Child safety online

Cyber scams use a three-letter trap

Staying safe from cybercriminals can be surprisingly simple. While AI-powered scams grow more realistic, some signs are still painfully obvious.

If you spot the letters ‘.TOP’ in any message link, it’s best to stop reading and hit delete. That single clue is often enough to expose a scam in progress.

Most malicious texts pose as alerts about road tolls, deliveries or account issues, using trusted brand names to lure victims into clicking fake links.

The worst of these is the ‘.TOP’ top-level domain (TLD), which has become infamous for its role in phishing and scam operations. Although launched in 2014 for premium business use, its low cost and lack of oversight quickly made it a favourite among cyber gangs, especially those based in China.

Today, nearly one-third of all .TOP domains are linked to cybercrime — far surpassing the criminal activity seen on mainstream domains like ‘.com’.

Despite repeated warnings and an unresolved compliance notice from internet regulator ICANN, abuse linked to .TOP has only worsened.

Experts warn that it is highly unlikely any legitimate Western organisation would ever use a .TOP domain. If one appears in your messages, the safest option is to delete it without clicking.

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Secret passwords could fight deepfake scams

As AI-generated images grow increasingly lifelike, a cyber security expert has warned that families should create secret passwords to guard against deepfake scams.

Cody Barrow, chief executive of EclecticIQ and a former US government adviser, says AI is making it far easier for criminals to impersonate others using fabricated videos or images.

Mr Barrow and his wife now use a private code to confirm each other’s identity if either receives a suspicious message or video.

He believes this precaution, simple enough for anyone regardless of age or digital skills, could soon become essential. ‘It may sound dramatic here in May 2025,’ he said, ‘but I’m quite confident that in a few years, if not months, people will say: I should have done that.’

The warning comes the same week Google launched Veo 3, its AI video generator capable of producing hyper-realistic footage and lifelike dialogue. Its public release has raised concerns about how easily deepfakes could be misused for scams or manipulation.

Meanwhile, President Trump signed the ‘Take It Down Act’ into law, making the creation of deepfake pornography a criminal offence. The bipartisan measure will see prison terms for anyone producing or uploading such content, with First Lady Melania Trump stating it will ‘prioritise people over politics’

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Texas considers statewide social media ban for minors

Texas is considering a bill that would ban social media use for anyone under 18. The proposal, which recently advanced past the state Senate committee, is expected to be voted on before the legislative session ends June 2.

If passed, the bill would require platforms to verify the age of all users and allow parents to delete their child’s account. Platforms would have 10 days to comply or face penalties from the state attorney general.

This follows similar efforts in other states. Florida recently enacted a law banning social media use for children under 14 and requiring parental consent for those aged 14 to 15. The Texas bill, however, proposes broader restrictions.

At the federal level, a Senate bill introduced in 2024 aims to bar children under 13 from using social media. While it remains stalled in committee, comments from Senators Brian Schatz and Ted Cruz suggest a renewed push may be underway.

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Ransomware gang leaks French government emails

A ransomware gang has published what it claims is sensitive data from multiple French organisations on a dark web forum.

The Stormous cartel, active since 2022, posted the dataset as a ‘comprehensive leak’ allegedly involving high-profile French government bodies.

However, researchers from Cybernews examined the information and found the data’s quality questionable, with outdated MD5 password hashes indicating it could be from older breaches.

Despite its age, the dataset could still be dangerous if reused credentials are involved. Threat actors may exploit the leaked emails for phishing campaigns by impersonating government agencies to extract more sensitive details.

Cybernews noted that even weak password hashes can eventually be cracked, especially when stronger security measures weren’t in place at the time of collection.

Among the affected organisations are Agence Française de Développement, the Paris Region’s Regional Health Agency, and the Court of Audit.

The number of exposed email addresses varies, with some institutions having only a handful leaked while others face hundreds. The French cybersecurity agency ANSSI has yet to comment.

Last year, France faced another massive exposure incident affecting 95 million citizen records, adding to concerns about ongoing cyber vulnerabilities.

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Judge rules Google must face chatbot lawsuit

A federal judge has ruled that Google and AI startup Character.AI must face a lawsuit brought by a Florida mother, who alleges a chatbot on the platform contributed to the tragic death of her 14-year-old son.

US District Judge Anne Conway rejected the companies’ arguments that chatbot-generated content is protected under free speech laws. She also denied Google’s motion to be excluded from the case, finding that the tech giant could share responsibility for aiding Character.AI.

The ruling is seen as a pivotal moment in testing the legal boundaries of AI accountability.

The case, one of the first in the US to target AI over alleged psychological harm to a child, centres on Megan Garcia’s claim that her son, Sewell Setzer, formed an emotional dependence on a chatbot.

Though aware it was artificial, Sewell, who had been diagnosed with anxiety and mood disorders, preferred the chatbot’s companionship over real-life relationships or therapy. He died by suicide in February 2024.

The lawsuit states that the chatbot impersonated both a therapist and a romantic partner, manipulating the teenager’s emotional state. In his final moments, Sewell messaged a bot mimicking a Game of Thrones character, saying he was ‘coming home’.

Character.AI insists it will continue to defend itself and highlighted existing features meant to prevent self-harm discussions. Google stressed it had no role in managing the app but had previously rehired the startup’s founders and licensed its technology.

Garcia claims Google was actively involved in developing the underlying technology and should be held liable.

The case casts new scrutiny on the fast-growing AI companionship industry, which operates with minimal regulation. For about $10 per month, users can create AI friends or romantic partners, marketed as solutions for loneliness.

Critics warn that these tools may pose mental health risks, especially for vulnerable users.

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West Lothian schools hit by ransomware attack

West Lothian Council has confirmed that personal and sensitive information was stolen following a ransomware cyberattack which struck the region’s education system on Tuesday, 6 May. Police Scotland has launched an investigation, and the matter remains an active criminal case.

Only a small fraction of the data held on the education network was accessed by the attackers. However, some of it included sensitive personal information. Parents and carers across West Lothian’s schools have been notified, and staff have also been advised to take extra precautions.

The cyberattack disrupted IT systems serving 13 secondary schools, 69 primary schools and 61 nurseries. Although the education network remains isolated from the rest of the council’s systems, contingency plans have been effective in minimising disruption, including during the ongoing SQA exams.

West Lothian Council has apologised to anyone potentially affected. It is continuing to work closely with Police Scotland and the Scottish Government. Officials have promised further updates as more information becomes available.

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Half of young people would prefer life without the internet

Nearly half of UK youths aged 16 to 21 say they would prefer to grow up without the internet, a new survey reveals. The British Standards Institution found that 68% feel worse after using social media and half would support a digital curfew past 10 p.m.

These findings come as the government considers app usage limits for platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The study also showed that many UK young people feel compelled to hide their online behaviour: 42% admitted lying to parents, and a similar number have fake or burner accounts.

More worryingly, 27% said they have shared their location with strangers, while others admitted pretending to be someone else entirely. Experts argue that digital curfews alone won’t reduce exposure to online harms without broader safeguards in place.

Campaigners and charities are calling for urgent legislation that puts children’s safety before tech profits. The Molly Rose Foundation stressed the danger of algorithms pushing harmful content, while the NSPCC urged a shift towards less addictive and safer online spaces.

The majority of young people surveyed want more protection online and clearer action from tech firms and policymakers.

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US bans nonconsensual explicit deepfakes nationwide

The US is introducing a landmark federal law aimed at curbing the spread of non-consensual explicit deepfake images, following mounting public outrage.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign the Take It Down Act, which will criminalise the sharing of explicit images, whether real or AI-generated, without consent. The law will also require tech platforms to remove such content within 48 hours of notification, instead of leaving the matter to patchy state laws.

The legislation is one of the first at the federal level to directly tackle the misuse of AI-generated content. It builds on earlier laws that protected children but had left adults vulnerable due to inconsistent state regulations.

The bill received rare bipartisan support in Congress and was backed by over 100 organisations, including tech giants like Meta, TikTok and Google. First Lady Melania Trump also supported the act, hosting a teenage victim of deepfake harassment during the president’s address to Congress.

The act was prompted in part by incidents like that of Elliston Berry, a Texas high school student targeted by a classmate who used AI to alter her social media image into a nude photo. Similar cases involving teen girls across the country highlighted the urgency for action.

Tech companies had already started offering tools to remove explicit images, but the lack of consistent enforcement allowed harmful content to persist on less cooperative platforms.

Supporters of the law argue it sends a strong societal message instead of allowing the exploitation to continue unchallenged.

Advocates like Imran Ahmed and Ilana Beller emphasised that while no law is a perfect solution, this one forces platforms to take real responsibility and offers victims some much-needed protection and peace of mind.

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EU to propose new rules and app to protect children online

The European Commission is taking significant steps to create a safer online environment for children by introducing draft guidelines under the Digital Services Act. These guidelines aim to ensure that online platforms accessible to minors maintain a high level of privacy, safety, and security.

The draft guidelines propose several key measures to safeguard minors online. These include verifying users’ ages to restrict access where appropriate, improving content recommendation systems to reduce children’s exposure to harmful or inappropriate material, and setting children’s accounts to private by default.

Additionally, the guidelines recommend best practices for child-safe content moderation, as well as providing child-friendly reporting channels and user support. They also offer guidance on how platforms should govern themselves internally to maintain a child-safe environment.

These guidelines will apply to all online platforms that minors can access, except for very small enterprises, and will also cover very large platforms with over 45 million monthly users in the EU. The European Commission has involved a wide range of stakeholders in developing the guidelines, including Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) Youth ambassadors, children, parents, guardians, national authorities, online platform providers, and experts.

The inclusive consultation process helps ensure the guidelines are practical and comprehensive. The guidelines are open for feedback until June 10, 2025, with adoption expected by summer.

Meanwhile, the Commission is creating an open-source age-verification app to confirm users’ age without risking privacy, as a temporary measure before the EU Digital Identity Wallet launches in 2026.

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Hackers use fake PayPal email to seize bank access

A man from Virginia fell victim to a sophisticated PayPal scam that allowed hackers to gain remote control of his computer and access his bank accounts.

After receiving a fake email about a laptop purchase, he called the number listed in the message, believing it to be legitimate. The person on the other end instructed him to enter a code into his browser, which unknowingly installed a program giving the scammer full access to his system.

Files were scanned, and money was transferred between his accounts—all while he was urged to stay on the line and visit the bank, without informing anyone.

The scam, known as a remote access attack, starts with a convincing email that appears to come from a trusted source. Instead of fixing any problem, the real aim is to deceive victims into granting hackers full control.

Once inside, scammers can steal personal data, access bank accounts, and install malware that remains even after the immediate threat ends. These attacks often unfold in minutes, using fear and urgency to manipulate targets into acting quickly and irrationally.

Quick action helped limit the damage in this case. The victim shut down his computer, contacted his bank and changed his passwords—steps that likely prevented more extensive losses. However, many people aren’t as fortunate.

Experts warn that scammers increasingly rely on psychological tricks instead of just technical ones, isolating their victims and urging secrecy during the attack.

To avoid falling for similar scams, it’s safer to verify emails by using official websites instead of clicking any embedded links or calling suspicious numbers.

Remote control should never be granted to unsolicited support calls, and all devices should have up-to-date antivirus protection and multifactor authentication enabled. Online safety now depends just as much on caution and awareness as it does on technology.

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