Mum finds crude messages from 'online groomer' posing as Justin Bieber on daughter's iPad
A Melbourne mother says she was 'sickened' to learn her eight-year-old daughter was being groomed through an online app, by someone posing as Justin Bieber.
Alicia Bellette said she had allowed her daughter to use the app Musical.ly - a platform designed for kids to dance and mime to their favourite songs and share the clips with their friends.
However she claimed she was shocked to find within 48 hours of creating the profile, "disgusting" messages had been sent to her daughter, from a user calling themselves 'The Real Justin Bieber'.
Ms Bellette said she took the appropriate steps to ensure her daughter's profile was as secure as possible, and limited her contacts to just seven close friends, but the random messages still came through.
"When ever she used it, we did it together so I was watching," she told Fox FM.
She said the messages claimed to have been from the pop star, included his photo on the screen and "looked very real and well done”.
The first message, she alleges, asked: "Who wants to win a 5 minute video call with me."
Ms Bellette felt because Bieber had recently been in the country, it could have been considered legitimate.
But when the next message appeared, the mother said she was horrified to read it.
She claimed it instructed: "All you need to do is send me a photo of you naked, or of your vagina."
"I read that and I almost fell over. I was disgusted," Ms Bellette said.
"This app is an online predator’s dream, because it clearly gives access to so many kids."
She was "sickened" to think some girls might have followed the instructions in the message.
“I knew it was a professional groomer as soon as the final message popped up, because it was really encouraging her to send a photo," she alleged.
She claimed the final message read: "Lots of girls send me these pics all the time and I will never tell anyone you sent one."
She said she reported the incident to police but claimed she was told there was little they could do to track down the source of the message.
The concerned mum hoped sharing her story would be a warning to other parents.
Musical.ly said in a statement that the company takes the safety of its users seriously and has "zero tolerance for inappropriate, illegal, or predatory behavior" on its apps.
"We urge our users to report any inappropriate activity to us at support@musical.ly.com - Our team will review and terminate accounts that include inappropriate content or otherwise violate our Terms of Service.
"Account holders can adjust their privacy settings so that only approved followers can send them messages or see their videos.
"In addition, messages from friends are clearly identified and visibly different than those from unknown senders so users can tell who is contacting them. Our users can also block any other user from contacting them and can report abusive users or communications to us through the application."
