New alert over rapists who use Facebook to find their next victim...

New alert over rapists who use Facebook to find their next victim: Director of Public Prosecutions warns that sex predators are using site and Twitter to target vulnerable women

• Rapists and paedophiles use online information to target their next victims
• Predators can 'befriend' vulnerable people online before they pounce 
• The DPP warned that Facebook and Twitter can be used for 'grooming' 
• Prosecutors want banning orders to prevent offenders accessing the web 

Rapists and paedophiles are using Facebook and Twitter to select their victims, according to prosecutors.

They are using the mass of personal information on social media to build up a detailed picture of their targets.

The predators then befriend the vulnerable, often by pretending to share the same interests, said Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Rapists and paedophiles are using Facebook and Twitter to target new victims, picture posed by a model

In the most shocking cases, the grooming ends with women and children being abused or lured to their death. Some men even pose as women to get close to their victims – a trick known as ‘catfishing’.

Mrs Saunders said parents needed to keep a close eye on what their children were doing online.

‘People put up lots of details on Facebook and other social media which they can look at and use to target people because they will then know what their interests are,’ she said. ‘It helps with grooming because they have got a hook and a way to get into it.’