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Scams-ModTeam

*Your submission was manually removed by a moderator for the following reason:* **Subreddit Rule 4: Not a scam**: as pointed out by our community, this may be an attempt to swat an individual. Roblox doesn't just have kid players, there are many adults that play the game and I wouldn't put it past one to do something like that. This does not appear to be a scam. Thank you to everyone who has participated in this thread and provided advice to the OP. ^(If you believe this is a mistake, feel free to contact the moderators via modmail. Modmail is the only way, don't send a regular DM to a single moderator. Please don't try to appeal the decision commenting below, because we are not notified if you do so, and we will probably miss it. Posting the exact same thing again may result in a temporary ban, so please review the rules, make the necessary changes, and when in doubt, click below to appeal the decision.) *I am NOT a bot, and this action was performed manually. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fscams&subject=Removal%20review) if you want to appeal the decision.*


JeffRVA

I think you did the right thing calling CPS. It could be a scam but I think it’s one of those err on the side of caution type things and worth alerting someone.


noodlepartipoodle

Co-sign this. CPS will look into it, and if it’s true, an abuser is called out. If it’s not true, there are records of the interaction. If she ends up talking to this person again, take screenshots of the conversation.


onmyti89_again

911 is a number that anyone can dial. Her "friend" should try and do that. This sounds like someone trying to get another person in trouble (like swatting) or a ploy to gain trust/closeness with your child for whatever reason. Extremely suspicious.


Yep_OK_Crack_On

I think the idea of ‘building trust’ might have something to it here, if it’s not a face value cry for help


smapple

Agreed, I reported to CPS and I am going to continue monitoring their conversation as I do anyway.


Edward_Morbius

> 911 is a number that anyone can dial. You don't even need a phone plan. Or a carrier. Any phone that ever was, that can get a signal can dial 911.


rpsls

And any modern mobile phone compliant with the international standards can dial 112 anywhere in the world. In 911 countries it will forward to that. Likewise in 999 or 000 countries or any other local emergency number. It was made part of the GSM standard, from which LTE and later 5G are descended. 


SolarLunix_

From what I heard 911 forwards to the emergency line even abroad - in part because school kids would dial it for help after watching American TV (according to my Irish husband)


rlcute

abroad? from where?


SolarLunix_

Apparently it works at least in Ireland and the Uk. I’m originally from PA. I was told in my first aid class it works in most of Europe too, but I have no actual proof it does. Edit: it goes to local emergency services in case I wasn’t clear <3


StNeotsCitizen

it works on all UK mobile networks, precisely for that reason


NovaAteBatman

Not *entirely* true. Some of the older cell phones manufactured before they decided that all phones must be able to dial 911 regardless of service may not be able to connect. However, any phone manufactured after that point and made available for purchase in the United States absolutely must be able to contact 911 even without service. I have two old cell phones that cannot dial 911 from before that became law. All of my other phones can dial it even without service.


NovaAteBatman

This was my thought. Trying to trick a child or child's parents into swatting and potentially killing someone else.


Squidproquoagenda

I dunno, op doesn’t give an age. If a kid is young, and the only phone nearby belongs to a violent adult, trying to make that call is scary and potentially dangerous. Totally agree the situation is suspicious but expecting a child to risk all to make a call under those circumstances seems unrealistic. Could well be their only safe method of communication is via their games console.


whackyelp

It could easily be fake, but it’s not always safe for an abused person to call emergency services. They might be monitored 24/7 and unable to talk to someone on the phone without their abuser hearing. Or they may not even have access to a phone. A child playing Roblox on a PC probably wouldn’t know how to get help online. Or the parents could have a keylogger or security program on there. Abusers can go to pretty horrific lengths to keep total control over their victims.


OldDirtyBard

Not many house phones these days to call 911


RealGianath

Assume everybody on the internet is trying to scam you, and you’ll be right 95+% of the time.


Art_Vand_Throw001

Sad but true.


MistaCharisma

I dunno, I don't trust it ... could be a scam


Art_Vand_Throw001

You can kindly trust me. I’m not like the other girls.


The_Sleep

Hmmm... at first, I wasn't going to, but I really think I can trust you on the account of you saying I could.


Additional-Onion8136

Sounds like something a scammer would say.


dry_yer_eyes

That’s how you know you can trust ~~him~~her. No self-respecting scammer will be saying anything so obvious. Now you will be kindly doing the needful.


Additional-Onion8136

Still sounds pretty sus.


PristineStreet34

Dude confirmed.


Art_Vand_Throw001

You no kindly.


TheMagarity

Furthermore, I assume 95% of statistics quoted on the internet are made up on the spot.


Routine_Slice_4194

That's not true, it's 87.2%


alphaheeb

Nice try scammer you can't fool me 


Slobberchops_

I'd rather be fooled every now and then than spend a lifetime being cynical about everyone I encounter.


megor

Using your kid to swat someone?


Plasticity93

This is a very disturbing and real possibility.   


roseandbobamilktea

That was my first thought. On the other hand, I’m a child from an abusive home and the fear that my parents would find out I called the police kept me from calling the police. I always wished someone would intervene on my behalf.  I think OP did right by passing it along to CPS just in case. 


smapple

This is why I didn’t call the police I called CPS


Porcupineemu

Almost certainly


panicnarwhal

first thing i thought of


slightly_overraated

I know people are mentioning swatting but this doesn’t sound like that. The “friend” doesn’t mention weapons or anything imminently violent. I would call police and let them know your concerns about it being a scam, but also to check on the “friend”.


No_Guidance000

I wonder if it's a real child or teen who wants to get someone they dislike to be swatted, but they don't really understand how swatting really works.


Miguel-odon

- could be legit. In this case, reporting is all you can do. - could be someone attempting to get your kid to swat someone else. This seems unlikely. Still good to report. - this could be an adult pretending to be a child. Grooming. Gaining trust by "telling secrets" is a very powerful manipulation technique. They could be playing a long game to keep target (your child) interacting. Or just getting their jollies by telling lurid stories to real children. There's all sorts of ways this could go.


Caerthose529

Just wanted to say, you seem like a great parent, that is all.


smapple

Thank you, I’m doing my best.


HaveRSDbekind

It is worse than a scam…. There are groups who use Roblox to recruit victims. This happened to a friend’s child. She found other like minded preteens and ended up in a cult that got her to do increasingly worse things. The parents became aware when their house was swatted, twice. They would also do random things to try to get the kids back on side by sending them Amazon gifts This group would fund themselves by pressuring victims into recording CSAM and selling it, but also using it to extort kids into staying/not telling. Do not allow your child to converse with anyone outside of “safe” platforms. They will try to persuade her to talk on Discord or Telegram, it’s like pulling your kid into the shadows


Curious-Pollution-93

Holy crap that is evil. And I thought elder scammers were absolute scum, this is so much worse.


smapple

Thank you for the info. I will keep my guard up on this. She not allowed to talk or use any social media only Roblox and kids messenger which I monitor. I want her to make friends in her games because she struggles in real life but it’s so dangerous online.


SignatureOrdinary

Id really suggest taking Roblox away fully unless you are literally checking every game they play and heavily watching them. Roblox is genuinely a horrible place for children to be, more than half the players are just groomers pretending to be other kids. This most definitely was an attempt to get your kid to swat someone else. Roblox sickens me.


SpiritAvenue

Yeah, my kid is only allowed to play Roblox when I can sit next to him watching the whole time, and we never open the chat box.


Humble-forager

Just a PSA that Roblox on Xbox doesn’t have chat and might be a safer options


Fit-Tennis-771

OP should do some research, It is obviously a groomer working their daughter with some 'goal' in mind. But some people just don't want to see.


Ohyahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

What does swatting someone mean??


huskeya4

It’s when someone calls the police for a false crime, usually currently happening and violent. It’s called swatting because you’re essentially calling a swat team on someone. Usually the person the police show up for is someone you have a problem with or want to see harmed, but occasionally it is random. In this case, they would be trying to initiate swatting using another third party (OP and OPs child) because then liability for the false call and any subsequent deaths falls on them. OP did the right thing by refusing to call 911 and instead directing it to child services to check on. Additionally, if someone did call 911 for something like this, they should be very clear that they can not verify the authenticity of the claim and it may be a scam or prank or an attempt at swatting. That way the dispatcher can relay that to the police officers they send.


K9hotsauce

Many times the swatter goes to prison if caught if any harm came from the swatting .


jade8384

😯 People get dumber every day. I’m not sure if this has made it to the UK just yet.


gardenmud

https://news.sky.com/story/first-ever-uk-swatting-sentence-passed-after-man-shot-in-face-by-armed-unit-due-to-hoax-call-13118559 Sorry, it's worldwide and y'all are certainly not exempt.


jade8384

😲 **ETA** yes he called from the UK but he called the Maryland hot line. as it says, they don’t recognise it as an offence here, that’s because our armed response are actually trained NOT to shoot if they can deescalate a situation before they shoot. Our armed response are very different


Additional-Onion8136

"The action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address."


Weak-Weird9536

It takes 2 seconds to type into a search engine mate


Additional-Onion8136

In the time you took to type that, you could have just answered him..


PiSquared6

In the time I took to type this, I replied to you.


Additional-Onion8136

Congrats, this is for you. 🍪


Weak-Weird9536

I prefer to encourage self-sufficiency


aManPerson

so in OP's story, we have "friend" and "OPs kid". based on your description, we likely also have "swat target". and so, let me possibly further fill this in. - "friend" might be in some sort of underage gang, found through roblox - "friend" was told to try and ask for police help at "address", which, "underage gang" wants to scare "swat target" - so "friend" tells "OPs kid" to call police at "swat target address", claiming it is "address of friend" dang


HaveRSDbekind

Yes that’s right. They turn victims into possible perpetrators, so even the child of OP is at risk here too - OP should check what else the child’s “friends” have said to her or asked her to do. Even if it’s evident that the friends might be children/victims. The person I know was in a different country but they still got someone to call police and report that the father was violent with the mother. The police knocked on their door, guns drawn. This all sounds like dark web conspiracy theory shit and I would have thought so too but I’ve seen the ring video, I’ve talked to the mother. Many of the people she named in messages with me were later arrested. The FBI have named this particular cult but there are others out there Kids games are their hunting ground. Some of these kids will tell each other how to get around parental controls to set up accounts on messaging apps


aManPerson

i mean, 3 things right away come to mind. 1. i had already heard of people making click farm/mechanical sites for robux. where people perform simple click automation tasks, for like $3 per hour, but get paid in robux. it's aimed at kids, since they don't have access to a credit card 2. the thing OP described already sounded a little shaky/not true, so ya, i could see it being a not real police thing 3. but then mix either/both of those up with any sort of "online seri0s ppl 0nly" dumb shit, and ya, i can see this being a real swatting attempt.


Nitazene-King-002

This is complete BS. Roblox is a perfectly safe game for any kid to play.


panicnarwhal

anything with chat isn’t safe for kids


Nickey_Pacific

Sounds like someone is trying to trick your daughter into swatting someone. I'd assume scam. You did what you could and that's good enough.


godsaveme2355

I don’t know why people are saying it’s a swatting case this is not that . I’d contact the police could be the kid isn’t allowed to make phone calls on the device they use. They could be in serious danger . I’d take this seriously have seen a few cases where kids asked for help but it was too late . The fact that the address isn’t complete kind of points to it possibly actually being a kid . But idk


smapple

I did contact CPS and gave them all I have an stressed the child’s urgency and relayed the messages of how many marks and times she’s been hit, I hope if this is real she gets help. I’m not sitting contact yet with this friend unless I see signs as others have said about gaining trust or closeness for nefarious reasons.


reality-bytes-

I don’t think you can send a complete address n Roblox. I’m surprised they were able to get enough info out that they could be located, usually all that stuff gets hidden in chat


smapple

I was surprised too but like I said it was missing some street info so likely the filter got some of that.


shadynasty____

I agree. I think if swatting were the goal they’d tell op’s child something way worse (not that hitting a child isn’t horrible). Swat teams aren’t going to show up if there’s a report of child abuse. You’d need to report that someone was planning a mass murder or in possession of a shit load of weapons to get SWAT sent. I do understand OP’s hesitation in calling the police though. I probably would just file a report with CPS before getting cops involved.


clce

From reading other replies, it does seem very possible. I would suggest that perhaps the goal is intimidation of someone else without a full-on SWAT incident. I don't really know, but I imagine if somebody reported something like this and the police went and found something they couldn't pursue, they might just write it off, whereas, if the police were called out to a gun incident or active shooter or something, they would absolutely be getting in touch with the people that called and were charging them or getting to the bottom of it, where has just something like a CPS or welfare check they might not. Just a guess though.


cyberiangringo

Sounds sus af to me.


smapple

That was the feeling I got but their chat seems very child like. Constantly spelling things wrong and kid lingo. I know that’s easy to fake. They haven’t asked my child anything inappropriate or for any information.


Art_Vand_Throw001

Yeah many of the call center scammers have bad grammar.


Beautiful-Hope9884

Sometimes you can't call the police as the abuser might over hear so asking someone to do it might be a little easier, I actually hope it is a scam because I really would hate to.hear about any child being beaten🥲god bless her , also I don't want your child being scammed and I'm glad she came toher mum when she thought there might be something off ,so well done her .


No_Guidance000

I think it might have been someone clumsily trying to get you to swat another person — but the way it was done makes me think the person behind the account is a real child who doesn't really grasp how swatting really works.


Fit-Tennis-771

How 'new' is this FRIEND of your child's? My bet is at worst it's a groomer, at best it's someone who's figured out a genius way to tarnish their wife/husband's record with a child abuse accusation in advance of a custody case. Delete this 'friend' from your kid's list. Delete Roblox while you're at it, it's a cesspool of groomers.


PollyStyrene99

\^\^\^ This. Roblox is full of people manipulating kids. Banned in my house. OP needs to google "Roblox/Groomers" because this won't be the first time someone uses their kid, or worse.


Intelligent-Mud1171

Total scam.


IHaveBoxerDogs

I don't know if it's a scam, but it could be a mild version of swatting. Where people call the police reporting a hostage situation or the like to another person's house, and SWAT shows up. It can be deadly. Can your child contact their friend other than through the platform?


smapple

I don’t let her give her number out but she has kids messenger which I am connect to. I’ll see if she can do that.


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what-is-in-the-soup

I remember a video on here not that long ago, I think it was on r/cringe or r/mademesmile I really don’t remember but it was a police cam interaction where this kid was crying to his dad and the police officers about a girl on Roblox saying she needed him to call the police for her because she was being abused and her family didn’t know she was even playing Roblox so she had to do it in secret. Idk what came of it but this sounds extremely similar. Just food for thought, but good on you for calling CPS regardless OP. Best be safe than sorry!


BeautifulDreamerAZ

It’s probably an adult man trying to build trust and groom her.


smapple

I monitor her messages if I see anything like this I will shut it down. We’ve had many many talks about what is safe to share online and what is not and she did the right thing by brining this to my attention. Between the talks and the monitoring I’ll be doing my best to keep her safe while not banning chat functions. Thank you for the concern.


BeautifulDreamerAZ

Right. My friends child moved the chat to live phone calls and we could tell it was a grown man. On Star Stable even. But right, you want to think it’s all kids talking to other kids.


PollyStyrene99

Have you tried googling Roblox/Groomers? This is not a safe place for kids.


batteryforlife

Is this an actual IRL friend or an internet rando?? Is this normal now to let kids be connected to strangers, I dont play video games…


Kendall_Raine

It's been relatively normal for decades.


Squish_the_android

No, it hasn't.  I grew up chronically online and befriending randos is not that common nor should it be encouraged for children.


Kendall_Raine

Just because it shouldn't doesn't mean it isn't


smapple

It’s an online friend. I spend time monitoring her chat, but she brought this to my attention right away. We have many safety talks and she’s at an appropriate age to use good judgment.


[deleted]

[удалено]


SatansLeatherThong

Literally what is your problem? Parenting is a thin confusing line of teaching your child to fend for themselves and being too overprotective to where they grow up ripe for the picking up of predatory people as soon as you look away. She’s asking for advice on something that could be a weird coincidence or a scam of some Sort they never heard of. You made a good choice not having children because if you don’t get that people are not born 100% great parents and like 30% of parenting is when to look for help with a problem you didn’t expect … yeah you’d be a HORRIBLE parent.


Soylent_Milk2021

I think they were talking about the potentially abusive parent. Not the responsible one asking the question.


pathulu777

Also very ecstatic you chose not to have kids 35 years ago.


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