tia and the online stranger: a cyber safety story

© 2015 Quick Heal Technologies (P) Ltd.

Stories of


Today’s Potli of Baba WiFi

has a story about a young

girl called Tia and the

stranger she met on the

Internet.


This is a story of

Tia and the

Stranger


Tia! We are your

parents.


We know what’s

best for you.


Yeah right!


You guys will

never

understand me!


Hey Tia! Whats up?


Hey Guys.


Why the long face?


You fought with your

folks again, didn’t

you?


Yes, I don’t know what

they want from me.


You know Tia


Our parents always want the

best for us.


They may be right.


Great! First my

parents and

now my friends. Meh!


You are all the

same!

We’re just trying

to help you!


Thanks! But I

don’t need any.


It was not a great day for

Tia. She realized that there

is no one who could really

understand her.


She comes home and logs

on to her usual chat room

online.


CHAT BIRD USERS

Clivemilk

Ecstaticoinker

Toolkit

Gleefulgovern

Occipitalsnot

Neighborlymar

Robin

Kimblewickho

Pollmug

Axleamber

Type your message here SEND

----------------- ----- ---

Gleefulgovern

Pollmug

Axleamber

Toolkit

----------------- ----- ---

----------------- ----- ---

----------------- ----- ---


Tia receives a ping

from her friends she

met earlier.


CHAT BIRD USERS

Clivemilk

Ecstaticoinker

Toolkit

Gleefulgovern

Occipitalsnot

Neighborlymar

Robin

Kimblewickho

Pollmug

Axleamber


----------------- ----- ---

Gleefulgovern

Pollmug

Axleamber

Toolkit

----------------- ----- ---

----------------- ----- ---

----------------- ----- ---

You have a private message!

Hey Tia!

Beckybeep


CHAT BIRD USERS

Clivemilk

Ecstaticoinker

Toolkit

Gleefulgovern

Occipitalsnot

Neighborlymar

Robin

Kimblewickho

Pollmug

Axleamber


----------------- ----- ---

Gleefulgovern

Pollmug

Axleamber

Toolkit

----------------- ----- ---

----------------- ----- ---

----------------- ----- ---


Are you okay?

Beckybeep


Tia ignores their

messages.


After a while, she

receives another ping.


CHAT BIRD USERS

Clivemilk

Ecstaticoinker

Toolkit

Gleefulgovern

Occipitalsnot

Neighborlymar

Robin

Kimblewickho

Pollmug

Axleamber


----------------- ----- ---

Gleefulgovern

Pollmug

Axleamber

Toolkit

----------------- ----- ---

----------------- ----- ---

----------------- ----- ---


Hey! How are you doing?

Robin


She checks out the

user’s profile.


User Profile

ROBIN | MALE | 18

HobbiesCycling, Singing, Cooking,

Reading, Video Games.


Tia replies to his message


Your chat room

Hey! How are you doing?

Robin

Tia

Hey! I am good.

Robin

What about you?

Tia

Great! Just back from the gym

Do you go to college?

Tia


And so it went on…


Tia would log in to the chat

room every day at the same

time and chat with Robin.


Hi!

What you doing?

I am bored.

--------

--------

--------

She spent

6-7 hours

texting and

chatting

with Robin.


Hi!

What you doing?

I am bored.

--------

--------

--------

Robin

became Tia’s

new best

friend.


She found someone who

could really understand her

feelings.


Someone whom she could

confide her secrets in and

what was going on in her

mind.


Things were

brightening up for Tia.


Robin became the main

source of happiness for

her.


Hey! Have you talked to

Tia lately?

Amidst all

these, Tia

began to

grow apart

from her

friends.


I was going to

ask you the

same thing.


She does not reply to my

calls nor meet. Wonder

what’s going on with her.


Tia’s behavior has

changed.

She does not talk much.

Her parents

felt the same.She stays in her room all

the time.

May be we are worrying

too much.


Tia also

started losing

interest in

her studies.

Bunked

classes,

scored really

low in tests.


One day Tia

got into a

nasty quarrel

with her

parents.

You are

irresponsible!


Hurtful

words were

said on both

ends.

Insensitive!


Ruthless! Hurtful

words were

said on both

ends.


And I wish I

were never

born into this family! Hurtful

words were

said on both

ends.


Wiping her

tears, she

pinged Robin.

Your chat room

I just want to leave this place

and go away somewhere. I

want to be alone

Robin

Tia

Did your parents nag you again?


Your chat room

Yes. They said many hurtful

things.

Robin

Tia

Your parents do not know the

real you.


Your chat room

They are trying to kill your happiness.

Robin


Your chat room

You can stay with me. I will keep

you happy.

Robin


Your chat room

Can we really do that? I am not

sure.

Tia


For Tia this

was a big

decision.

She was

hesitant

about it.

?


But Robin

was very

persuasive.


Tia

Robin:

“Imagine your life with me,

where

no one tells you what to do and what

not to.”

You are

irresponsible!

Insensitive!

Do this!

Do that!

Ruthless!


Those words were

enough for Tia to take

the leap!


Robin told her to pack

her stuff and that

they would take off

the following night.


While Tia

was getting

her things

together, her

mom noticed

and asked her

about it.

Are you going

somewhere Tia?


To which she

meekly

replied.

Yes, to Becky’s

place.


Her mom

didn’t have a

good feeling

about it. So,

she called up

Becky to

confirm.

Is Tia staying at

your place

tomorrow night?


But Becky

denied

having any

such plans.

No Aunty, I don’t

remember making

any such plans.


Tia’s mom’s

uneasiness shot even

higher.


But realizing that

confronting her might

make matters worse,

she decided to play

along.


In the meantime, Tia’s

Mom informed the

local police and asked

them to stay on guard.


So, she let

Tia be.

OK then. Have fun at

her place!


The time came when

Tia was ready to take

off with Robin.


Robin called

her to a

nearby park.


Robin looked

older than 18.

But Tia was

too

preoccupied

with her

thoughts to

mull over it.


After

exchanging a

few words,

they took off

to the nearest

bus terminal.

Hey!

Everything’s

going to be

alright.

I hope

so.


Robin asked

her to wait

while he gets

the tickets.

Tia, you wait

here. I’ll go

and get the

tickets.

OK


Just when they

were about to

board the bus,

one policeman

appeared and

handcuffed

Robin.


Tia was

jolted by the

incident. She

found the

ground

disappearing

beneath her

feet.

What’s going

on. What’s

happening?!


Just then her parents

came and convinced

her to go home.


The police

charged Robin

with 6 years of

imprisonment

for attempted

kidnapping of a

minor.


It was later found out that

Robin had been doing this

with minors for quite some

time but he was never

caught.


Tia realized how lucky she was to

get out of this mess.


and that she was not one of the

victims of Robin.


“It could have been much worse had my

family not contacted the police after I was

gone. I am lucky to be back home, safe and

sound.” - Tia


So, what is Tia trying to tell us through the story?


Not everyone we meet

on the Internet can be

trusted.

Beware of online friends who

try to turn you against your

family.


Real friends do not force you to do

something that makes you feel anxious

or uncomfortable.

Never meet an online friend whom you

have never met before in person.


Do not give away your personal

information to anyone on the

Internet.

tia and the online stranger: a cyber safety story

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