Digital kidnapping a growing trend - FOX 8 WVUE New Orleans News, Weather, Sports, Social

Parents who like to use their social media accounts to post cute pictures of their children might want to think twice about doing that.

Authorities have issued a warning about a growing trend referred to as "digital kidnapping".

"Digital kidnapping" is when someone steals a picture of your child and posts it on social media claiming the child is their own.

Police say as troubling as it may sound, it is not against the law.

Lindsey Paris, a mother in Atlanta, displays pictures of her son on her blog.

She says a teenage girl in California also posted his picture on her social media page, claiming he was her child,

"My son's photo was her cover page. She had taken photos from my blog and put them on her timeline and was pretending that it was her son," Paris says.

Child psychologists say people engage in digital kidnapping because either they're bored, envious or just want some attention.

Both Facebook and Instagram say the growing trend violates their terms of service agreements.

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