Cathy Pedrayes, also known as the “Mom Friend,” is an author, television host and bilingual social media influencer. After she started sharing safety tips on TikTok, her comments section became flooded with replies saying she must be “the mom friend of the group,” so ever since then, she’s proudly claimed the title.

“With her signature blue dress and pearls, Cathy's content includes safety life hacks, tech and cyber security,” Pedrayes’ site explains. “Her content is inspired by city living, traveling, her Latina roots and her experiences being a new mom.”

We reached out to Cathy via email to hear more about the background of this video series, and lucky for us, she was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda. “The series is based on training I received while working as a host on national TV (I was a QVC host),” the Mom Friend shared. 

“We were told that in public we might be approached if someone recognized us, and sometimes people are excited to see you're in their neighborhood. So they might ask questions like, ‘Do you live around here?’ or, ‘Is this your regular grocery store?’” Cathy explained. “We were taught to respond in a way that was friendly without giving away our personal details, since there was a long history of harassment and stalking amongst my colleagues.”

“For the most part, I had forgotten about this training until 2020. I was at a grocery store, and a clerk asked if I lived in the neighborhood,” the Mom Friend continued. “He was suggesting things to do in the neighborhood– I'm sure it was a completely innocent question, but all of a sudden my old training came rushing back and that scenario was in my first video.” 

Cathy shared that the series began with things that had happened to her personally, and since then, she’s shared over 60 videos including her life experiences, as well as requests and inspiration from others. But she doesn’t expect to run out of content any time soon. “I thought I might run out of ideas in 2020 when I created the first version of the video, but 3 years later we're still going,” the Mom Friend says. 

We also asked Cathy why it’s so important for women to know that they can bend the truth in situations like these. “Sometimes we just need permission,” she told Bored Panda. “What's great about this series is that everyone has experienced these scenarios and in the moment been caught off-guard about how to respond. The series arms you with quick responses, so that you're not caught off-guard. It's about awareness, preparation and permission.”

Cathy also says she wears her "Mom Friend" medal proudly. “I love being the prepared friend, the reliable one that people can turn to, and I think everyone needs someone like that. The downside for me is that I have no idea what it feels like to travel light!” she shared with a smile.

While it may seem completely normal to share personal information on social media and in casual conversations nowadays, we might be unintentionally putting ourselves at risk all the time. One of the dangers that can come from revealing too much about ourselves to strangers is the risk of identity theft. Identity theft occurs every 22 seconds, the National Council on Identity Theft Protection reports, and a third of all Americans will face some form of identity theft during their lifetimes. 

You can also never be too safe when it comes to traveling alone or dealing with strangers. We know not to reveal our addresses to people we don’t know, but we often forget that when taking a taxi home late at night or ordering a pizza for dinner. But sadly, the risk of being kidnapped doesn’t disappear at any point in our lives. In the United States, there were over 520k missing persons reported in 2018, and in 2020, over 4.4k people were kidnapped due to terrorism. And if you’re an online dater, be extremely cautious with what information you reveal, as internet dating sites are the most popular recruitment locations for human trafficking. 

As great as it is to give others the benefit of the doubt, in this day and age, we also need to be aware of the dangers in our world. We all know to hide our valuables in safe places when visiting areas that are frequented by pickpockets, but it’s easy to forget that we can alter our language to keep ourselves safe as well. Don’t be scared to be vague or slightly dishonest with strangers. Best case scenario, they’ll never find out you were lying, and worst case scenario, they’ll never be able to track you down anyway! 

We hope you’ve learned something useful from this list that you might be able to utilize in the future, pandas. Of course, it’s best not to lie in most scenarios, and it would be awesome if we could simply trust the strangers we encounter in the world. But unfortunately, that’s not always the case, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Keep upvoting the fibs you find most brilliant, and if you haven’t read it already, be sure to check out Bored Panda’s previous article featuring Cathy Pedrayes!