Recruitment for violent crimes often begins with criminals seeking out children via encrypted chats, such as Signal. The criminals almost always also ask for pictures of the child's passport or national ID card, the police write on their website.
The information gives criminals an advantage that can be used to threaten the child and their family if they back out of a criminal mission. The police therefore urge guardians to keep their children's ID documents safe.
"If the child asks for the passport without being able to give a clear reason for it, it is a warning sign that should be followed by more questions," says Alexander Wallenius, operational coordinator at the police's National Operations Centre.
