14 Signs That'll Help You Recognize a Child Kidnapper

14 tips to protect your child from kidnapping. Every year, thousands of kids get abducted all over the world. The kidnappers have all the skills of a good psychologist. They know how to win the kids' hearts to manipulate their minds perfectly. Those walking nightmares of every parent still succeed, but there is something we all can do to stop them. Brightside has put together a list of 14 signs of a child abductor you should never ignore. Counting down, number 14. Asking for help. One of the most common tricks all kidnappers use is asking kids for help. If you ever hear an adult begging for help at a playground, it is a reason to be alarmed. Just think of it. If something happened to you, would you really ask an unfamiliar 5-year-old to help you? Something is telling me you wouldn't. Another adult can hold the door for you when you're holding more heavy bags than you can handle. And when your dog or cat gets lost, you will more likely spread the word or ask special volunteer groups to find it, not take a little girl out of a sandbox and invite her to search the basements with you. If you happen to witness an adult sharing his or her problems with kids, it could be a good idea to jump into that conversation and confront the abductor. Ask him or her what is wrong and could you possibly help out? This should scare the abductor. 13. Crying kid. If you see a kid crying, screaming, and trying to escape, pulling out his hand, you might think that he is just being naughty and does not want to obey his mom or dad. We've all been there, right? However, if you feel like things have gone too wild and the hysterics is more than a regular grumpy attack, it won't hurt to check on them. Ask the kid and the accompanying adult if everything is alright and how they are all related. If it turns out to be a false alarm, the parent will most likely thank you for caring and explain it was a really bad day. If it's really the abductor that is taking away the kid, he or she will stumble and most likely reconsider doing the evil act. You most likely remembered what the villain looks like, so what's the point of taking the kid away when you are all ready to give this information to the police? 12. Playground observers Where do childless adults spend their free time? Concert halls, stadiums, museums, bars… Somehow the playground is not on the list. If you spot a suspicious adult watching kids go up and down the slides or building sandcastles, let them know that you know. Take a picture of that stranger. The abductor will most likely get scared and flee. 11. Free stuff Admit it, we all love free stuff. We buy two shampoos to get the third one for free and collect stickers to exchange them for a Darth Vader mask. Hit like if you do that. As adults, we learn to accept that nothing is actually free-free. So the enthusiasm fades a bit, and we ask the question of why. Why would someone give me anything for free? Kids are very kind and trustful. When offered candy, toys, or cool gadgets like smartphones and tablets, they will follow the kind stranger anywhere. Some abductors will let a kid play a demo game to invite them into the car later to continue. You can stop that from happening. Remember that no normal adult will offer gifts to unfamiliar kids in the playground or backyard or invite them to the parking lot. According to the National Center for Exploited Children Statistics, 12% of all abductors use candy or sweets as a lure. 10. Puppies trick Trick as old as time, true as it can be. Puppies are so adorable, they make us forget about whatever we actually started browsing the internet for. Those big eyes and wagging tails, ahhh. Now imagine what it does to the minds of kids. When they see a little dog and get an invitation to play with it privately, they will most likely say, yes please. 7% of abductors use this trick. So next time you see a lonely adult demonstrating a puppy at a playground, you know what that means. 9. Fake friend An abductor can do some serious research on the prospective victim. Today, the social networks have all the information you can ever need to pretend that you know someone well. You can easily learn what someone had for lunch, as well as find out some more useful details. Their relatives' names, their room design, and even what they received as birthday gifts this year. All this information will make the kid believe the abductor is actually friends or colleagues with their parents. After winning the child's trust, the villain can say they have to go to the hospital immediately because mom is in trouble. If you ever overhear that kind of conversation between a kid and an adult, take action. Ask, clarify, offer help. It turns out 9 out of 10 aunts sues are fake. If you are an alarmed parent watching this, you can get more safety tips on what to teach your child to avoid trouble in this video. 8. The Hero Lure This trick is similar to fake friends, but it requires less research work and so is easier to perform. Molesters can invite kids to save local heroes, popular celebrities, coaches, or school teachers. They don't even have to invent a fake name for themselves, just say they were sent by that person everyone knows and loves. This trick is more likely to work with older kids trying to win popularity. Do something great for a hero, and you will also be one. That's the logic behind it. 7. Using Other Kids All parents teach their kids not to talk to strangers. By strangers, we mostly imagine scary-looking adults, though. What could a cute little child do to another cute little child? A lot of harm, actually, if that child was sent by kidnappers. It is okay to explain where one kid is taking the other and how long they've known each other for. The same applies to friendly-looking ladies. 6. Asking for Directions A slow-moving car stopping next to a child is an alarming sign, too. A driver who is asking a child for directions, and invites him or her to get into that car to guide them, is 99% a child abductor. When you get lost while driving, you're more likely to ask a policeman or other adults for help, right? Or maybe use that pure magic known as GPS navigation. 5. Offering a Ride Motorcycles are a popular lure tool. There are known cases in criminal practice where children were taken away on motorcycles after they were offered a fun ride. No boy can say no to such an invitation. To trigger their desire to go for a ride, the friendly biker might also say, Come on, who is the bravest here? It is an easy way for a kid to become a hero and prove he is, indeed, the bravest of his friends. If you ever see something like that going on, just think of it. Would a regular biker, the tough guy, offer an unfamiliar child to go for a ride? Why would he do that? You can stop that from happening. 4. The Fame Lure This trick will unlikely work on preschoolers, but will do its magic with 10 or 11-year-olds and teenagers. Kidnappers approach them complimenting their looks and offering easy fame and success. All the future stars have to do is follow them to the parking lot to be taken to a casting spot. Newsflash – real professionals do not look for acting and modeling talents in the backyards and playgrounds. They organize official castings or look for talents at schools. 3. Fake Policeman The easiest way to win someone's trust is to pretend to be someone everyone trusts already. Someone everyone asks for help when something goes wrong. Someone with certain reputation – a policeman, for example. When a police officer or someone wearing his uniform comes up to you and says, you did something wrong, you just follow him. At least when you're 5. However, a real police officer will try to find the child's parents, and not just take the little one away. If you confront the obviously fake policeman and he refuses to show his ID, try to take a picture of him. It will be of help if it turns out he was an abductor indeed. 2. Sir or Madam If you hear a child call an adult accompanying him or her, Sir or Madam, it is a warning sign as well. Kids don't normally address someone they know using these words. 1. The Looks If you see a well-dressed child being taken somewhere by a strangely looking adult, dressed carelessly, or even someone like a homeless person, do not ignore it. A huge difference in their physical appearance should also be alarming. This might be an indirect warning sign, but it is still worth paying attention to. If you keep this and other signs we shared in mind, you have very high chances of preventing kidnapping. Stay alert and spread the word. Share this video with your friends, because everyone should know these warning signs of an abductor. Give this video a like if you found it useful. If it gets 50,000 likes, we'll share more children's safety tips. Subscribe to our channel not to miss any important updates. Stay with us on the Bright Side of life!