Safety tips

Stay anonymous

• Keep your full name, address, school, job and social handles to yourself, even when a chat is going great.
• Look at what's behind you: letters, a view out the window, a uniform or a name tag can say more than you think.
• "Add me on Snap?" Be careful. Moving you to another app is how a lot of scams begin.

Act like you're being recorded

Because you might be. Anyone can record their screen and you'd never know. If you wouldn't want it online, don't do it on cam.

If someone threatens to leak a video of you

This is called sextortion. A stranger gets you to undress or do something sexual on camera, records it, and then demands money or they'll send it to your friends and family.

Don't pay: people who pay get asked for more. Stop replying, save the messages and the account names, and go to the police. You're the victim here, not the one who did something wrong.

StopNCII.org helps adults keep intimate images off the big platforms. If the person in the images is under 18, use Take It Down (takeitdown.ncmec.org).

Skip without guilt

You don't need a reason to leave. Esc or Next takes you to someone new, Stop ends it. The stranger will be fine.

Report bad behaviour

Omegle's moderators look at conversations, but they can't see everything. If someone broke the rules, tell us when it happened (date and roughly what time) and what they did, and we'll find it in the recordings.

If someone's life is in danger, call the emergency number in your country first.