Risky Contacts (Stranger Danger)

Joey helps parents understand their child's online contacts, who they are communicating with, enabling them to verify and trust all contacts, while spotting risky contacts.

New names and numbers show up in kids' messages all the time. Joey helps parents verify who's who-flagging unknown numbers, rapid contact churn, risky names, and suspicious outreach patterns-so you can guide the next conversation.

Risky contacts dashboard showing social graph and contact categorization

How Risky Contacts (Stranger Danger) Works

Understanding who's who in the zoo

Your child is likely going to have dozens of contacts they are messaging with. Add in group chats and the number of contacts might multiply by ten. As you scroll through your child's messages to check everything is okay in their online world, does this sound familiar: "Hey honey, who is Sebastian? Who is Lucas? Is our son talking to girls now? Seriously, I don't know who half these kids are!"

What's the solution? We designed this feature so you can get a solid handle on who all these unfamiliar contacts are. New contacts are flagged by Joey from the start. This prompts me to ask my son, "Who is so and so?" It is a dialogue. I learn a lot. Joey also links alerts with contacts so you get an easy insight into contacts you might want to discuss in more detail. It is an eye-opener, and you feel better knowing.

Flag new contacts icon

Flag new contacts

Joey spots unfamiliar numbers entering your kid's messages.

Verify contacts icon

Verify contacts

Contacts and risk signals are used by parents to determine 'Trusted' and 'Not Trusted' contacts.

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Alerts & contacts

Smart alerts enable parents to review risky contacts.

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Identifies risky behavior

Spot unusual messaging trends and changes in your child's relationships.

What Joey Flags vs.
What You Decide

You Stay in Control

Joey surfaces risk signals and contact information, but you remain in complete control. Review flagged contacts, assess the context with your child, and make informed decisions about next steps. No automatic blocking or restrictions-just the insights you need for better conversations.

Want to see the wider network? Explore the Joey Social Graph to understand how contacts connect across your child's digital life.

Parent reviewing risky contacts dashboard showing trusted and not trusted contacts
Dashboard showing emotional well-being, stranger interactions, and online relationship analysis

Privacy-First

Trust Through Transparency

Risky Contacts (Stranger Danger) works with summaries and risk signals, not full message content. Your child's conversations remain private while you get the safety insights that matter. Built for transparency and trust.

Related features for parents

Explore these to get the full picture

iPhone Monitoring

Complete iPhone monitoring hub

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Smart Alerts

Clear alerts for online safety concerns

Explore Smart Alerts

How's My Child? Report

Weekly insights and trends

Explore How's My Child Report

Analytics & Social Graph

Trends, contacts, and alert categories

Explore Analytics & Social Graph
View PricingSee Joey in action

Frequently Asked Questions

Filter Unknown Senders, Silence Unknown Callers, teach block/report, and use Joey's Risky Contacts alerts.

New numbers, age-gap profiles, repeated secrecy ("don't tell"), sudden love-bombing or money asks.

Joey reviews synced messages to identify contact and conversation patterns that may need a parent's attention. Parents do not have to invade their child's privacy or do all the work manually.

Risky Contacts (Stranger Danger) scans for unknown numbers, repeated cold outreach, rapid renaming, and other patterns that don’t look safe for your child’s age. It’s built to answer, “Who is actually talking to my child?”

Joey analyses contact and message data after each sync, but only surfaces summaries and safety signals in the dashboard. It doesn’t publish your full contact list or show a live feed of chats.

Yes Joey makes great guesses about who the child's family unit is and close friends. This works with our Trusted Contacts feature to deliver higher quality Smart Alerts. You decide whether a contact is trusted, needs review or is not okay—and you can update those decisions over time.

Contact risk signals are updated after each Joey Desktop sync. If your child adds new contacts or messages change, Risky Contacts (Stranger Danger) will reflect that in the next run.

No. It doesn’t block calls or messages. Instead, it gives you the information you need to decide whether to adjust Screen Time limits, block a number, or have a conversation.

Yes. Joey looks for patterns like frequent renaming, sudden intense messaging and overlapping contact details that can be warning signs of impersonation or catfishing. These show up as higher-risk contacts for you to review.

As Joey expands monitoring into WhatsApp, Discord and other platforms, verification signals will grow to cover those channels too, always shown in one place.

Get Started
with Joey Family

Get Started

1Install Joey Desktop

Download and install the Joey desktop app to get started on your family's safety journey.

2Sync Child's iPhone

Securely connect your child's iPhone so Joey can start watching over their messages and activity.

3Access Parent Dashboard

Get clear, parent-friendly alerts the moment something needs your attention, right in your dashboard.

Joey the kangaroo mascot relaxing on a pillow

What Joey doesn't do

Joey doesn't block contacts, restrict apps, or control your child's device - that's what simple screen time tools are for. Joey provides insights about what your child is doing online (when they are allowed online, and permitted to use safe apps), and who they are interacting with online. We aren't about blocking your child from danger, we are there to support families be safe, by learning what real safety is, enabling parents to effectively guide and teach their children.