Paedophiles are pretending to be chicken nuggets online (Picture: Getty Images)

Twisted paedophiles are impersonating chicken nuggets online in order to lure unsuspecting children.

They’re also pretending to be ice creams and actual roads in order to attract school kids, according to social media safety expert Dr Maureen Griffin.

Anti-mask protest leader is suspended nurse who compared lockdown to the Holocaust

‘At primary school level, I have dealt with accounts set up pretending to be chicken nuggets and ice-cream in order to friend children,’ she said.

Dr Griffin added a convicted sex offender who pretended to be a street had managed to get 400 students from a girl’s only secondary school in Ireland to add him on Facebook.


He did not meet up with the girls but still managed to collect their photos, including some that were taken at sleepovers.



MORE: A Clapham cafe is being turned into a gallery to celebrate all its regulars

Paedophiles are targeting school children (Picture: Getty Images)

Dr Griffin, who was speaking at the Ennis Mental Health Association, in Ireland, advised parents to check who their children were friends with or following on social media in order to protect them against the growing problem of fake accounts.

Dr Griffin said children were not even safe on sites like Musical.ly, which was specifically made for younger people, because paedophiles targeted these platforms.

She talked about an incident where an unsuspecting primary school pupil was tricked into dancing along to a song in her underwear while a paedophile was watching.

Dr Griffiin, who is also a forensic psychologist, added: ‘She was at primary school. She saw nothing wrong with dancing around her bedroom singing her favourite song but broadcasting that to people you do not know is where the difficulty lies.’

She argued children were more vulnerable when they progressed to sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook because they were not as closely monitored as ones that were specifically for youngsters.

Metro.co.uk has approached Instagram and Facebook for a comment.

MORE: Safe driving campaigner spared jail for dangerous driving while drunk

MORE: Police have identified terror suspect behind Parsons Green bomb