Internet safety is very important nowadays. With social media apps on the rise like Tiktok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, there are many threats to your safety that are not talked about. Felicia Trovato, a community outreach specialist for the FBI, visits schools all over Western Pennsylvania to teach about internet safety.
Trovato did not always think about joining the FBI. She says she didn’t really know what she wanted to do until her freshman year in high school. It was September 11, 2001 when her principal brought everyone to the auditorium. The projector showed the first World Trade Center being hit. Everyone believed this to be a horrible accident.
After seeing the second tower get hit, Trovato said, “We realized that wasn’t the case and it was an act of terror.” This event began her interest in working in public safety.
Trovato attended school at Catholic University where she majored in International Politics and Italian. She was then recruited by the FBI and has been working for them ever since.
Schools all around Western Pennsylvania reach out to Trovato. She travels to these schools 2 to 3 times a week. Trovato does not present the same information to each school. She caters to her audience and adjusts her presentation depending on the location, the school, and the ages she is presenting to.
Trovato visited Shaler Area High School on Nov. 18, 2024. All freshman gym and health classes attended the presentation. Trovato focused on the crimes against children.
Many people think what you send on Snapchat only goes to the specific person you send it to. That is not the case, however. Any explicit photo that is sent underage on Snapchat is sent to the FBI to be investigated. If any foul play is detected the images will be further investigated.
Trovato shared one of her saddest investigations. A young teenage girl talked to someone who she believed to be a young teenage boy for months. She ended up sending him explicit photos that were then used to blackmail her.
Blackmail is a commonly seen tactic in cases like these. Young people are being manipulated into believing if they don’t send more pictures that the blackmailer will send the picture to everyone, including their parents. This can be embarrassing for teenagers going through this situation. In these events, most teenagers will continue to send explicit photos so their pictures will not be leaked.
This can be a dangerous cycle for the teenager which is why it is so important to know the dangers of the internet. Young people are not the only ones affected by the internet. Elderly people are a common target for credit card scams. The most common elderly scams are the grandparent scam, computer tech support scams, and robocalls/phone scams.
Elderly people are targeted because they are more likely to have a larger sum of money saved up and they typically have a more generous nature than a middle aged person. The average victim loses $33,915. In 2023 alone, these scams cost elderly people $3.4 billion.
The FBI deals with a lot more than internet safety, but Trovato relays the important message: be safe and cautious on the internet. Although you may believe the person you are messaging likes you, do not send the photo. You never know who is behind the screen or what they may do with that photo. Be careful when giving out payment information. Although asking for payment over the phone is legal, it is safer to look for an online payment method. There is a lot to think about when it comes to internet safety.
With these social media dangers, Trovato said the FBI is in need of diverse workers. Degrees that can help get you a job in the FBI are law degrees, CPA, and computer science. The FBI does not want everyone to major in the same thing, especially including criminal justice. If you are looking to work in the FBI choose a harder major than criminal justice to improve your chances of getting the job.
The application process is fairly simple. You do not have to be recruited by the FBI, like Trovato was sixteen years ago. Nowadays all you must do is visit the FBI website and apply for a job. There are approximately thirty-nine thousand people who work for the FBI all around the world. In the Pittsburgh FBI center, around one thousand people work there.
However, Trovato warns, working for the FBI is nothing like you would see on the TV. Trovato explains that one episode is equivalent to most agents’ entire career. Some agents do experience some action in their life. Fortunately, Trovato has not received any threats to her and has only experienced some crazy phone calls and emails.
Internet safety is an important issue for all ages to learn about. Regardless if you are a teenager or an elderly person, you are at risk of being scammed or blackmailed on the internet. Trovato shares this key information to help teach the risks of using the internet.