you block "Premium texting"?

 

Just call your carrier and tell them to remove premium texting from your phone(s).

 

By the way, I don't pay for each text message. Because we have the family plan, unlimited texting is included for both my dc and myself. I, for one, have found it very useful. Last year I coached a girls' 19U soccer team and instead of calling them all for rainouts or practice changes, I simply text messaged the group. They would text me back letting me know they received the message. This saved me loads of time calling and leaving messages for each of them.

 

Also, last spring both of my dc went to camp. They couldn't call me during the day, but they would drop me a text message every now and then letting me know how they were doing. It was great hearing from them.

 

I have found the technology very useful. It does have its problems, but what technology doesn't? Internet on the phone is not free. Both dc know that if they ever access the internet via their phone (which I will know because it will show up on my phone bill), their phone goes away, permanently!

 

HTH.

[~Kirsten~]

All of their friends have text messaging and this is one way my dc can stay in touch with them. They're just not allowed to text during school time.

 

Also' date=' another feature that my dc's phone has on it is the Verizon locator. I can locate my children within a very small area (20 feet or so) if I need to. I insisted on this feature last year when dd (then 14) started working as a soccer referee. The soccer fields are located next to a lot of woods and it scared me that someone could grab a kid and drag them off into the woods. Sometimes she would have an hour break between games and while I had very strict rules about where she could/could not go, she's still a child and subject to bad decisions once in a while. With the locator I can find her anytime I want to. I could even set zones if I wanted to that, if dd entered, I would be notified on my cell phone. Can I just say I love this feature. It gives me a little peace of mind. I was afraid of something like what happened to the boy you mentioned above and what would happen if she couldn't text.

 

Now, for the nuts and bolts of text messaging. Verizon has two types: standard and premium. All you want is standard. The only difference between the two is that premium allows marketers to text message the cell phone. I gave Verizon an ear full one day when my dd received one of these messages from an online dating service trying to lure her onto their site. I had the "premium" service removed that day for all of our phones. I think it's deceiving to call it "premium" anyway. It makes it sound like a step up from standard, when in reality the only difference is the marketers ability to text you directly.

 

I'm still sipping my first cup of coffee so I apologize for any rambling. Need....more....coffee.

 

Bev[/quote']

Thank you, Bev! I didn't know about this technology (the locator), but I've been hoping it would be created and readily available by the time our girls were old enough to be on their own! I'm so glad to hear about this already!

 

And OP, how scary and just...ewwwww! I'm so glad you were able to delete the message before your daughter saw the yuckiness! :ack2: Thanks, also, for the warning to watch out!