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There are organizations that can help if you or your child get into difficult situations on the internet or your mobile phone.

If you know about a child who is in immediate danger and you need an urgent response, always call 999 and contact the police. You can also contact your local police for other cases where you think the law has been broken, for example serious instances of cyberbullying.

If you are suspicious or know that a child is being groomed by an adult on the internet, then you should report directly to the police and you can do this online, see www.ceop.gov.uk. CEOP is a national police centre which specializes in such cases. All reports are taken very seriously and a police officer will get in touch with you. 

Remember that wherever you experience a problem online you can make reports to the provider of the site or service you are using. For example you might need to report other users or content that has been posted that breaks the rules of using the service. Most responsible service providers have clear and prominent places for the user to make reports - look out for Report Abuse buttons or how to flag inappropriate content on social networking sites for example.

If you come across content online which you think might be illegal, such as indecent images or video of children, or racist material, then you should report this content to the Internet Watch Foundation, and you can do this online at www.iwf.org.uk. They will then act to get that content removed. Sadly there’s a great deal of material on the internet that might cause offence, but which is technically not illegal.

Who can you report cyberbullying to? Well it really depends on the seriousness of the bullying, and where it is happening. Either way it is a good start to report it to the provider of the service where the bullying occurred, whether that is a website owner, a social networking website or a mobile phone operator. It helps to keep records of bullying emails or texts as evidence. If you child is being cyberbullied by pupils at their school then you should talk to the school. All schools have anti-bullying policies and they should be able to help. In serious cases, for example involving threats and harassment, contact your local police.

If you know a child who is upset by any contact they have had with anyone they have met on the internet or mobile phone they can always call Childline in confidence on 0800 1111 or visit the NSPCC’s There4me website (www.there4me.com ).

Finally, using premium rate services, such as purchasing ringtones, or TV voting, is very popular. If you have problems with such services, if your child has an unexpectedly high bill for example, then you should contact your mobile phone operator. If you want to make a complaint about such a service, then you should contact the premium rate service regulator, PhonePay Plus, see www.phonepayplus.org.uk/. 

You can find the contact details and websites for all these organisations on this tab here – (point) Why not save these websites in your internet browser favourites list – there is information on how to do this on the ‘new to computers’ section which you can access from the main menu here.

Contact Details:

For emergencies:

Call 999

To report online grooming:

CHILD EXPLOITATION AND ONLINE PROTECTION CENTRE
www.ceop.gov.uk/reportabuse
www.thinkuknow.co.uk (for young people)

To report illegal material on the Internet:

Internet Watch Foundation Hotline
www.iwf.org.uk
www.inhope.org (for list of other hotlines around the world)

For advice and support for Children:

Childline ring 0800 1111 or visit the NSPCC’s www.there4me.com website

To make a complaint about a Premium rate service:

Phone Pay Plus – www.phonepayplus.org.uk

To report cyberbullying, options include:

Nuisance call bureaus telephone lines for UK mobile operators:

O2: 0870 5214 000 or ncb@O2.com.

Vodafone: Call customer services on 191 from a Vodafone phone or on any other phone call 08700 700 191 for Pay Monthly customers or on 08700 776 655 for Pay As You Go customers.

3: Call 333 from a 3 phone, or 08707 330 333.

Orange: Call 450 on an Orange phone or 07973 100 450 for Pay As You Go customers; call 150 from an Orange phone or 07973 100 150 for Pay Monthly customers.

T-Mobile: Call customer services on 150 from your T-Mobile phone or on 0845 412 5000 from a landline, or email using the 'how to contact us' section of the T-Mobile website at www.t-mobile.co.uk.