Buffalo- From www.wgrz.com – When an Amherst Parent called to tell us about a website targeting children was not exactly what it seemed, we checked it out.

The website, which offers hundreds of “doll” games for little girls. While it does have the games, it also has links to very disturbing sites that are NOT meant for children.

We talked with FBI Special Agent, Earl Gould, who tells us the FBI gets a lot of internet complaints and they investigate all of them.

It serves as a warning for parents. Special Agent Gould says parents don’t want to scare their children, but he says we have to be sure and communicate with them. He recommends we search through all of the sites they go to.

Kids can find the site by typing in Barbie Dress Up on a search engine. It’s obviously not a Mattel site. Unfortunately, some of the filters we put up are not strong enough, so taking the time to go through the site is important. The site is barbie-dressupgames.com.

The only reason we are giving out the name of the site, is so that parents can check on it and talk with their children about avoiding it.

Special Agent Gould says the FBI is investigating the URL and will look for any federal or state violations. The site also has a “live chat” which could be very dangerous to your child.

Early this morning, we did recieve an email from Mattel/Fisher Price about our story. Juliette Reashor is the Senior Manager of Public Relations at Fisher Price. She sent us a letter about the efforts the company goes through to keep children safe. Here is the letter:

Hi,

We understand you’re going to be discussing the barbie-dressupgames.com website on this morning’s news. We wanted to share the following points from Mattel/Fisher-Price:

* Mattel’s legal team continually monitors the marketplace, the Internet and the trademark office for any unauthorized use of our brands that may be unsafe for children.
* We also learn of issues through feedback we receive from parents, retailers, distributors and others who take the time to alert us.
* We evaluate each situation as we learn of it, and respond accordingly.
* First, we try to secure informal cooperation from wrongful parties by getting them to stop voluntarily.
* If we don’t get the cooperation we’re looking for, we will elevate the issue to more formal remedies, which can include filing suit to recover domain names and/or take down content that infringes on Mattel’s rights.
* This, however, can take time so we urge parents to monitor their children’s Internet activity. Now more than ever, parents need to be aware of where and how their kids are spending time online.

* 86% of kids ages 6 – 10 are on computers today – the Internet is really the new playground for today’s digital kids.
* There are many, many online games and virtual worlds, some are safe online destinations and others are not.
* Parents protect their children and have rules for playing near the pool, at the playground and other places. In today’s digital world, parents should also establish rules for playing online and posting the family rules on or near the computer.

Thanks,
Juliette

Juliette Reashor
Senior Manager, Public Relations | Fisher-Price