'Online child harassment tops number of cyber crime cases involving youngsters in Oman'

Muscat: Children being harassed by adults online is the most common type of cyber crime involving youngsters put before the courts in Oman, a top Public Prosecution official has revealed.
Dr Said Al Muqbali, General Prosecutor at the Public Prosecution was speaking at the Telecom Laws and Regulations Forum, held at the Grand Hyatt Muscat on Tuesday.
"We received a case last week about a mother complaining that her 10 year old son has been harassed by an adult," he added while stressing that the availability of modern devices with internet connections to children should be questioned.
Young adults fall victim to the 'easy money' schemes and blackmailing via suspicious emails, while older people are victims of their own lack of knowledge of new technologies which makes them targets for spying apps, according to Dr Al Muqbali.
While many websites containing indecent and harmful content are prohibited in the Sultanate, he said that some websites which claim to provide 'escort services' are still accessible to internet users in Oman.
"Such websites appear to offer these services are actually run by international criminal groups which are involved with human trafficking," Dr Al Muqbali said.