Breathe
By Ana Cecilia Pérez
On any given day you see your child focused on their cell phone, playing, watching TikTok or checking WhatsApp. What you don't see is that someone else may also be there.
Someone who does not play. Who watches. Who waits for the perfect moment to talk nice to him, offer him money, make him feel special? And pull him into a web he doesn't fully understand.
Today, organized crime no longer knocks on the door. It comes through the screen.
And incredible as it may seem, they are recruiting children and teenagers through social networks and video games. They promise them easy money, respect, "a job". They ask them for favors that seem harmless: "watch this street", "carry this package", "pass me information". What they are really doing is using them, wrapping them up and trapping them in a net that can cost them their freedom, their mental health or even their lives.
It is not fiction. It is not exaggeration. It is what is happening in Mexico and Latin America.
From my experience working in the field of family cybersecurity, I have heard heartbreaking testimonies. I have not had direct contact with recruited children, but I have come across disturbing cases: children with anxiety for having been contacted by strangers on social networks and not daring to tell their parents; children as young as 6 years old with completely open access to digital platforms, lying about their age to create accounts.
All this shows us that the risk is not far away. It is happening. And many times, it is happening silently.
In consultation with child mental health specialists, the pattern is clear:
- Recruiters know exactly how to speak to a teenager seeking attention, recognition or an economic outlet.
- Young people do not always identify that they are being manipulated.
- Silence, fear or shame isolates them, and that is where the risk becomes greater.
Why are children and teenagers the perfect target?
Organized crime seeks out the youngest because:
- They are less visible before the law: in many cases, penalties for minors are minimal.
- They do not arouse suspicion: a child on the street or in networks does not look like a threat.
- They are more emotionally influential: they seek approval, belonging, attention.
- They do not always understand that they are being used.
Recruiters know this, and they take advantage of it.
Contacts occur in:
- WhatsApp and Facebook: used to initiate contact and close "deals".
- Instagram and TikTok: show luxury, narco lifestyle or glamour of easy money.
- Video games such as Free Fire, Fortnite, Call of Duty or GTA: via voice or text chats.
- Discord and Telegram: to move to more private and encrypted conversations.
Common phrases that may seem harmless but are not:
- "They pulled me for a ride."
- "The company is going to pay me."
- "I just watch and that's it."
- "It's easy money, nobody finds out."
They also use emojis with double meanings: 🔫💰🚗🎮😈🤫 And disguised words: encargo, jale, halcón, movida.
If you see behavioral changes, unexplained gifts, strange new contacts or unusual language, don't ignore the signs.
What can we do as mothers and fathers?
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