Grooming Warning Signs Reference
What safeguarding bodies actually list as warning signs, what grooming looks like in stages, and the first step if you see it.
Safeguarding bodies describe grooming in five stages — targeting, trust-building, isolation, sexualisation and control — but the two signs that distinguish it from ordinary adolescence are secrecy about a contact with an age gap, and unexplained gifts or in-game currency.
Grooming Warning Signs Reference
Frequently asked
What is the clearest single warning sign?
Gifts, money or in-game currency arriving from someone met online, combined with secrecy about who they are. Most other signs on any published list are also normal teenage behaviour and cannot be used on their own.
What should I do if I am worried?
Contact your national child protection helpline or the police, and preserve messages rather than deleting them. You do not need evidence or certainty to seek advice, and these services exist specifically for uncertain situations.
What should I say to my child?
That they are not in trouble and that this can be dealt with. Shame and fear of losing a device are the two most common reasons children do not disclose, and both are answered by that sentence.
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