Staying safe in chat

The number one rule

A person from chat never asks for money, documents or SMS codes. If they ask, it is a scam — even after two hours talking about music, the weather and mutual friends. Money, passwords, confirmation codes, account access, passports, cards, a photo of a card with its number and CVV: none of it goes anywhere. Not “for the ticket”, not “for the taxi”, not “I will pay you back tomorrow”. The rule holds in every city and in every language.

Rule two: if an offer is too good to be true, that is your answer. An “investment” with guaranteed returns, a “prize”, an “inheritance”, a “million-dollar order”, “refund me the shipping” — these are not luck, they are the description of an attack.

The five scenarios that repeat most often

1. 1. “I am the agent verifying this customer”

   The person claims to work for a bank, a security desk, moderation, or as a “verifier”. Then comes the request for an SMS code, your card details “to hold the funds”, or a link where you log into your bank. A bank never asks for codes. Close the chat and file a report.

2. 2. “Let us split the ticket / taxi / hotel”

   The wording sounds harmless but it always ends the same way: first they ask you to send money for something “shared”, then they vanish while the money leaves through a fake courier account or a mule card. Never transfer anything in the first day of talking — in fact, never.

3. 3. “I sent a gift, just pay the courier”

   You are told to collect a parcel, pay its delivery and receive a “transfer” in return. It is the classic fake delivery-service scam, and the money is gone before you realise the whole conversation was written for you.

4. 4. “Let us move to a messenger / another site”

   Links to other platforms are blocked in bulk: that is exactly how people get herded somewhere without moderation. It does not mean the outside chat is necessarily bad — but never follow a link from a conversation. After you leave, in·two moderation cannot protect you.

5. 5. “Send a photo of your card / the code / a voice note with the code”

   Even “just so I know you are real” is not a reasonable ask. A card photo, a banking-app screenshot, an SMS code and a voice note containing the code lock you out of your money faster than anything else.

Links and files

Do not open what you were sent if you do not understand what it is. Chat files are served from our own storage only to members of that conversation, which removes the most common bait-and-switch — it does not remove the need for care. Skip archives, installers and “tickets”. If a file looks wrong, report the message.

“Date” screenshots that were actually lifted off the internet are the ordinary reason meetings go badly. A chat gives no guarantee that the person on the other end matches their photos.

Meeting in person

• • First meeting goes public: a café, a park, a station — somewhere busy and covered by a camera.
• • Do not end up alone with someone new in a closed room, a car or an apartment.
• • Tell someone of yours where you are going and with whom, and arrange a call an hour later.
• • Keep your money and phone on you; transfer nothing “before the meeting”.
• • If it feels wrong, leaving needs no explanation. That is not rudeness.

If the other person is a minor

This service is for people aged 18 and up. Documents cannot be checked in an open chat, so act immediately: stop talking and report with the reason “minor”. Those reports are reviewed first, the card is hidden, and a repeat case suspends the account without exceptions. You always hear back — you never have to prove anything extra.

Blocking and reporting

Both the profile card and the chat have the buttons. Blocking removes the person from your list and stops them starting a conversation with you: they may still write first, but you never see it. Reporting sends the conversation or the card to review — enough for the pair to be locked out of the card, and after eight reports in a week the account is suspended.

We never say who reported whom; otherwise reports stop being honest. The outcome shows on the card: hiding or suspension stays, withdrawing a report does not.

If you are threatened or blackmailed

Screenshot the conversation — it helps both a moderator and the police. Report in the chat and block the person so the thread closes. If your life is genuinely at risk, go to the police: on an official request we provide account data (city, nickname, registration date, technical session hashes), following the procedure set by law.

Open threats are also worth a report: such messages are hidden from the recipient and the author gets restricted.

What the service does

Automatically cut off: character floods, link-heavy messages, messenger links, contact details and phone numbers, plus abusive language. Some of those messages never reach the recipient and land in the moderation queue; clear violations are deleted. A human takes over from there. What we do not do: sell data, message you “as support”, reveal who reported you, or promise that a stranger is safe — nobody knows that.

More detail on how moderation works and what exactly gets an account blocked is in the rules.