World wide web of deceit catching out love cheats online

It appears that many couples stay together to get through Christmas, but once the family festivities are over they take the first opportunity to split.

This is an annual phenomenon, exacerbated, many believe, by the stress of money worries during the recession. However, there is a new spectre on the horizon which is being seen as a cause of divorce and once again highlights the hidden dangers of the internet and social networking sites in particular.

According to one Yorkshire divorce lawyer, cheating spouses are being caught out by their partners as they send messages through Facebook.

Friends Reunited was the first social networking site blamed for a rise in divorce as old flames rekindled lost loves via the internet.

Now Facebook appears to be the new way that secret lovers are communicating. However, what they seem to forget is that Facebook is not a secret site. The whole idea of it is to share information.

Carol Grundell, a partner with DWF in Leeds, says: "People tend to be off their guard when using sites such as Facebook or Friends Reunited, sending texts or leaving messages on mobiles, but in reality none of these mediums is secure and it's easy for suspicious partners to check up on."

She says she is seeing an increasing number of people filing for divorce after catching out their partner online and the festive period has only exacerbated this trend.

"When people are off work and spending time with family they generally have less opportunity to see their lovers and resort to sending illicit messages instead."

Although it may seem obvious that social networking sites do exactly what they say on the tin, this is another example of how ignorant some people are of the power of the internet and the need for vigilance.

There was the much-publicised example of the new chief of a MI5 whose wife posted family pictures on Facebook. Such sites are also a favoured method of the school bullies who have moved on from lurking in the school corridors, to posting evil messages about their prey on messaging sites.

While I embrace these technologies, the speed with which the rise of global networking is growing is catching many off guard.

I think the onus is on parents and also on schools to ensure that children in particular are made aware of the dangers of posting personal information on the web. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that only friends can see your information. Some sites have stepped up their security to protect people's private information, but more must be done to ensure that personal information stays just that.