Safety Online
Stay Safe While Gaming Online
Gaming should be fun, social, and competitive — but remember that not everyone online is who they claim to be. Protect your personal information and trust your instincts.
Never share your age or location.
Especially if you are a minor, don't tell people online your exact age, school, neighborhood, address, city, workplace, or where you regularly spend time. Adults can simply say they are an adult without providing additional personal information.
Gaming is not dating.
A gaming platform is designed for playing and communicating about games — not for finding romantic or sexual relationships. Be cautious if someone you meet through gaming starts pushing conversations toward dating, romance, sexual topics, private photos, or meeting in person.
Protect Your Personal Information
- Don't share your full name, home address, school, workplace, phone number, or passwords.
- Don't share your exact location or turn on location sharing unnecessarily.
- Avoid posting pictures that reveal your home, school, street signs, license plates, or other identifying details.
- Use a username that doesn't reveal your real name or birthday.
- Use strong, unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication when available.
- Never give anyone your password, PIN, authentication code, or account-recovery information.
- Keep your social-media accounts private when possible.
The FBI specifically recommends that young people avoid sharing information such as their full name, address, school, birthdate, and location, and recommends keeping accounts private.
Watch for Red Flags
Be cautious if someone:
- Asks how old you are or repeatedly pressures you to reveal your age.
- Wants to know exactly where you live or go to school.
- Asks for pictures or videos you don't want to send.
- Wants to move the conversation from the game to a private messaging app.
- Tries to keep your conversations secret.
- Offers gifts, money, V-Bucks, skins, or other rewards in exchange for personal information or pictures.
- Threatens, blackmails, or intimidates you.
- Claims to be your age but refuses to verify their identity appropriately.
- Wants to meet you in person without a parent, guardian, or trusted adult knowing.
You can always say NO. You don't owe anyone a conversation, picture, personal information, or explanation.
If Something Inappropriate Happens
Don't panic, and don't blame yourself.
- Stop communicating with the person.
- Don't send additional pictures, information, or money.
- Save the evidence — screenshots, usernames, messages, dates, and profile information.
- Block and report the account through the gaming platform.
- Tell a trusted adult if you are a minor.
- If you believe a crime has occurred or someone is in immediate danger, contact law enforcement.
The FBI recommends preserving messages and screenshots rather than deleting evidence when someone is being targeted online.
Report Child Sexual Exploitation
If a child is being sexually exploited, groomed, threatened for explicit images, or otherwise targeted for sexual exploitation online, you can report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline.
NCMEC identifies the CyberTipline as the nation's reporting mechanism for online child sexual exploitation.
You can also report internet crimes to the FBI through the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) or report federal crimes and threats through FBI Tips.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
Remember
You don't have to handle an uncomfortable online situation alone.
If something feels wrong, stop, block, save the evidence, and tell someone you trust. Asking for help is never something to be embarrassed about.