A concerned father from Illinois is warning parents this week about an unknown feature hiding in a kid-friendly app that his daughter uses frequently.
Brad Summer’s 7-year-old daughter, Madison, loves to use the Musical.ly app to make goofy lip-sync duets with her cousins.
Though Brad says he closely monitors Madison’s tech usage—as the app is downloaded on his and his wife’s phones—and she’s only able to use it when her parents are around, he was completely unaware that there was a messaging component to Musical.ly.
Facebook
It wasn’t until his daughter began receiving messages within the app from a person purportedly posing as a 9-year-old named Jessy that Brad realized the hidden danger other parents may not be aware of.
“First I want to say how proud of our daughter I am and want this to be a warning to your families,” Brad writes on Facebook.
After Madison started receiving messages from “Jessy,” the purported 9-year-old began asking her to send nude photos, and pictures of herself without a shirt.
Facebook
Facebook
Thankfully, Madison alerted her parents, and Brad took matters into his own hands.
“Please, tell your kids to let you know if anyone ever asks something like this, let them know it’s okay to tell you. It has helped us in this situation.”
He contacted local authorities, who took the phone to retrieve all possible information to track down this predator.