Providing a Phone Number in a Chat Room to Individual Who Later Claims to Be a Minor

[Anderson7576]

I will try to provide as much detail as I can regarding this situation for the purposes of obtaining some insight as to several issues.

An adult male entered an internet sex chat room and initiated contact with a female user whose screename was something along the lines of “girl4phone.”

The male asked the person’s age and the response was “25.” The male provided his phone number and the person asked if he was looking for a “one time thing” or “something ongoing,” asked his age and if if he was married, and asked if it was ok to call at that moment. The male provided his age (43), said he was married, was looking for a “one time thing” and that she could call at that moment.

The female then responded, “Sorry, I’m 15.” The male then immediately responded: “No. Don’t contact me. Ever.” The male then immediately ended the chat and left the site.

Several minutes later, the male’s phone rang with a blocked number (“No Caller ID”). An unidentified male left a voicemail stating something along these lines:

“Mr. [incorrect last name]. You need to be aware that you can’t just randomly give out your phone number before knowing someone’s true age. I will call you back in 5 minutes and explain everything to you. If you do not answer, I will contact the district attorney and will seek the mandatory maximum. An arrest warrant will be isssued and I will deliver it to [incorrect address] in [city] and we’ll explain it to your wife and family that way.”

The male received another call 5 minutes later, again with a blocked number, and did not answer. No message was left and there was no further contact.

The male later confirmed that a Google search of his phone number identified the number as being affiliated with the name and address cited by the unidentified male in the voicemail. That information was not accurate, but seemed to explain why the unidentified male cited that name and address (suggesting that he quickly did the same internet search before calling).

I know that the use of the internet under such circumstances can implicate federal law, so the unidentified male ostensibly holding himself out to be a law enforcement officer could potentially have “jurisdiction” to pursue criminal charges.

However, it seems odd that law enforcement would call immediately and threaten charges based on simply providing a phone number to someone who initially stated that “she” was 25 (rather than try to encourage the male to take additional incriminating steps). I suppose there could be an argument that (a) the forum was clearly sexual in nature, (b) the female’s screename implied that phone sex was the desired activity, and (c) the male did not take reasonable steps to ascertain the female’s true age, but that seems like somewhat of a stretch.

It also seems odd that the person called from a blocked number, did not expressly identify himself as law enforcement (although it the message implied as much) and stated that “if” the male did not answer the second call, then charges would be pursued. It was also curious that the person apparently did a quick search in attempt to find a name and address, and used that information in the voicemail, all in a span of 5 to 10 minutes.

The overall question, therefore, is: Does this seem legitimate or does it seem like a hoax? There are arguably elements of both.

This is quite a bit of detailed information, so thank you for reading, and I appreciate any thoughts and comments that can be provided.

[Mr. Knowitall]

An adult male entered an internet sex chat room and initiated contact with a female user whose screename was something along the lines of “girl4phone.”

The male asked the person’s age and the response was “25.” The male provided his phone number and the person asked if he was looking for a “one time thing” or “something ongoing,” asked his age and if if he was married, and asked if it was ok to call at that moment. The male provided his age (43), said he was married, was looking for a “one time thing” and that she could call at that moment.

The female then responded, “Sorry, I’m 15.” The male then immediately responded: “No. Don’t contact me. Ever.” The male then immediately ended the chat and left the site.

The male did something foolish, and needs to learn to think with his other head, but none of that is actually criminal.

Odds are this was a set-up for an attempt at extortion.

[Anderson7576]

Thank you for taking the time to read/comment. That was my initial impression and thank you for confirming it.

I would also be interested if you (or anyone else reading this thread) would be able to comment on whether the approach taken by the so-called law enforcement officer is inconsistent with the way such situations would normally be handled. It does not seem to be—and appears to be more of a set-up for extortion rather than legitimate police tactics—but I am more familiar with legal concepts than I am with law enforcement protocol, and would appreciate any insight in this regard as well. Thanks.

[PayrolGuy]

No that isn't how the police would handle such a situation.

[jk]

It’s a scam.

The interent has made easy pickin’s for scammers to extort foolish horny people.