Chat Room Safety Tips

Never send money

Every romance and sextortion scam ends in a request for money, gift cards or cryptocurrency, and it is always preceded by something urgent and sympathetic. There is no version of this that is genuine.

That includes paying for sex, lending to someone in trouble, and "investments" a new friend is excited about. We do not permit paid sex here and we cannot get your money back for you.

The same goes for links and files. Do not install anything a stranger sends you, whatever it claims to be, and never enter card or bank details on a page someone in chat sent you to.

Hold back personal details

Your real name, workplace, school, street, phone number, government ID and bank details have no place in a chat room. Neither do photographs that show them by accident. Post, a delivery label, a payslip, a distinctive view out of the window.

Use a nickname that is not tied to your other accounts. Reusing a handle from social media is the single easiest way for somebody to find the rest of your life, and from there your family.

Keep business out of it too. Deals arranged in adult chat rooms are how people end up handing card details to a stranger.

Before the camera goes on

Assume you are being recorded, because you might be. Video here is peer-to-peer and we do not store it, but nothing prevents the person watching from capturing their own screen. Decide what you are comfortable with on that basis.

Keeping your face out of frame is the single most effective precaution, and it is what makes the difference between an embarrassing clip and one that can be used against you by name.

Check the background before you start, not after.

Meeting in person

We advise against it. Nothing about a chat room tells you who somebody actually is, and the people who push hardest for a meeting early are rarely the ones you would want to meet.

If you go anyway, that is your call, but meet somewhere public, tell somebody where you are going and when you expect to be back, and arrange your own transport there and away.

For women

The ratio in adult chat is heavily male, so a woman entering a room typically gets a wall of private messages within seconds, some of them pushy and a few designed to test how far you can be pushed. You owe none of them a reply. Ignoring somebody is a complete answer, and the ignore function stops their messages reaching you at all.

Pictures are the main risk. Anything you send can be forwarded, and a clothed photo is enough to identify you if it shows a face, a uniform or a recognisable street. It does not have to be explicit to be used against you.

Social handles are the other one. A WhatsApp number, Instagram or Facebook name gives somebody a route into your real life and your contacts list, which is exactly what an extortionist needs. Keep it in the chat.

Verified female members can request VIP at no charge, which restricts who can open a private window with you. If somebody will not take no for an answer, report rather than argue. Moderators are on at all hours and can see the log.

For men

Sextortion is aimed at men more than anyone else, and it follows a script: an unusually forward stranger, an unusually fast move to cam, then a demand for money against a list of your contacts. If it feels like it is going too well too quickly, that is the tell.

The other common approach is financial rather than sexual: a new friend who needs you to sign up to a site, take on a bit of paid work, or join an affiliate scheme. Any of that arriving through an adult chat room is a scam.

And the conduct point, because it is what actually gets people banned here: take a no as final. Being ignored or turned down is not a slight, and responding to it with abuse, or with threats to share somebody's pictures or identity, ends your account permanently and in some cases involves the police.

Reporting, and if it goes wrong

Report anyone breaking the rules using the flag option in the room, or by messaging any moderator. Moderators are on around the clock and can review the room log, so you do not have to prove anything first.

Anyone you believe is under 18 should be reported immediately. That is the highest priority report we handle and it is escalated to the authorities, not just moderated.

If somebody threatens to publish images of you: stop replying, do not pay, screenshot everything including their profile, and report it to us and to the police. Paying does not end it. It confirms you will pay again.