A mother has revealed her horror after she and her young son were targeted by a man posing as a Nickelodeon producer searching for young children to get ‘messy and slimed’.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, Cassy Maarssen said she was on Facebook when she saw an advertisement for children to get ‘slimed’ at a non-existent Nickelodeon studio in Perth.
The ad, posted on a Buy/Swap/Sell page in Western Australia, urged parents of children aged between 10 and 15 to contact them if they wanted to have a ‘slime experience’.
Cassy Maarssen (pictured) has revealed her horror after she and her young son were targeted by a man posing as a Nickelodeon producer searching for children to get ‘messy and slimed’
The mother said she saw an advertisement for children to get ‘slimed’ at a non-existent Nickelodeon studio (stock image) in Perth
The ad, posted on a Buy/Swap/Sell page in Western Australia, urged parents of children aged between 10 and 15 to contact them if they wanted to have a ‘slime experience’.
The Perth mother of a nine-year-old son said she quickly realised the ad nor the man who posted it were affiliated with the popular children’s network.
‘I honestly felt sick to my stomach that someone would try to trick a parent into exposing their children to such depravity,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘And how horrible they would feel that they had fallen for a predator’s trap.’
The Perth mother said she never expected to be targeted by a ‘predator’ online.
‘It’s actually really scary, I thought I was pretty well versed on the dangers of social media and the internet, but even I didn’t expect this,’ she said.
Ms Maarssen said she probed the man to try and discover details she could pass on to the police.
When she answered his ad, Ms Maarssen said the conversation sickened her.
The man asked her if her nine-year-old son wanted to ‘play the custard game, where if he gets the questions wrong, he gets covered in custard’.
The Perth mother of a nine-year-old son said she quickly realised the ad nor the man (pictured) who posted it were affiliated with the popular children’s network
The concerned mother said she felt ‘sick to her stomach’ when she realised that people would ‘trick a parent’ into exposing their children
Ms Maarssen said she probed the man (pictured) to try and discover details she could pass on to the police
However, the man quickly deleted his Facebook account but before long, another account appeared
‘When I call tomorrow, I can play the custard game with him so he knows what to expect,’ he said.
Ms Maarssen said she expected the scam to be about money, but realised it was more sinister when the man spoke about ‘the custard game’.
Soon after their conversation, Ms Maarssen said the man’s Facebook profile disappeared, along with the advertisement.
Before long, a different profile popped up and more posts were published in search for children to get ‘messy and slimed’.
While Ms Maarssen ‘played along’ with the man, she said other parents fell for the sinister scam.
Ms Maarssen revealed she was in conversation with a Brisbane family who was also targeted.
Another account was created and more posts were published in search for children to get ‘messy and slimed’, Ms Maarssen claimed
A number of advertisements were shared in public groups (pictured) wanting to get ‘messy’ with young children
Another mother claimed to have had a video call with one of the men who poured custard over himself while he was in the shower then asked the mother if her daughter enjoyed watching
She said the Brisbane mother, who wished to remain anonymous, had a disturbing video call with the man.
During the video call, he reportedly poured custard all over his body while standing in the shower.
When the man started to lift his shirt, the Brisbane mother ended the call.
The woman said the predator messaged her later that night asking if her young daughter enjoyed what she saw.
He then repeatedly called the woman in search for her daughter.
In an attempt to warn other parents about the scam, Ms Maarssen wrote to Nickelodeon.
Ms Maarssen wrote to Nickelodeon in an attempt to warn other parents about the scam where it was confirmed the ‘slime experience’ was not affiliated with the children’s network (pictured)
Nickelodeon replied confirming Ms Maarssen’s worst fear, that the ‘slime experience’ was not at all affiliated with the popular children’s network.
‘Official Nickelodeon events are promoted on its television channels, websites, verified social media pages, or via our event partners,’ Nickelodeon said.
‘Nickelodeon does not promote events or auditions in closed Facebook groups. Any such posts are not affiliated with the company.’
Nickelodeon also confirmed it did not have a studio in Perth.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nickelodeon for further comment.