2008 Woodie Awards
Catching perverts: My online quest
Nick Kanios
Issue date: 5/30/06 Section: Entertainment
"Dateline NBC" catches perverts on the Internet every week, and I watch completely captivated. This show has been so successful that I decided to do what any good journalist would: rip it off. Two things peaked my curiosity how perverted are the perverts here in San Diego, and could I trick them to meet me at a park by my apartment, of course posing as a 13-year-old girl.
This plan was going to take careful preparation and execution, so first-thing-first; I got my computer fixed at Best Buy. It turned to be a very costly measure, but that's the price you pay for journalistic gold.
A few days and $200 later I had my computer ready and willing to go. The plan: Create a fake screen name, wait for old guys to come to me.
Creating the hypothetical teen was the fun part. I chose the screen name "sdgurlofurdreamz" and created a profile, all in pink lettering with purple background. Meet Heather. Heather is 13, currently in the seventh grade, can't wait until high school, and spends most of her free time with her two best friends Ashley and Lindsay, best friends forever!
Heather's profile didn't have a hint of sexuality nor any reference to drugs or alcohol. She didn't even have a picture on her profile yet. One thing she did add was that she liked older guys. But what teenage girl doesn't? To Heather older means 15-16, which is pretty common these days.
All right, the profile was up, but I still needed a picture of a young teenage girl (certainly the weirdest request I ever made on a MySpace bulletin) so I decided to set up an away message and head off to bed. When I awoke, Heather had a message from "gamaxx001."
"Hey this is Jeff, viperxx001."
Now I have no idea who "viperxx001" is, this screen name has existed less than 24 hours and Heather is a figment of my imagination.
"Do you remember me?" was the next message I received from him. Either Jeff is delusional, not very bright, or this is just his pick up line. Most of my female friends believe the latter. I decide to play along.
This plan was going to take careful preparation and execution, so first-thing-first; I got my computer fixed at Best Buy. It turned to be a very costly measure, but that's the price you pay for journalistic gold.
A few days and $200 later I had my computer ready and willing to go. The plan: Create a fake screen name, wait for old guys to come to me.
Creating the hypothetical teen was the fun part. I chose the screen name "sdgurlofurdreamz" and created a profile, all in pink lettering with purple background. Meet Heather. Heather is 13, currently in the seventh grade, can't wait until high school, and spends most of her free time with her two best friends Ashley and Lindsay, best friends forever!
Heather's profile didn't have a hint of sexuality nor any reference to drugs or alcohol. She didn't even have a picture on her profile yet. One thing she did add was that she liked older guys. But what teenage girl doesn't? To Heather older means 15-16, which is pretty common these days.
All right, the profile was up, but I still needed a picture of a young teenage girl (certainly the weirdest request I ever made on a MySpace bulletin) so I decided to set up an away message and head off to bed. When I awoke, Heather had a message from "gamaxx001."
"Hey this is Jeff, viperxx001."
Now I have no idea who "viperxx001" is, this screen name has existed less than 24 hours and Heather is a figment of my imagination.
"Do you remember me?" was the next message I received from him. Either Jeff is delusional, not very bright, or this is just his pick up line. Most of my female friends believe the latter. I decide to play along.
Be the first to comment on this story