Online Grooming: The Complete Guide for Parents and Carers
How predators operate on social media and gaming platforms, the five stages of online grooming, and how to protect your child today.
What Is Online Grooming?
Online grooming is the process by which an individual builds a trusting relationship with a child, and sometimes their family, with the intention of exploiting them sexually. Grooming is a crime under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Section 15A), regardless of whether any offline abuse takes place.
Groomers operate across all platforms where young people spend time: Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, gaming platforms (Roblox, Fortnite, Discord), WhatsApp groups, and newer apps. They often adopt fake personas, posing as peers, sports coaches, influencers, or recruitment agents.
Key Statistics (NCA-CEOP, 2024)
- Over 7,400 reports of online child sexual exploitation to CEOP in 2022/23
- Children aged 12 to 15 are most frequently targeted
- Over 80% of grooming contact begins on social media or gaming platforms
- Girls are disproportionately targeted (around 80% of victims), but boys are increasingly affected
The Stages of Online Grooming
- Target selection. Groomers identify vulnerable children by scanning public profiles, looking for signs of loneliness, low self-esteem, family difficulties, or those who post provocatively.
- Trust building. Initial contact is friendly, flattering, and attentive. The groomer offers compliments, gifts (game credits, vouchers), emotional support, and a sense of being uniquely understood.
- Isolation. The groomer encourages the child to keep the friendship secret, to stop trusting parents or friends, and to communicate only with them.
- Desensitisation. Sexual content is gradually introduced: jokes, emojis, images. This normalises what would otherwise alarm the child.
- Exploitation. The child may be coerced or manipulated into sending images, meeting offline, or introducing the groomer to other children.
- Maintaining control. Threats, blackmail, and emotional manipulation prevent the child from disclosing.
Warning Signs Your Child May Be Being Groomed
- Becoming secretive about online activity, hiding screens
- Being online at unusual hours, especially late at night
- Receiving gifts such as phone credit, vouchers, or new devices from unknown sources.
- Becoming withdrawn, anxious, or upset after being online
- Switching screens or closing apps when an adult approaches
- Using sexual language that is unusual for their age
- Talking about a new "older friend" they have met online
- Asking to meet someone or wanting to travel alone
What to Do If You Are Worried
- Do not react with anger. Your child needs to know they can come to you without blame.
- Report to CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) at ceop.police.uk . There is a "Report" button available to children and adults.
- Report to the platform. Use the reporting tools on the app or website.
- Contact the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) if indecent images are involved: iwf.org.uk
- Speak to your school's DSL if the child attends school
- NSPCC helpline: 0808 800 5000
- In an emergency: Call 999
Preserve evidence: screenshots, usernames, and conversation logs. Do this before blocking or deleting accounts.
Sources: NCA-CEOP, CEOP Annual Assessment 2022/23 (2023); NSPCC, Online Grooming: Key Facts and Statistics (2024); Internet Watch Foundation, Annual Report 2023 (2024); Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.15A (as amended by the Serious Crime Act 2015); UK Safer Internet Centre, Professionals Online Safety Helpline (2024). Last reviewed: April 2026.