The dark web can be a tricky place even for an adult to traverse through. It certainly is not a suitable place for an 8-year-old boy. So things turn chaotic when a boy goes to the dark web and spends a lot of time on the internet’s underbelly.
A concerned mother, Barbara Gemen, from the Netherlands, is sharing a cautionary tale about the perils of the ‘dark web’ after her 8-year-old son successfully purchased a gun and ammunition. A human resources expert, Barbara was horrified when an AK-47 was delivered to her doorstep.
The package had been routed through Poland and Bulgaria to avoid customs checks, facilitated by the dark web. Although she wants to protect her son’s identity, Gemen revealed that he was extremely excited about acquiring the weapon using the internet’s hidden realm.
The shocked mother promptly handed the gun to authorities but claimed that neither the police nor the school acted. Gemen described the surreal situation as something out of a movie, as her young son unwittingly embarked on a dangerous path of becoming a cyber hacker, making alarming choices with long-lasting consequences.
Her son was an avid gamer, often staying up late to play computer games. As he grew older, he even began earning money by leveling up others’ gaming accounts for the weekend. However, things turned dark when he encountered a group of cyber-criminals in an online game.
Gradually, he became involved in illicit activities, starting from minor offenses like ordering pizza online without payment, and eventually progressed to money laundering using bank accounts and computer games to disguise transactions.
Gemen discovered that her son had spent weeks on internet forums researching how to order the gun and ensure its safe delivery. He used code words to hide his activities from her when she entered the room while he was online. Disturbed by this revelation, Gemen decided to take action and change the situation at home.
The gun was purchased through the dark web, a hidden part of the internet accessible only through special software like Tor. On this illegal platform, one can buy anything from firearms to drugs using cryptocurrency. The boy had joined an international group of hackers, working at night and gradually being lured into increasingly severe hacking activities.
Despite the alarming nature of the situation, Gemen received little support from the authorities or her son’s school. Taking matters into her own hands, she educated herself about cybercrime by analyzing her son’s browsing history and looking up related terms online.
Gemen now advocates for children who have become involved in cybercrime, having quit her previous job. She emphasizes the need for parents to establish “cyber boundaries” to protect their children in the digital world. Research has shown that children with access to laptops, and mobile phones and early exposure to the internet are likelier to engage in hacking activities. Therefore, educating and safeguarding young minds from the blurred lines of the digital environment is crucial.
