The digital world is your world. Stay safe while you own it.

Molly was a bright and creative teen from London who died by suicide in 2017 after being exposed to large volumes of self-harm and suicide-related content on Instagram and Pinterest. Molly had also experienced online bullying from classmates. Her family only discovered the extent of what she had viewed after her death. An inquest later concluded that social media "contributed more than minimally" to her death.

Lyn, a woman in her sixties from Warrington in England, started chatting online in 2020 with someone calling himself “Derek.” He claimed to live in Dubai and own a mineral business, although they never met in person and all photos were edited or stolen. Gradually Lyn was encouraged to withdraw over £50,000 from her pension and send it via bank transfers and cryptocurrency platforms, supposedly to help with “medical expenses,” “business bills,” or support “colleagues” of Derek. In January 2021 Cheshire Police knocked on her door and told her the relationship was entirely fake. She was referred to the police’s romance fraud peer support group and investigators from the Economic Crime Unit discovered that her bank had missed chances to stop the transfers. After a formal fraud case was opened most of her money was recovered. Her case shows how romance fraud works by slowly building emotional trust before asking for cash—and how police and victims can come together to stop the scam and reclaim what was lost.

Adam joined an online gaming community where he was befriended by an older teen who shared memes and jokes that slowly introduced far-right ideology. Over time, Adam started using similar language at school and questioned mainstream media narratives. His teacher noticed these changes and reported the concern. A Channel intervention was arranged, involving ideological mentoring and emotional support.