Cybercriminals don't just hack phones, they hack the psyche of teenagers

In the apparent security of home, boys and girls spend hours in a virtual world. In the parallel reality, they most often do not realize that the person on the other side could be a cybercriminal who uses artificial intelligence, fake profiles and psychological techniques as weapons.

The biggest dangers that teenagers are exposed to in the Internet are three - manipulation, which digital predators take advantage of, financial fraud from games in various applications and the leakage of personal data used for extortion and blackmail, says Prof. Dr. Ilin Savov, an international expert in cybersecurity and cyber prevention with over 25 years of professional experience in the Ministry of Interior. According to him, the main risk today is not technology, but trust, which is in crisis. "Children think they are communicating with peers on gaming platforms, but often these are criminals," he says.

"Cybercriminals operate in a multi-layered manner – they don't just hack the system or the phone, they hack the psyche itself,“ the cyber specialist continues. „They approach it by building trust and this is done by creating fake profiles, building common interests and emotional connections or using some kind of services. They initially ask for photos, then personal information, addresses and subsequently involve children in a game that gradually turns into blackmail. All this is reinforced with artificial intelligence – voices, photos, even entire personalities can now be simulated. In other words, 2026 will also be the year of intelligent copying of reality."

But how can parents find out in time that something is happening to their children?

The first signal is a change in behaviour – the child begins to hide their phone, shows aggression or anxiety in the home environment. Unfortunately, many parents underestimate the real digital risk and neglect it, but it is real and working with them is as important as working with children.

"Children don't say, they show through their behaviour and their silence is the most dangerous signal. The parent must be digitally literate, not just concerned and worried."

The reaction of the institutions is essential in controlling the phenomenon that is becoming a social epidemic.

"These crimes are new in the modern era, but the worrying thing is that we are not well prepared to detect and investigate them,“ Prof. Ilin Savov says. „They are some of the most complex ones - they continue over time and are transmitted to all family members. They are included in the Criminal Code, but the reality is that they are developing faster than the countermeasure systems. Their detection is a challenge because criminals operate across the border, while the evidence, which is digital, is easily manipulated. We must also add to this the fact that Bulgarian police officers are largely unprepared to uncover them. The fight is no longer just legal, it is technological and psychological, because the law exists but criminals evolve faster."

The expert says that the Criminal Code must be updated, the Criminal Procedure Code - improved and adapted to the most modern methods and tools for collecting evidence, while the police - "armed" with exceptional tools to operate in the digital world.

"Over the past few years, the state has begun to wake up, albeit slowly, but not everywhere and not systematically enough," says Prof. Ilin Savov. "When I enter a school, I see that students want to understand and teachers want to help, but they often don't have the tools. That's why cyber learning must become part of education."

Recently, there have been discussions on limiting the use of social networks to a certain age as a means of reducing cybercrime.

According to Prof. Ilin Savov, the ban is not a solution as it creates a hidden risk. He says that the modern digital generation will find another way, especially since it is not possible to shut down the world, but we need to prepare children for it.

Prof. Ilin Savov will be one of the speakers at the national festival "The Found Generation: The Return", which will be held on April 18 and 19 in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. He will focus on risks "without embellishment, imitation and fear, but with examples and solutions."

"My mission for years has been building a society and a state that does not react after the attack, but prevents it and is prepared. This is our future," the professor says.