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Report: #139337

Complaint Review: 1 Chat Avenue - Internet

  • Submitted:
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  • Reported By: Dora Creek Other
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
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  • 1 Chat Avenue http://www.chat-avenue.com Internet U.S.A.

1 Chat Avenue AKA Chatave ripoff Track IP addresses and install trojans, virus etc. Then they block complaints! Internet

*Consumer Comment: That's not the only problem.

*Consumer Comment: That's not the only problem.

*Consumer Comment: Karen is Right

*Consumer Comment: ***ME*** Mark C. says: #1 Chat Avenue is a Sorry Site to be on..

*Consumer Comment: ***ME*** Mark C. says: #1 Chat Avenue is a Sorry Site to be on..

*Consumer Comment: ***ME*** Mark C. says: #1 Chat Avenue is a Sorry Site to be on..

*UPDATE Employee: Your son helped run an Adult's Only Chatsite, don't be a lying hypocrite.

*UPDATE Employee: Sorry your wrong

*UPDATE Employee: An Answer yes your son obtained passwords from moderators

*Consumer Suggestion: Typical parent

*UPDATE Employee: Parents are responsible for their children.

*UPDATE Employee: Parents are responsible for their children.

*UPDATE Employee: Parents are responsible for their children.

*UPDATE Employee: Parents are responsible for their children.

*Consumer Comment: Chat-Avenue Administrators send abusive emails and downloaded trojans onto my computer.

*Consumer Comment: Chat-Avenue Administrators send abusive emails and downloaded trojans onto my computer.

*Consumer Comment: Chat-Avenue Administrators send abusive emails and downloaded trojans onto my computer.

*Consumer Comment: Chat-Avenue Administrators send abusive emails and downloaded trojans onto my computer.

*UPDATE Employee: Would you defend a terrorist?

*UPDATE Employee: Internet Terrorists.

*UPDATE Employee: Defense Of The Site

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I received five abusive emails from Chat Avenue's "Chat Master" (originating from a user of Rogers Cable Inc in Canada). He threatened me and made libellous accusations against my family, apparently because my teenage son had annoyed him in a chat room. Worse still, even though he was writing official emails, he refused to provide his name. I requested it several times.

So, I visited his web site at www.chat-avenue.com to find out the owner's contact details so I could make a complaint. BIG mistake!

As I left the chat room, after talking with an unhelpful chat moderator, my antivirus software started popping up multiple warnings (12!). I figured the moderator was tracking my IP to find out who I was, or to boot me.

Some of the trojans were:

hacktool.proxy
trojan.ByteVerify
Trojan Horse
Downloader.Trojan

Now I was pretty angry, so I went to Symantec and discovered these trojans were serious privacy invaders (key stroke loggers and giving chat-avenue the ability to access my computer, for example).

Next I went to the chat-avenue forum to ask about the trojans, and to seek help in removing them. When I read the 'tech support' forum, I was amazed to see many other posts complaining about the same thing.

Obviously this site does not take computer security seriously and has zero respect for their customers.

In response to my complaints, here's what I got:

- more abusive emails from admin@chat-avenue.com
- my forum posts were locked, as were others complaining about the trojans. This means nobody is permitted complain about viruses installed by the moderators/site/banners.
- my IP was blocked, so I cannot communicate with the owners to complain about the abuse or trojans.

Possibly the WORST customer service on the net.

But that's not all.

Chat Avenue promotes itself as a "kid safe" site and even has its support of COPPA (http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/coppafaqs.htm) "the Children's
Online Privacy Protection Rule" on its privacy page. What a joke! They bombard users on every page with pornography and half the chat rooms are pornographic in nature. Even their image ALT tags promote the word "adult", which is generic on the internet for "pornography".

Their Kids Chat Room was full of adults, blatantly seeing sex with children. As far as I could see, there were no efforts to remove these adults (with names like "Old man in raincoat" and "man seeking 13 f"). The site is NOT kid safe and I advise all parents not to let their children anywhere near it.

Funny thing is, they booted me for making a legitimate complaint about the abuse and trojans, but let Mr "man in raincoat" stalk children. Anyone see something wrong here?

If you have had a similar experience at chat-avenue.com please post it here, because sites like this should be booted off the internet.

Karen
Lake Macquarie
Australia

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 04/18/2005 09:01 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/1-chat-avenue/internet/1-chat-avenue-aka-chatave-ripoff-track-ip-addresses-and-install-trojans-virus-etc-then-t-139337. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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#21 Consumer Comment

That's not the only problem.

AUTHOR: JasonRH - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, April 09, 2010

   Yes, chat-avenue will put keyloggers on your computer. They will not respond to e-mails and they have no reguards for user safety. However, this is not the only problem. I have used chat-avenue for about 4 or 5 years. As of late, they have placed a video chat room on the site. The video room is for 13 and up and it is moderated. Eventhough it is moderated, you will find men of age 30+ sending cam request for cybersex. If you go in the room and use a name that suggests you are a female and of age 14 or less, you will recieve atleast 15 to 20 cam request from men that openly admit to being in their 40's.

The last time I was there, I saw a man on cam who had to be atleast in his 50's talking to a girl that had /f/13 in her name and asking her to private chat with him. The guy was nude and on cam while a moderator was present in the room.

The site is over-ran with pedofiles searching for kids, stay away from that site.

If you complain to them, they will tell you that irresponsible parents are to blame.

WHAT!? If you have a chat-room that is for 13 year old kids and up, you must take responsibilty for them. If irresponsible parents are to blame, then make you chat for 18 and up only. It sickens me that such a place can exist and yet nothing has been done about it.

Karen's kid should not have been getting passwords from moderators nor should he have used them to disrupt the chatters in the room. But what pisses me off!!! is that they sent her e-mails because some kid swindled some passwords, yet they will not respond to e-mails about pedofiles being in the room or e-mails reguarding the safety of kids!!!!?

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#20 Consumer Comment

That's not the only problem.

AUTHOR: JasonRH - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, April 09, 2010

   Yes, chat-avenue will put keyloggers on your computer. They will not respond to e-mails and they have no reguards for user safety. However, this is not the only problem. I have used chat-avenue for about 4 or 5 years. As of late, they have placed a video chat room on the site. The video room is for 13 and up and it is moderated. Eventhough it is moderated, you will find men of age 30+ sending cam request for cybersex. If you go in the room and use a name that suggests you are a female and of age 14 or less, you will recieve atleast 15 to 20 cam request from men that openly admit to being in their 40's.

The last time I was there, I saw a man on cam who had to be atleast in his 50's talking to a girl that had /f/13 in her name and asking her to private chat with him. The guy was nude and on cam while a moderator was present in the room.

The site is over-ran with pedofiles searching for kids, stay away from that site.

If you complain to them, they will tell you that irresponsible parents are to blame.

WHAT!? If you have a chat-room that is for 13 year old kids and up, you must take responsibilty for them. If irresponsible parents are to blame, then make you chat for 18 and up only. It sickens me that such a place can exist and yet nothing has been done about it.

Karen's kid should not have been getting passwords from moderators nor should he have used them to disrupt the chatters in the room. But what pisses me off!!! is that they sent her e-mails because some kid swindled some passwords, yet they will not respond to e-mails about pedofiles being in the room or e-mails reguarding the safety of kids!!!!?

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#19 Consumer Comment

Karen is Right

AUTHOR: Steve - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 17, 2010

I find it not surprising at all that Chat Avenue has directed its squad of useless moderators here to gang up on Karen. I have been a user of Chat Avenue for a few years (on and off), and I can tell you that what Karen has said about the trojans and moderators is 100% true.  The moderators are all completely useless, and they create more problems than users by their favortism, discrimination, and other behaviors. It would appear to me that none of the moderators are capable of making everyday common sense decisions in their own lives, and thus are not qualified to moderate anything.

Chat Avenue is anything for protective toward children. Visit any room and spend some time there. You will see the biggest pedophilia activities online.  Visit the teen chat rooms. You will see a barrage of teens asking to trade porno videos and nude pics. It is truly shocking and disgusting, especially since I can guarantee you that many of the "teens" are old men and women. Yahoo! Chat learned its lesson, and paid a big price.  Chat Avenue is next in line. The owners have no idea how much trouble that could face. There should be a minimum age of 18 on all chat rooms, not 12 or 16. That is ridiculous, especially when Chat Avenue allows girls to advertise porno cam sites.

Karen, I suggest you contact the US Attorney General and FBI Internet Crime Division. You can file complaints online. They will take care of Chat Avenue.

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#18 Consumer Comment

***ME*** Mark C. says: #1 Chat Avenue is a Sorry Site to be on..

AUTHOR: Mark C. ***me*** - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, January 09, 2009

If you are thinking about going on #1 Chat Avenue, be aware that it is run by Teenage Moderators, and most of them are worse than the Chatters. They have dillusions of GodHood because they are Moderators, and can Ban and Boot you at a whim.

If you go into #1 Chat Avenue's Forums, They have Moderators for every Forum, and what they call UNIVERSAL MODERATORS that can Moderate the Entire Forums. They are again basically bored Teenagers, mostly GAY or Bi-Sexual, and they hate OLD People. They will constantly degrade you to get you mad, and then they start the process of getting you banned.

They Post INFRACTIONS, for every little thing you do. Swear, post inappropriate pictures, etc.

They don't like you, and they go on a Vendetta to get you Banned.

This one guy named KRASS for instance. He is some 18 year old Punk Kid from the UK and I swear it's his mission to get every HE DOESN'T LIKE banned.

He pissed me off so bad, I posted that I'd like to meet him, and twist off his head and field goal it.

He lies, and was a kids chat moderator, and learned how to kiss a*s real good, and since has been in 3 or 4 different Chat and Forums Moderation.

Jenna, the Lead QUEEEN BEE of the Universal Moderators, appointed her daughter a Universal Moderator right off the bat. If you want goody points in the Forums, Kiss her a*s right away.

This other Universal Moderator named CAT is a Sarcastic b***h with dillusions of Godhood, and uses cat pictures to prove her QUEEN BITCHINESS.

I've been banned like 5 times on this site in the forums, and there are people in there worse than me, and they kiss a*s and stay. They attack certain members like bullies, and they all gang up on you and try to get you banned.

The Moderators are just as bad, they follow the lynch mod and then they all laugh when someone on their hit list gets banned.

Stay off this site, it's overridden with a bunch of assholes. Boycott it.

From what I've seen, they have a certain amount of people they like, and a certain amount of people they hate.

It's like Facist German, Run by Adolf Hitler.

This site is so bad, they only have fun when people are fighting each other.

Me, I'll never go back, They can take that site and shove it where the light doesn'
t shine, and rotate it 360 degree's.

The ChatMaster doesn't care what anybody says, he only listens to the Dictator Moderators. Where he finds them? Who Knows..

Thank You for reading this,
***ME***
Mark C.

CLEVELAND, OHIO USA

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#17 Consumer Comment

***ME*** Mark C. says: #1 Chat Avenue is a Sorry Site to be on..

AUTHOR: Mark C. ***me*** - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, January 09, 2009

If you are thinking about going on #1 Chat Avenue, be aware that it is run by Teenage Moderators, and most of them are worse than the Chatters. They have dillusions of GodHood because they are Moderators, and can Ban and Boot you at a whim.

If you go into #1 Chat Avenue's Forums, They have Moderators for every Forum, and what they call UNIVERSAL MODERATORS that can Moderate the Entire Forums. They are again basically bored Teenagers, mostly GAY or Bi-Sexual, and they hate OLD People. They will constantly degrade you to get you mad, and then they start the process of getting you banned.

They Post INFRACTIONS, for every little thing you do. Swear, post inappropriate pictures, etc.

They don't like you, and they go on a Vendetta to get you Banned.

This one guy named KRASS for instance. He is some 18 year old Punk Kid from the UK and I swear it's his mission to get every HE DOESN'T LIKE banned.

He pissed me off so bad, I posted that I'd like to meet him, and twist off his head and field goal it.

He lies, and was a kids chat moderator, and learned how to kiss a*s real good, and since has been in 3 or 4 different Chat and Forums Moderation.

Jenna, the Lead QUEEEN BEE of the Universal Moderators, appointed her daughter a Universal Moderator right off the bat. If you want goody points in the Forums, Kiss her a*s right away.

This other Universal Moderator named CAT is a Sarcastic b***h with dillusions of Godhood, and uses cat pictures to prove her QUEEN BITCHINESS.

I've been banned like 5 times on this site in the forums, and there are people in there worse than me, and they kiss a*s and stay. They attack certain members like bullies, and they all gang up on you and try to get you banned.

The Moderators are just as bad, they follow the lynch mod and then they all laugh when someone on their hit list gets banned.

Stay off this site, it's overridden with a bunch of assholes. Boycott it.

From what I've seen, they have a certain amount of people they like, and a certain amount of people they hate.

It's like Facist German, Run by Adolf Hitler.

This site is so bad, they only have fun when people are fighting each other.

Me, I'll never go back, They can take that site and shove it where the light doesn'
t shine, and rotate it 360 degree's.

The ChatMaster doesn't care what anybody says, he only listens to the Dictator Moderators. Where he finds them? Who Knows..

Thank You for reading this,
***ME***
Mark C.

CLEVELAND, OHIO USA

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#16 Consumer Comment

***ME*** Mark C. says: #1 Chat Avenue is a Sorry Site to be on..

AUTHOR: Mark C. ***me*** - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, January 09, 2009

If you are thinking about going on #1 Chat Avenue, be aware that it is run by Teenage Moderators, and most of them are worse than the Chatters. They have dillusions of GodHood because they are Moderators, and can Ban and Boot you at a whim.

If you go into #1 Chat Avenue's Forums, They have Moderators for every Forum, and what they call UNIVERSAL MODERATORS that can Moderate the Entire Forums. They are again basically bored Teenagers, mostly GAY or Bi-Sexual, and they hate OLD People. They will constantly degrade you to get you mad, and then they start the process of getting you banned.

They Post INFRACTIONS, for every little thing you do. Swear, post inappropriate pictures, etc.

They don't like you, and they go on a Vendetta to get you Banned.

This one guy named KRASS for instance. He is some 18 year old Punk Kid from the UK and I swear it's his mission to get every HE DOESN'T LIKE banned.

He pissed me off so bad, I posted that I'd like to meet him, and twist off his head and field goal it.

He lies, and was a kids chat moderator, and learned how to kiss a*s real good, and since has been in 3 or 4 different Chat and Forums Moderation.

Jenna, the Lead QUEEEN BEE of the Universal Moderators, appointed her daughter a Universal Moderator right off the bat. If you want goody points in the Forums, Kiss her a*s right away.

This other Universal Moderator named CAT is a Sarcastic b***h with dillusions of Godhood, and uses cat pictures to prove her QUEEN BITCHINESS.

I've been banned like 5 times on this site in the forums, and there are people in there worse than me, and they kiss a*s and stay. They attack certain members like bullies, and they all gang up on you and try to get you banned.

The Moderators are just as bad, they follow the lynch mod and then they all laugh when someone on their hit list gets banned.

Stay off this site, it's overridden with a bunch of assholes. Boycott it.

From what I've seen, they have a certain amount of people they like, and a certain amount of people they hate.

It's like Facist German, Run by Adolf Hitler.

This site is so bad, they only have fun when people are fighting each other.

Me, I'll never go back, They can take that site and shove it where the light doesn'
t shine, and rotate it 360 degree's.

The ChatMaster doesn't care what anybody says, he only listens to the Dictator Moderators. Where he finds them? Who Knows..

Thank You for reading this,
***ME***
Mark C.

CLEVELAND, OHIO USA

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#15 UPDATE Employee

Your son helped run an Adult's Only Chatsite, don't be a lying hypocrite.

AUTHOR: Craig - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Jezza, Jeremy, his known names were never freely given passwords.. He pretends to be the Chatmaster, pretends to be room admins, and he cons the passwords out of moderators..

Karen, the thing about what your saying is that your defending your son, someone you love, we on the other hand are defending Chat-Avenue, the thing we love.. Difference being is that we do not feel the need to lie about anything, or to even withold important details, in order to defend what we love.. You cannot honestly say the samething..

You said yourself Karen that your son's behaviour was fraudelant, you said that you would be proud of a certain letter he wrote if it was not for the fact that it was fraudelant.. Now please explain how he could ONLY be taking passwords which are offered to him, an be partaking in fraudulant activities.. Innocently accepting a password offered to him wouldn't be fraudulant..

"Perhaps Chat-Avenue should hire
moderators with a few brain cells, instead of fools who hand out passwords to kids and use big scary words?"

Oh, no, no.. These fool's you speak of Karen are usually years younger then your own son.. Well that's if the age he usually gave people was the correct age, not the 40+ year old age, the one where he says he is 16..

An no chatsite should have to be worried about how intelligent their moderators are just incase some cyber terrorist, and yes, that is what he is, decides that they want to have some fun by causing trouble and disrupting innocent people have innocent fun.. At Chat-Avenue the moderators are mostly around the average age of the people within the room they moderate. It makes for a more comfortable atmosphere, for both users and moderators.. An yet we now need to worry about hiring a 13 year old as a moderator because your son will deem them a fool and a good target for his next con.. You don't want to see him as a cyber terrorist, you will keep saying that there were no illegal programs involved, so what is your son then.. Why not try a less debatable term then Karen, he's a con artist..

If your son never hacked in his life, and of course you really have no way of knowing that, why would he have a program on the computer which is used for such purposes.. Or did you just forget that you found that?..

Just like you must of forgotten the fact that he made up 4 gmail accounts, all with popular chatsites usernames, including Chat-Avenue's with the intent to 'bribe' the sites for advertising.. Not to mention the fact he created a site, stole Chat-Avenue's layout, changed the colours, an then created a forum where all he done was make up things about Chat-Avenue.. He was warned by his host that the information he was providing was incorrect and to stop lying, he didn't, and his site was closed by them..

Any banner that refers to any type of adult content is on the pages where adults would be.. Not children, and it's certainly in no way shape or form pornography..

Your child has been conning passwords from Chat-Avenue moderators, he has been involved in other activities to damage the site, and he has tried exactly what you are doing, damage the site with complete lies.. An yet you have the nerve to tell the people who run the site that you want their name.. I have already seen instances were your son has tried to use what he thinks to be names within the ranks of the Chat-Avenue management.. How could they risk giving you their name knowing exactly what your son had already done and would continue to do..

Their domain emails are a service provided for free.. To people for free, people who use chat-avenue, and i guess even those who don't.. It's not there for people like your son to abuse and use to con certain information out of people, or atleast try to.. So now what if they do restrict the use of the free e-mail they provide, and i'm sure they are thankful to Jeremy for bringing this all to light.. An maybe your a lil too busy trying to insult those who should not have to put up with your sons actions alongside with your lies, so i'll tell you now that the previous statement was sarcasm.. So now because of your son decent people who come online to have fun, not to spoil other peoples fun, should have a free service taken away from them?..

This complaint of yours about virus' is not a 1 off complaint, you are right, there is nothing else about it at chat-avenue, but there is something here on this site.. An who wrote that one?.. Your son, along with a heap of other lies.. An another similar one, by who?.. Eric.. That would be the Eric that Mr Con Artist himself with a friend created?.. The same Eric that was a Vice Webmaster, or some title like that which made him second in command at a completely 18+ adult chatsite.. ?.. Yes, so your son was frequenting with adults at an adult chatsite and you have the nerve to even mention any site having porn, adult material, or anything even like that.. We do our best to keep everyone, not just the children but especially them, in the safest enviroment any chatsite possibly can.. Can you say that you do the same for your child?.. Because you do seem to forget that lil fact don't you Karen..

"Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline. ESPECIALLY for a site that brags about its adherence to US Children's privacy laws. ESPECIALLY where the site's own staff are actively involved."

So, in your case, because your low standards of security on your computer which allows your child to frequent an adult chatsite, and even have the people from this site on his instant messengers, you should immediately be taken offline?.. o_O;;..

I surely do not hang my head in shame about Chat-Avenue, they do not have pornography, you should be the one hanging your head in shame, your the one who needs to lie out of every single one of your pores in order to defend your sons actions.. Not only do you feel it necessary to lie about the victim, Chat-Avenue, but also you need to lie about what your son has and hasn't done.. You can say what ever you like on here, you of course will, but offline, you know that you are nothing but a liar.. An it does not suprise me in the slightest that you have a child that does what he does..

Is it wrong for your son to use passwords handed out by the employees, although the fact is that 1 or 2 may of given out their password, the majority which would be much more then 2 were conned and tricked.. But either way, yes, yes it is wrong for your son to login using these passwords.. Well i guess you wouldn't need to ask that question if you had any morals..

No site is perfect Karen, just as no son and no parent is perfect.. But Chat-Avenue has lied about nothing, nor has any of it's employee's in these rebuttals, you on the other hand Karen are making a case against Chat-Avenue on nothing but complete and utter lies.. The Virus' or SpyWare you recieved on the computer is the only thing that may not be a lie, although that may not be a lie it is still incorrect.. You have picked them up somewhere, it was not Chat-Avenue, but you may believe it is.. There are no other complaints about such things, you will say what ever it is you feel you need to say, but for your own sons sake tell the truth!

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#14 UPDATE Employee

Sorry your wrong

AUTHOR: Michael - (United Kingdom)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Hello all

I have been a user at Chat Avenue now for almost a year.I am currently Forums moderator and a Chat moderator.

From my expierience I have never ever experienced any porn or viruses in anyway.

I have found the site friendly and welcoming to new user's.I myself have posted threads about Internet safety that was warmly received by the user's and Chatmaster of this site.

You are always going to get somebody who is going to try and spoil everyones enjoyment sadly that's life.I can assure you these people are dealt with fairly and swiftly.

I can only assume this complaint is here because of a disgruntled user that is clearly upset about something maybe they didnt get to be a moderator or there thread for some reason was closed who know's?

I can also assure you that I have never been asked for any monies to use or moderate on this site.

I enjoy coming here and I come here everyday and I will continue to do so for the forseeable future. I hope I helped in my response to this complaint.

I use the name Weetabix at Chat Avenue please feel free to come visit us and see for yourself and please feel free to private message any mod erator if your unsure how the rooms or forums work.I hope to see you soon take care.

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#13 UPDATE Employee

An Answer yes your son obtained passwords from moderators

AUTHOR: Erin - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Karen, yes your son obtained passwords from moderators, mostly kids, and he obtained these by entering the room as chatmaster or myself, or by mailing them emails sent from the chat-avenue email address of myself, chatmaster or other admin of the site. These email addresses were identical to the real ones,I'm not the most computer literate person about, but I am told anyone can do this. The moderators gave their passes in good faith to the person they thought was their admin or the chatmaster. Your son and his friend also added to many moderator messeger services as chatmaster@chat-avenue, or staff@chat-avenue, remember many of these moderators are young teens, younger than your son, and having the chatmaster on their msn was very intimidating.
I'm well aware that you were very co-operative and supplied names to me, some of who are and were moderators at the site, and I was never anything but totally honest in all my dealings with you. As for just logging in as a moderator , he changed moderator accounts, the very people who can and do remove the predators from the rooms where kids are, you may think this is a childish prank, but after threatening kids and doing it for a long time it goes past the joke level. As a computer person, you know IPs change if you restart the computer, and the problem is that your son isn't acting alone, he is a part of a group of kids and I believe adults hell bent on bringing the site down.
A site, complete with chat rooms, was set up and used dirtectly against our site, this site I believe was not paid for and so is totally illegal, the content of it's forum is mostly attacks on #1Chat Avenue.
I can tell you that very few older users in the kids room advertise their ages, they hide as users and many are only found through reports to moderators by users who were pced, any that are found are banned from the room. I'm sure if you go to any site on the net, this problem exists on them all, so singling out and exagerating the problems on our site is very wrong. I can assure you that I and all the team at #1Chat Avenue work very hard to keep kids safe. The name of the ex-adult moderator you used , and I say ex as his account was deleted after his account was accessed and used in the forums, supplied to the person we are told by your son, was just a little coincidental to me. I am certainly not calling you a liar, but it is very easy to log into a room on a given name and pretend to be any age you want to be. Maybe the others in the group knew you were going into the room and logged in as older people for the benefit of setting the room up. I have seen ads for singles yes, but nothing pornographic, though to be fair I've never clicked any of them.
I'm sorry you believe i created a false case against your son, I only passed on any information you gave me to the chatmaster, something I told you I was doing. Nothing has been made up about your son, though I personally believe he is being used as a fall guy so to speak, for older people in the group he has become attatched to. I certainly had nothing to do with emails you recieved, apart from asking the chatmaster to get the site administrator to email you, something you asked me to do.
Lastly, to me this was never a personal attack on anyone. What may be a fun thing for your son and his friends has stressed a lot of kids and adults world wide. I will of course support the site where I have met many great kids over the time I have used it. There are real users on the other side of the screens all over the world who visit our site every day to meet friends and help in keeping the site as safe and enjoyable as possible, and the games played by the group your son is or was in hurt a lot of those users. If you feel I have attacked you personally in any way, or used any information you provided against you without your knowledge I can only tell you this is untrue. All I want from all this , is the harrassing of the moderators at the site to stop. When it comes down to it, that's all anyone at the site has wanted from the start. I, personally thank you for the help you gave me, but I will continue to defend the kids and site that I frequent on a daily basis as I know it is a clean site, and I to invite anyone to access any room, age appropriate of course, see and judge for yourselves before you condemn a site that works hard to be user friendly and safe.

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#12 Consumer Suggestion

Typical parent

AUTHOR: Barfko - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Your son is a creep and you are blaming someone else. Open your eyes. What's next for Jr.? Tkae the computer off of him and make him play sports.

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#11 UPDATE Employee

Parents are responsible for their children.

AUTHOR: Kim - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

The first thing I'd like to say, is that any responsible parent would 1) have parental control which blocks out any adult sites. 2) Monitor their childrens internet useage. 3) Have informed their children of the dangers of chatting online.

Trying to blame a chat site for poor parenting skills is really a copout.

The advertisements are dating/singles sites. Not Pornographic ones. They are also for 18yrs plus only. How this can be a risk to a child who is being monitored appropriately by their parents is beyond me.

We take all care, but we can't be responsible for irresponsible parents who allow their children to run wild on the internet.


This was one of your comments
"Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline."

I'd like to know why you allowed your son to do this kind of thing online if he is a pre-teen as you state? You complain about our "low standards of security" yet it appears by your defence of such appauling behaviour of a young boy that there is no common decency or understanding or right and wrong instilled at home.

We will continue to do whats right, and do our best to ensure the safety of the people who chat with us.


If you took the time to check the site correctly you would notice that we do have Chat Safety recommendations. They are as follows.

Chat Room Safety


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chat Danger - Is this your first time chatting? Well below are a few rules to follow to keep safe when chatting:

1) Age Requirements - Users should be over the age of 13. Minors should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
2) Be careful - people online may not be who they say they are no matter how convincing they may sound.

3) Do NOT give out any personal information (i.e where you live, your school, telephone number etc) - you may end up being contacted by people you don't want.

4) Never arrange to meet someone offline unless you are sure who they are; go accompanied (if you are under 18 by your parent or carer); and meet in a public place.

Eye Strain - Long periods of computer monitor use can impact the health of your eyes. Due to the fact that your eyes are constantly adjusted to a particular focus, it is important to regularly utilize the full focal range of your eyes by focusing on a number of far away and close items. Preferably use: a larger computer monitor screen size with optimized contrast and brightness settings; fonts which are of a comfortable reading size; a monitor which does not have a low refresh rate or that interlaces; a screen which has little or no glare; a well lit room. Failure to do so may result in eye strain, blurred vision, head aches and other short or long term ailments.

Ergonomics - Due to the heavy use of keyboard and mouse input and long durations of sitting, we advise members to have an ergonomically correct environment and a regular physical activity interval. Your desk, chair, keyboard, mouse and wrist pads should be carefully selected to provide maximum comfort and protection against injury. Failure to do so may result in back, neck, wrist and arm short and long term pain and / or damage. Employ a routine of frequent breaks which involve a small, quick but frequent combination of physical activities such as: standing up, stretching, walking around the room or building, clenching a mug or cup , elevating arms above head repetitively, and taking deep controlled breaths.


There is also a listing in the FAQ section.

23. Are these chat rooms safe?

#1 Chat Avenue does it's best to supply it's users with a safe environment for chatters of all ages. The rooms are staffed by volunteer moderators who may or may not be present in the chat room at the time of your use. Please remember that a child's safety is the responsibility of the child's parents. Chatters under the age of 18 years old should be supervised by a parent or guardian. Please do not give out any personal information to strangers, no matter how trustworthy they may seem.

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#10 UPDATE Employee

Parents are responsible for their children.

AUTHOR: Kim - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

The first thing I'd like to say, is that any responsible parent would 1) have parental control which blocks out any adult sites. 2) Monitor their childrens internet useage. 3) Have informed their children of the dangers of chatting online.

Trying to blame a chat site for poor parenting skills is really a copout.

The advertisements are dating/singles sites. Not Pornographic ones. They are also for 18yrs plus only. How this can be a risk to a child who is being monitored appropriately by their parents is beyond me.

We take all care, but we can't be responsible for irresponsible parents who allow their children to run wild on the internet.


This was one of your comments
"Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline."

I'd like to know why you allowed your son to do this kind of thing online if he is a pre-teen as you state? You complain about our "low standards of security" yet it appears by your defence of such appauling behaviour of a young boy that there is no common decency or understanding or right and wrong instilled at home.

We will continue to do whats right, and do our best to ensure the safety of the people who chat with us.


If you took the time to check the site correctly you would notice that we do have Chat Safety recommendations. They are as follows.

Chat Room Safety


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chat Danger - Is this your first time chatting? Well below are a few rules to follow to keep safe when chatting:

1) Age Requirements - Users should be over the age of 13. Minors should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
2) Be careful - people online may not be who they say they are no matter how convincing they may sound.

3) Do NOT give out any personal information (i.e where you live, your school, telephone number etc) - you may end up being contacted by people you don't want.

4) Never arrange to meet someone offline unless you are sure who they are; go accompanied (if you are under 18 by your parent or carer); and meet in a public place.

Eye Strain - Long periods of computer monitor use can impact the health of your eyes. Due to the fact that your eyes are constantly adjusted to a particular focus, it is important to regularly utilize the full focal range of your eyes by focusing on a number of far away and close items. Preferably use: a larger computer monitor screen size with optimized contrast and brightness settings; fonts which are of a comfortable reading size; a monitor which does not have a low refresh rate or that interlaces; a screen which has little or no glare; a well lit room. Failure to do so may result in eye strain, blurred vision, head aches and other short or long term ailments.

Ergonomics - Due to the heavy use of keyboard and mouse input and long durations of sitting, we advise members to have an ergonomically correct environment and a regular physical activity interval. Your desk, chair, keyboard, mouse and wrist pads should be carefully selected to provide maximum comfort and protection against injury. Failure to do so may result in back, neck, wrist and arm short and long term pain and / or damage. Employ a routine of frequent breaks which involve a small, quick but frequent combination of physical activities such as: standing up, stretching, walking around the room or building, clenching a mug or cup , elevating arms above head repetitively, and taking deep controlled breaths.


There is also a listing in the FAQ section.

23. Are these chat rooms safe?

#1 Chat Avenue does it's best to supply it's users with a safe environment for chatters of all ages. The rooms are staffed by volunteer moderators who may or may not be present in the chat room at the time of your use. Please remember that a child's safety is the responsibility of the child's parents. Chatters under the age of 18 years old should be supervised by a parent or guardian. Please do not give out any personal information to strangers, no matter how trustworthy they may seem.

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#9 UPDATE Employee

Parents are responsible for their children.

AUTHOR: Kim - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

The first thing I'd like to say, is that any responsible parent would 1) have parental control which blocks out any adult sites. 2) Monitor their childrens internet useage. 3) Have informed their children of the dangers of chatting online.

Trying to blame a chat site for poor parenting skills is really a copout.

The advertisements are dating/singles sites. Not Pornographic ones. They are also for 18yrs plus only. How this can be a risk to a child who is being monitored appropriately by their parents is beyond me.

We take all care, but we can't be responsible for irresponsible parents who allow their children to run wild on the internet.


This was one of your comments
"Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline."

I'd like to know why you allowed your son to do this kind of thing online if he is a pre-teen as you state? You complain about our "low standards of security" yet it appears by your defence of such appauling behaviour of a young boy that there is no common decency or understanding or right and wrong instilled at home.

We will continue to do whats right, and do our best to ensure the safety of the people who chat with us.


If you took the time to check the site correctly you would notice that we do have Chat Safety recommendations. They are as follows.

Chat Room Safety


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chat Danger - Is this your first time chatting? Well below are a few rules to follow to keep safe when chatting:

1) Age Requirements - Users should be over the age of 13. Minors should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
2) Be careful - people online may not be who they say they are no matter how convincing they may sound.

3) Do NOT give out any personal information (i.e where you live, your school, telephone number etc) - you may end up being contacted by people you don't want.

4) Never arrange to meet someone offline unless you are sure who they are; go accompanied (if you are under 18 by your parent or carer); and meet in a public place.

Eye Strain - Long periods of computer monitor use can impact the health of your eyes. Due to the fact that your eyes are constantly adjusted to a particular focus, it is important to regularly utilize the full focal range of your eyes by focusing on a number of far away and close items. Preferably use: a larger computer monitor screen size with optimized contrast and brightness settings; fonts which are of a comfortable reading size; a monitor which does not have a low refresh rate or that interlaces; a screen which has little or no glare; a well lit room. Failure to do so may result in eye strain, blurred vision, head aches and other short or long term ailments.

Ergonomics - Due to the heavy use of keyboard and mouse input and long durations of sitting, we advise members to have an ergonomically correct environment and a regular physical activity interval. Your desk, chair, keyboard, mouse and wrist pads should be carefully selected to provide maximum comfort and protection against injury. Failure to do so may result in back, neck, wrist and arm short and long term pain and / or damage. Employ a routine of frequent breaks which involve a small, quick but frequent combination of physical activities such as: standing up, stretching, walking around the room or building, clenching a mug or cup , elevating arms above head repetitively, and taking deep controlled breaths.


There is also a listing in the FAQ section.

23. Are these chat rooms safe?

#1 Chat Avenue does it's best to supply it's users with a safe environment for chatters of all ages. The rooms are staffed by volunteer moderators who may or may not be present in the chat room at the time of your use. Please remember that a child's safety is the responsibility of the child's parents. Chatters under the age of 18 years old should be supervised by a parent or guardian. Please do not give out any personal information to strangers, no matter how trustworthy they may seem.

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#8 UPDATE Employee

Parents are responsible for their children.

AUTHOR: Kim - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

The first thing I'd like to say, is that any responsible parent would 1) have parental control which blocks out any adult sites. 2) Monitor their childrens internet useage. 3) Have informed their children of the dangers of chatting online.

Trying to blame a chat site for poor parenting skills is really a copout.

The advertisements are dating/singles sites. Not Pornographic ones. They are also for 18yrs plus only. How this can be a risk to a child who is being monitored appropriately by their parents is beyond me.

We take all care, but we can't be responsible for irresponsible parents who allow their children to run wild on the internet.


This was one of your comments
"Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline."

I'd like to know why you allowed your son to do this kind of thing online if he is a pre-teen as you state? You complain about our "low standards of security" yet it appears by your defence of such appauling behaviour of a young boy that there is no common decency or understanding or right and wrong instilled at home.

We will continue to do whats right, and do our best to ensure the safety of the people who chat with us.


If you took the time to check the site correctly you would notice that we do have Chat Safety recommendations. They are as follows.

Chat Room Safety


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chat Danger - Is this your first time chatting? Well below are a few rules to follow to keep safe when chatting:

1) Age Requirements - Users should be over the age of 13. Minors should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
2) Be careful - people online may not be who they say they are no matter how convincing they may sound.

3) Do NOT give out any personal information (i.e where you live, your school, telephone number etc) - you may end up being contacted by people you don't want.

4) Never arrange to meet someone offline unless you are sure who they are; go accompanied (if you are under 18 by your parent or carer); and meet in a public place.

Eye Strain - Long periods of computer monitor use can impact the health of your eyes. Due to the fact that your eyes are constantly adjusted to a particular focus, it is important to regularly utilize the full focal range of your eyes by focusing on a number of far away and close items. Preferably use: a larger computer monitor screen size with optimized contrast and brightness settings; fonts which are of a comfortable reading size; a monitor which does not have a low refresh rate or that interlaces; a screen which has little or no glare; a well lit room. Failure to do so may result in eye strain, blurred vision, head aches and other short or long term ailments.

Ergonomics - Due to the heavy use of keyboard and mouse input and long durations of sitting, we advise members to have an ergonomically correct environment and a regular physical activity interval. Your desk, chair, keyboard, mouse and wrist pads should be carefully selected to provide maximum comfort and protection against injury. Failure to do so may result in back, neck, wrist and arm short and long term pain and / or damage. Employ a routine of frequent breaks which involve a small, quick but frequent combination of physical activities such as: standing up, stretching, walking around the room or building, clenching a mug or cup , elevating arms above head repetitively, and taking deep controlled breaths.


There is also a listing in the FAQ section.

23. Are these chat rooms safe?

#1 Chat Avenue does it's best to supply it's users with a safe environment for chatters of all ages. The rooms are staffed by volunteer moderators who may or may not be present in the chat room at the time of your use. Please remember that a child's safety is the responsibility of the child's parents. Chatters under the age of 18 years old should be supervised by a parent or guardian. Please do not give out any personal information to strangers, no matter how trustworthy they may seem.

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#7 Consumer Comment

Chat-Avenue Administrators send abusive emails and downloaded trojans onto my computer.

AUTHOR: Karen - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Erin & Craig,

My son has not been "attacking" the site. He was freely given passwords by your co-workers, but you already know this because we have discussed it on the telephone several times. Ask "Mikey" and "Josie" and the others why they handed out passwords, instead of accusing my son of hacking. He has never hacked in his life - he merely acted in an annoying teenage way and exploited your weak security.

Craig, my son is not an Internet Terrorist - that's just plain rediculous and overdramatic. Perhaps Chat-Avenue should hire moderators with a few brain cells, instead of fools who hand out passwords to kids and use big scary words?

Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline. ESPECIALLY for a site that brags about its adherence to US Children's privacy laws. ESPECIALLY where the site's own staff are actively involved.

Chat-avenue.com promotes porn and filth on its home page, banners and image alt tags, yet right alongside these it advertises "Kids Chat" rooms. How sick is that? As a mother, that just disgusts me. It should disgust you, too.

>>> You may or may not have recieved emails from the owner, but you neglect to say the emails went both ways.
I received 5 abusive emails from admin@chat-avenue.com and replied to the first two. The first reply I asked for a name, because I do not answer anonymous threats. My second reply simply said: "I will be telephoning your ISP, Server Host and Domain owner to clear this up, since you are too stupid to provide your name. I will not tolerate your childish and illegal use of email to threaten my family."

Perhaps the owners of the site should restrict the use of their domain emails to people with a few brain cells (see above). They most certainly should NOT allow ignorant 18 yr old chat 'masters' anywhere near their domain addresses unless they are brave enough to add a real name.

>>> please be honest and give the full details of his actions at the site
My son obtained passwords from moderators at chat-avenue.com and used them to log into the site. That's ALL he did, and you know it. If he annoyed you, bad luck. You should have banned his IP immediately instead of treating this like some major internet crime. If you had done that, life in your little kids porn chat room would be just grand. Albeit somewhat sick and twisted.

>>> no moderator has the power to "give a virus" to any user, there are no viruses in any of the rooms.
I received 12 trojans from the site. I printscreened the last four:
hacktool.proxy
trojan.ByteVerify
Trojan Horse
Downloader.Trojan

If this was a one-off complaint, you might assume I was making a mistake or the trojans were coincidental. However, there are MANY complaints on your OWN chat-avenue.com message boards and on this ripoff report. Further, I was NOT on any other site at the time (and had never been to your site before), neither was my son. Lastly, yes it IS possible to install trojans via a web site, just read the Microsoft site and you will see. Easier still, go to a chat room at chat-avenue.com and make a complaint, to test for yourself. Or read your forums.

>>> you chose the name of an ex-adult moderator as an example of the preditor you say in the kids chat room
I did not choose the names as examples. Those names were actually in the Kids Chat room during the few minutes I was there. Although I do stand corrected, it was "Old Man in Trenchcoat" (not raincoat). I have no idea of the names of previous moderators, because I have never visited this twisted web site before. There were no moderators booting the adults and it was blatantly obvious that these adults were trolling for cybersex (or worse, god forbid).

You told me yourself on the telephone, Erin, that many adults enter the Kids Chat room - and to be blunt, your site invites it through their advertising and pornographic content.

It's disgusting, to think that the chat-avenue.com advertising and content acts as a lure for pedophiles. You should both hang your heads in shame for supporting a site like this.

Craig - is it wrong to use passwords freely provided by employees? Or is it wrong for employees to hand out security information to children? Which is worse?

Craig - My son never uses my computer. He has his own. Yes, I did receive the trojans from chat-avenue.com. Just like the others who complain about it on your forums and elsewhere on the web.

Craig - if there is no pornography on the site now, has it been removed since last week? Have the multiple complaints about viruses and trojans been deleted from the forums? How about the 3 page topic? Should I compare them to my backups? My IP has been banned because I dared to complain about the trojans, so I cannot check.

Erin, as you well know, I was very supportive and helpful on the telephone when you first called. I provided all the information you requested and spent a long time helping you (6 calls!). You then used the information to create a false case against my son, allowing the administrator of the chat-avenue site to access my private records.

You lost the majority of my support when I received the first abusive email from admin@chat-avenue.com. You lost my support completely when I went to the site to complain about the anonymous emails and was given the trojans.

You are attempting to twist this situation to make my teenage son look like some kind of criminal. He's simply a kid who was given passwords by your staff and then used them to have fun.

The REAL issues are:

- Chat-Avenue.com gives trojans to site visitors. They gave 12 to me. They also gave them to many other people.

- Chat-Avenue.com deletes and locks forum complaints about the trojans (and there were LOTS of complaints)

- Chat-Avenue.com sent threatening and abusive emails to my personal email address (which I had provided to you in good faith, Erin), and the employee refused to sign a name.

- Chat Avenue.com promotes adult pornography in its advertising, alt tags and content, right alongside a Kids Chat Room. This blatantly risks the safety of any children using the site.

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#6 Consumer Comment

Chat-Avenue Administrators send abusive emails and downloaded trojans onto my computer.

AUTHOR: Karen - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Erin & Craig,

My son has not been "attacking" the site. He was freely given passwords by your co-workers, but you already know this because we have discussed it on the telephone several times. Ask "Mikey" and "Josie" and the others why they handed out passwords, instead of accusing my son of hacking. He has never hacked in his life - he merely acted in an annoying teenage way and exploited your weak security.

Craig, my son is not an Internet Terrorist - that's just plain rediculous and overdramatic. Perhaps Chat-Avenue should hire moderators with a few brain cells, instead of fools who hand out passwords to kids and use big scary words?

Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline. ESPECIALLY for a site that brags about its adherence to US Children's privacy laws. ESPECIALLY where the site's own staff are actively involved.

Chat-avenue.com promotes porn and filth on its home page, banners and image alt tags, yet right alongside these it advertises "Kids Chat" rooms. How sick is that? As a mother, that just disgusts me. It should disgust you, too.

>>> You may or may not have recieved emails from the owner, but you neglect to say the emails went both ways.
I received 5 abusive emails from admin@chat-avenue.com and replied to the first two. The first reply I asked for a name, because I do not answer anonymous threats. My second reply simply said: "I will be telephoning your ISP, Server Host and Domain owner to clear this up, since you are too stupid to provide your name. I will not tolerate your childish and illegal use of email to threaten my family."

Perhaps the owners of the site should restrict the use of their domain emails to people with a few brain cells (see above). They most certainly should NOT allow ignorant 18 yr old chat 'masters' anywhere near their domain addresses unless they are brave enough to add a real name.

>>> please be honest and give the full details of his actions at the site
My son obtained passwords from moderators at chat-avenue.com and used them to log into the site. That's ALL he did, and you know it. If he annoyed you, bad luck. You should have banned his IP immediately instead of treating this like some major internet crime. If you had done that, life in your little kids porn chat room would be just grand. Albeit somewhat sick and twisted.

>>> no moderator has the power to "give a virus" to any user, there are no viruses in any of the rooms.
I received 12 trojans from the site. I printscreened the last four:
hacktool.proxy
trojan.ByteVerify
Trojan Horse
Downloader.Trojan

If this was a one-off complaint, you might assume I was making a mistake or the trojans were coincidental. However, there are MANY complaints on your OWN chat-avenue.com message boards and on this ripoff report. Further, I was NOT on any other site at the time (and had never been to your site before), neither was my son. Lastly, yes it IS possible to install trojans via a web site, just read the Microsoft site and you will see. Easier still, go to a chat room at chat-avenue.com and make a complaint, to test for yourself. Or read your forums.

>>> you chose the name of an ex-adult moderator as an example of the preditor you say in the kids chat room
I did not choose the names as examples. Those names were actually in the Kids Chat room during the few minutes I was there. Although I do stand corrected, it was "Old Man in Trenchcoat" (not raincoat). I have no idea of the names of previous moderators, because I have never visited this twisted web site before. There were no moderators booting the adults and it was blatantly obvious that these adults were trolling for cybersex (or worse, god forbid).

You told me yourself on the telephone, Erin, that many adults enter the Kids Chat room - and to be blunt, your site invites it through their advertising and pornographic content.

It's disgusting, to think that the chat-avenue.com advertising and content acts as a lure for pedophiles. You should both hang your heads in shame for supporting a site like this.

Craig - is it wrong to use passwords freely provided by employees? Or is it wrong for employees to hand out security information to children? Which is worse?

Craig - My son never uses my computer. He has his own. Yes, I did receive the trojans from chat-avenue.com. Just like the others who complain about it on your forums and elsewhere on the web.

Craig - if there is no pornography on the site now, has it been removed since last week? Have the multiple complaints about viruses and trojans been deleted from the forums? How about the 3 page topic? Should I compare them to my backups? My IP has been banned because I dared to complain about the trojans, so I cannot check.

Erin, as you well know, I was very supportive and helpful on the telephone when you first called. I provided all the information you requested and spent a long time helping you (6 calls!). You then used the information to create a false case against my son, allowing the administrator of the chat-avenue site to access my private records.

You lost the majority of my support when I received the first abusive email from admin@chat-avenue.com. You lost my support completely when I went to the site to complain about the anonymous emails and was given the trojans.

You are attempting to twist this situation to make my teenage son look like some kind of criminal. He's simply a kid who was given passwords by your staff and then used them to have fun.

The REAL issues are:

- Chat-Avenue.com gives trojans to site visitors. They gave 12 to me. They also gave them to many other people.

- Chat-Avenue.com deletes and locks forum complaints about the trojans (and there were LOTS of complaints)

- Chat-Avenue.com sent threatening and abusive emails to my personal email address (which I had provided to you in good faith, Erin), and the employee refused to sign a name.

- Chat Avenue.com promotes adult pornography in its advertising, alt tags and content, right alongside a Kids Chat Room. This blatantly risks the safety of any children using the site.

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#5 Consumer Comment

Chat-Avenue Administrators send abusive emails and downloaded trojans onto my computer.

AUTHOR: Karen - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Erin & Craig,

My son has not been "attacking" the site. He was freely given passwords by your co-workers, but you already know this because we have discussed it on the telephone several times. Ask "Mikey" and "Josie" and the others why they handed out passwords, instead of accusing my son of hacking. He has never hacked in his life - he merely acted in an annoying teenage way and exploited your weak security.

Craig, my son is not an Internet Terrorist - that's just plain rediculous and overdramatic. Perhaps Chat-Avenue should hire moderators with a few brain cells, instead of fools who hand out passwords to kids and use big scary words?

Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline. ESPECIALLY for a site that brags about its adherence to US Children's privacy laws. ESPECIALLY where the site's own staff are actively involved.

Chat-avenue.com promotes porn and filth on its home page, banners and image alt tags, yet right alongside these it advertises "Kids Chat" rooms. How sick is that? As a mother, that just disgusts me. It should disgust you, too.

>>> You may or may not have recieved emails from the owner, but you neglect to say the emails went both ways.
I received 5 abusive emails from admin@chat-avenue.com and replied to the first two. The first reply I asked for a name, because I do not answer anonymous threats. My second reply simply said: "I will be telephoning your ISP, Server Host and Domain owner to clear this up, since you are too stupid to provide your name. I will not tolerate your childish and illegal use of email to threaten my family."

Perhaps the owners of the site should restrict the use of their domain emails to people with a few brain cells (see above). They most certainly should NOT allow ignorant 18 yr old chat 'masters' anywhere near their domain addresses unless they are brave enough to add a real name.

>>> please be honest and give the full details of his actions at the site
My son obtained passwords from moderators at chat-avenue.com and used them to log into the site. That's ALL he did, and you know it. If he annoyed you, bad luck. You should have banned his IP immediately instead of treating this like some major internet crime. If you had done that, life in your little kids porn chat room would be just grand. Albeit somewhat sick and twisted.

>>> no moderator has the power to "give a virus" to any user, there are no viruses in any of the rooms.
I received 12 trojans from the site. I printscreened the last four:
hacktool.proxy
trojan.ByteVerify
Trojan Horse
Downloader.Trojan

If this was a one-off complaint, you might assume I was making a mistake or the trojans were coincidental. However, there are MANY complaints on your OWN chat-avenue.com message boards and on this ripoff report. Further, I was NOT on any other site at the time (and had never been to your site before), neither was my son. Lastly, yes it IS possible to install trojans via a web site, just read the Microsoft site and you will see. Easier still, go to a chat room at chat-avenue.com and make a complaint, to test for yourself. Or read your forums.

>>> you chose the name of an ex-adult moderator as an example of the preditor you say in the kids chat room
I did not choose the names as examples. Those names were actually in the Kids Chat room during the few minutes I was there. Although I do stand corrected, it was "Old Man in Trenchcoat" (not raincoat). I have no idea of the names of previous moderators, because I have never visited this twisted web site before. There were no moderators booting the adults and it was blatantly obvious that these adults were trolling for cybersex (or worse, god forbid).

You told me yourself on the telephone, Erin, that many adults enter the Kids Chat room - and to be blunt, your site invites it through their advertising and pornographic content.

It's disgusting, to think that the chat-avenue.com advertising and content acts as a lure for pedophiles. You should both hang your heads in shame for supporting a site like this.

Craig - is it wrong to use passwords freely provided by employees? Or is it wrong for employees to hand out security information to children? Which is worse?

Craig - My son never uses my computer. He has his own. Yes, I did receive the trojans from chat-avenue.com. Just like the others who complain about it on your forums and elsewhere on the web.

Craig - if there is no pornography on the site now, has it been removed since last week? Have the multiple complaints about viruses and trojans been deleted from the forums? How about the 3 page topic? Should I compare them to my backups? My IP has been banned because I dared to complain about the trojans, so I cannot check.

Erin, as you well know, I was very supportive and helpful on the telephone when you first called. I provided all the information you requested and spent a long time helping you (6 calls!). You then used the information to create a false case against my son, allowing the administrator of the chat-avenue site to access my private records.

You lost the majority of my support when I received the first abusive email from admin@chat-avenue.com. You lost my support completely when I went to the site to complain about the anonymous emails and was given the trojans.

You are attempting to twist this situation to make my teenage son look like some kind of criminal. He's simply a kid who was given passwords by your staff and then used them to have fun.

The REAL issues are:

- Chat-Avenue.com gives trojans to site visitors. They gave 12 to me. They also gave them to many other people.

- Chat-Avenue.com deletes and locks forum complaints about the trojans (and there were LOTS of complaints)

- Chat-Avenue.com sent threatening and abusive emails to my personal email address (which I had provided to you in good faith, Erin), and the employee refused to sign a name.

- Chat Avenue.com promotes adult pornography in its advertising, alt tags and content, right alongside a Kids Chat Room. This blatantly risks the safety of any children using the site.

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#4 Consumer Comment

Chat-Avenue Administrators send abusive emails and downloaded trojans onto my computer.

AUTHOR: Karen - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Erin & Craig,

My son has not been "attacking" the site. He was freely given passwords by your co-workers, but you already know this because we have discussed it on the telephone several times. Ask "Mikey" and "Josie" and the others why they handed out passwords, instead of accusing my son of hacking. He has never hacked in his life - he merely acted in an annoying teenage way and exploited your weak security.

Craig, my son is not an Internet Terrorist - that's just plain rediculous and overdramatic. Perhaps Chat-Avenue should hire moderators with a few brain cells, instead of fools who hand out passwords to kids and use big scary words?

Frankly, if a chat site has such low standards of security that allow a pre-teen to access the moderator's passwords, it should be immediately taken offline. ESPECIALLY for a site that brags about its adherence to US Children's privacy laws. ESPECIALLY where the site's own staff are actively involved.

Chat-avenue.com promotes porn and filth on its home page, banners and image alt tags, yet right alongside these it advertises "Kids Chat" rooms. How sick is that? As a mother, that just disgusts me. It should disgust you, too.

>>> You may or may not have recieved emails from the owner, but you neglect to say the emails went both ways.
I received 5 abusive emails from admin@chat-avenue.com and replied to the first two. The first reply I asked for a name, because I do not answer anonymous threats. My second reply simply said: "I will be telephoning your ISP, Server Host and Domain owner to clear this up, since you are too stupid to provide your name. I will not tolerate your childish and illegal use of email to threaten my family."

Perhaps the owners of the site should restrict the use of their domain emails to people with a few brain cells (see above). They most certainly should NOT allow ignorant 18 yr old chat 'masters' anywhere near their domain addresses unless they are brave enough to add a real name.

>>> please be honest and give the full details of his actions at the site
My son obtained passwords from moderators at chat-avenue.com and used them to log into the site. That's ALL he did, and you know it. If he annoyed you, bad luck. You should have banned his IP immediately instead of treating this like some major internet crime. If you had done that, life in your little kids porn chat room would be just grand. Albeit somewhat sick and twisted.

>>> no moderator has the power to "give a virus" to any user, there are no viruses in any of the rooms.
I received 12 trojans from the site. I printscreened the last four:
hacktool.proxy
trojan.ByteVerify
Trojan Horse
Downloader.Trojan

If this was a one-off complaint, you might assume I was making a mistake or the trojans were coincidental. However, there are MANY complaints on your OWN chat-avenue.com message boards and on this ripoff report. Further, I was NOT on any other site at the time (and had never been to your site before), neither was my son. Lastly, yes it IS possible to install trojans via a web site, just read the Microsoft site and you will see. Easier still, go to a chat room at chat-avenue.com and make a complaint, to test for yourself. Or read your forums.

>>> you chose the name of an ex-adult moderator as an example of the preditor you say in the kids chat room
I did not choose the names as examples. Those names were actually in the Kids Chat room during the few minutes I was there. Although I do stand corrected, it was "Old Man in Trenchcoat" (not raincoat). I have no idea of the names of previous moderators, because I have never visited this twisted web site before. There were no moderators booting the adults and it was blatantly obvious that these adults were trolling for cybersex (or worse, god forbid).

You told me yourself on the telephone, Erin, that many adults enter the Kids Chat room - and to be blunt, your site invites it through their advertising and pornographic content.

It's disgusting, to think that the chat-avenue.com advertising and content acts as a lure for pedophiles. You should both hang your heads in shame for supporting a site like this.

Craig - is it wrong to use passwords freely provided by employees? Or is it wrong for employees to hand out security information to children? Which is worse?

Craig - My son never uses my computer. He has his own. Yes, I did receive the trojans from chat-avenue.com. Just like the others who complain about it on your forums and elsewhere on the web.

Craig - if there is no pornography on the site now, has it been removed since last week? Have the multiple complaints about viruses and trojans been deleted from the forums? How about the 3 page topic? Should I compare them to my backups? My IP has been banned because I dared to complain about the trojans, so I cannot check.

Erin, as you well know, I was very supportive and helpful on the telephone when you first called. I provided all the information you requested and spent a long time helping you (6 calls!). You then used the information to create a false case against my son, allowing the administrator of the chat-avenue site to access my private records.

You lost the majority of my support when I received the first abusive email from admin@chat-avenue.com. You lost my support completely when I went to the site to complain about the anonymous emails and was given the trojans.

You are attempting to twist this situation to make my teenage son look like some kind of criminal. He's simply a kid who was given passwords by your staff and then used them to have fun.

The REAL issues are:

- Chat-Avenue.com gives trojans to site visitors. They gave 12 to me. They also gave them to many other people.

- Chat-Avenue.com deletes and locks forum complaints about the trojans (and there were LOTS of complaints)

- Chat-Avenue.com sent threatening and abusive emails to my personal email address (which I had provided to you in good faith, Erin), and the employee refused to sign a name.

- Chat Avenue.com promotes adult pornography in its advertising, alt tags and content, right alongside a Kids Chat Room. This blatantly risks the safety of any children using the site.

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#3 UPDATE Employee

Would you defend a terrorist?

AUTHOR: Kim - (Australia)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 26, 2005

I can only say that I support my collegues 100% with what they have posted. We take pride in the work we do at #1 Chat-Avenue. We look after our own, whether they be new or old members. Safety is one of our main concerns, along with ensuring a fun atmosphere.

Cyber terrorism isn't and will not ever be tolerated. The correct channels are used to deal with those people who attempt this kind of behaviour. Any person perceived as being a threat to another user, no matter what chatroom they are in, are dealt with immediately.

This complaint has been made by the parent of an internet terrorist as has been mentioned previously. On more than one occasion the moderators of Chat-Avenue have stayed awake all night to ensure the safety of the chatters because of this young mans actions. Only a dedicated team who work for the users would be willing to do this.

I take pride in the fact that I am part of such a dedicated team of people. The truth will come out, the moderators and users of #1 Chat-Avenue will continue to hold their heads high with the knowledge that they are innocent of these accusations.

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#2 UPDATE Employee

Internet Terrorists.

AUTHOR: Craig - (Australia)

POSTED: Monday, April 25, 2005

Karen, your son is an internet terrorist. I don't mean that as any offence to you or him, it is a label that describes him and his actions online to the exact letter.

Your son and a small group of friends have done all in their ability, including activities which would be deemed illegal, to infiltrate and assault Chat-Avenue, AND OTHER CHATSITES. For some activities they have used illegal programs, these facts you are aware of. To get these programs your son would of traveled to sites that would more then likely actually have the malicious things that you have mentioned.

I do remember the thread you made in the forum regarding having these things on your computer, and even though they were not from Chat-Avenue in anyway shape or form, you were given advice and suggestions on the removal of such things. My advice to you now is the prevention of having such things on your computer, do not allow your son on the computer.

I do not doubt the fact that you or your son were contacted by either the Admin, Chatmaster, or any employee of Chat-Avenue, and i do not believe you or your son really deserved 1 nice thing said. Your son has run rampant not only through Chat-Avenue but also other very popular chatsites on the net, yes he was not alone and has had help, but because he done it with other people does not make him innocent.

People moderate Chat-Avenue's forums and chatrooms on a complete voluntary basis and your son and friends have tried many different methods including manipulation to gain these hard working moderators passwords. Usually by pretending to be either the Chatmaster or a room admin. This is completely unfair on both the moderators and on Chat-Avenue.

Your son has been a menace to both Chat-Avenue and many other chatsites for years now, he has made copies of Chat-Avenue, blatantly lied about Chat-Avenue, and conned passwords from kids as young as 13..

-Your thread was answered, even though you were wrongly accusing Chat-Avenue of this offence.
-You were also the only person to have this complaint. So if you seen other threads like yours you were seeing that which did not exist.
-Your IP was banned because your son continually tries to gain access to moderator passwords, through all different means.

There is absolutely no pornography, absolutely none. If any is ever posted in the forum, it is instantly deleted and reported to the ChatMaster so that he can bann the person who does it. No links of any kind are allowed on the main in the chatrooms, and those who do post pornographic links in the chatrooms are also banned and the site is added to the ChatWatch, which censors the link.

Everything that can be done to prevent an unsafe enviroment for children is done, no site can do anymore then what is being done. You want children to be protected, an yet your defence of your son encourages his actions. An his actions do include pretending to be a middle aged man, an this middle aged man was also asked to leave the kids chat room on a number of occasions, and also wanted to be a moderator for the room. Your son also thinks it's fun to manipulate and con the young children, to gain passwords for their mod accounts. An your defence of him supports him, and will surely encourage him to continue. Your hatred for Chat-Avenue will also encourage his endeavour to infiltrate and give Chat-Avenue a bad name they surely do not deserve.

The Man in Rain coat name you mentioned is a similar name of an EX ADULT Chat Moderator, he is not a current moderator. Nor did he ever stalk anyone, and from what i seen of him he was not a mean or nasty person in anyway and certainly does not deserve your accusation of stalking kids. But now i believe it's quite clear where your son has gained his absolute uncaring for anyone but himself.

{ G }

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#1 UPDATE Employee

Defense Of The Site

AUTHOR: Erin - (Australia)

POSTED: Monday, April 25, 2005

I have always considered myself an honest person and rather trusting, until faced with the incidents that have occured at the site where i work, as a volunteer moderator #1 Chat Avenue. For a long time now a team of users, including your son,Karen, have been attacking the site and stressing out a lot of its users. There are many dedicated kids at the site who put in time watching the chat rooms for every thing from users who flood to the more perverted users who prey on the young and others. A

s administrator of the Kids chat room I resent the fact that you have depicted the site and room in this way. You may or may not have recieved emails from the owner, but you neglect to say the emails went both ways. Please dont't take this as a personal attack on yourself as I can understand your defence of your son, but please be honest and give the full details of his actions at the site. I am not well versed on the law in this respect but I would say that no moderator has the power to "give a virus" to any user, there are no viruses in any of the rooms.

I am in the Kids room a lot and yes there are older people in there, but not any way near the extent you say. It's quite amusing to me that you chose the name of an ex-adult moderator as an example of the preditor you say in the kids chat room, the moderators remove and ban any older user in the Teen/Kids rooms on the site, I'm sure as an intelligent adult you will agree it is impossible to monitor honesty on the net, but we at #1 Chat Avenue work to the best of our ability to keep the site safe for all users.As I said, this is not a personal attack on you, merely stating the facts about the site I have known for over 4 years, I believe though your son knows the site well you are a recent visitor.

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