We've warned you about apps that leave your kids vulnerable to predators, but now you need to know about the apps that teens are using to trick you! Even if you're tracking your teenager with GPS, they may not be where you think they are.
They are called fake location apps and they are quick and easy to download on almost any smartphone.
"There's just about an app for anything anymore," said Hillsborough County Sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon.
This particular app was first brought to our attention in a story 10 investigates brought you on Tuesday, where a mom told us even though she was tracking her teen daughter through her phone, she still had no idea the girl was traveling to see an older man she met through YouTube.
That's because the teen was using a fake GPS app.
"In reality there's nothing better than just putting your eyes on your kid and knowing where they're at all times," said McKinnon.
10News WTSP put one of these apps to the test. It's called "Fake GPS."
One of our producers used the app to make us think she was at Westshore Mall. And that's exactly what came up when we tracked her phone, but she and her phone were actually sitting just a few feet away in the newsroom.
McKinnon has this advice for parents.
"Take your kid's phone, examine your kid's phone. You're not your kid's friend. You really need to get involved and make sure you supervise them and watch those phone apps."
He says there are plenty of other ways kids can be sneaky with their phones.
"You think you can monitor their text messages through your phone carrier. There's thousands of apps out there that not only text back and forth, even through WiFi, but they dissolve the messaging right after it's sent back and forth."
The lesson here, technology can never replace good, old fashioned parenting.
Spot check your kid during the day. Make sure that they're there. If they say they're going to the bowling alley and you have a phone app that's locating them through GPS. Don't rely on that 100 percent. Go spot check," said McKinnon.
This story originally appeared on WTSP.
