How You Can Report Cybercrime
This lesson will assist students to explore some of Australia’s cybercrime reporting agencies and strategies for gathering evidence to prevent and/or report a cybercrime.
- Inform students that cybercrime has surpassed drug trafficking as the number one global crime. It has therefore become more important than ever to report these crimes to the appropriate authorities, whether it be a parent, a teacher, the local police, the Federal police, dedicated government agencies or non-government agencies. Emphasise the following information to your students.
If you are in Australia and in immediate danger or at risk of harm, call triple zero (000). This will link you immediately to the local police. Staying safe is your number one priority.
Display the Australian Cyber Centre’s Help page on an interactive whiteboard and explain that there are a range of agencies to assist individuals, families and businesses if they are suffering a form of cybercrime. As you work through the information on the board, ask students to note down the agencies that handle reports of specific cybercrime activities. Explain that they are going to look at two of the agencies in more detail. The eSafety Commissioner and Crime Stoppers.
The eSafety Commissioner
- Explain that if students are suffering forms of online abuse and they are unable to resolve the issue with assistance from a parent, teacher or school administration, eSafety gives the following advice:
o report cyberbullying to the platform on which it occurred; and
o if the content is not removed within 48 hours you can make a cyberbullying complaint to eSafety.
- Most social media services have rules prohibiting cyberbullying and offer a complaints or reporting tool where you can ask for cyberbullying material to be removed. With other sites, services and platforms, you can report using the reporting links in the eSafety Guide.
- The eSafety Commissioner has a platform where you can report cyberbullying, image-based abuse, and illegal and harmful content.
Divide the class into groups of three. Explain that each member of the group is to research the key facts pertaining to one of these issues using the eSafety Commissioner Report. Once completed, each member of the group shares their findings to the others in the group. Conclude the activity by discussing the importance of collecting appropriate evidence if reporting online abuse. Students explore the eSafety Commissioner link Collect evidence and create a poster that summarises ways to collect evidence if suffering online abuse on popular apps such as Snapchat or Instagram.
Crime Stoppers
Crime Stoppers is Australia’s most trusted information receiving service for people wanting to share what they know about unsolved crimes and suspicious activity without saying who they are. They were first established in 1987 as an independent not-for-profit registered charity representing the collective eight Crime Stopper organisations operating in every state and territory in Australia. They work closely with police, media, and the community to help solve, reduce, and prevent crime by collecting information and passing on those details to police and other law enforcement agencies to help keep communities and families safe. As well as offering the community a way to actively to help solve and prevent crime, Crime Stoppers Australia also runs a number of crime awareness campaigns throughout the year.
(Teachers need to ensure that the following activity is supported by the creation of a safe learning environment such as noting if a student is feeling distressed by what they are reading and needs to leave the classroom with appropriate support; and any discussion that occurs must include a ‘no name’ proviso and be respectful of others’ feelings.)
- Explain that incidences of online child exploitation and online grooming have increased world-wide. Display and conduct a shared reading of Unsafe or unwanted contact – signs to look out for on an interactive whiteboard. Ask the following questions:
- What are the warning signs that you may be receiving unsafe contact?
- How can you protect yourself from unsafe or unwanted contact online?
- What actions can you take if you are receiving unsafe or unwanted contact?
- Explain that in response to increased incidences of online grooming, Crime Stoppers Australia supported an e-safety campaign. Ask students to explore this e-safety campaign and discuss as a class the purpose of the campaign. Conduct a 3-2-1 Bridge strategy. This thinking routine unveils words, questions, and connections that students may associate with e-safety, and in particular online abuse. Ask students to write down three thoughts or ideas the e-safety campaign triggered for them and pair and share these with another student close to them. Ask if there are any general comments that students would like to share with the whole class. Now ask students to write down two questions they may have. If these questions cannot be answered at the time, make time at a later stage to provide responses. (This maybe a good opportunity to invite a member of the local police force technology team to speak to students.)
Conclude the activity by asking students to use the campaign material to create a check list of safety online practices and warning signs that students could leave by their computer. Share these as a class and post the most effective lists around the classroom.