UNIVERSAL TALK CHAT RECRUITVIRTUAL UNIVERSE fraud, deceptive business practice, extortion, abuse, racism, possible identity theft, bait and switch, possible revenge porn, harassment London Internet

I began working for Universal Talk, a.k.a. Chat Recruit, a.k.a. Virtual Universe, in 2010 when I decided to leave my full time job and work from home.  To start, I was a phone sex operator, providing adult entertainment to customers and paid a per minute rate.  After a few months of this, I became a cam entertainer, where I was paid an hourly rate along with any payments for private webcam sessions.  It was a lot of fun for a while, until 2012 when I was hired for another work at home position, one where I was a technical support agent. 

Universal Talk has a staff of approximately four people:  Nick Wilson, Sabina Bughun, Shane Collings, and their ever-so-rude receptionist, Nelly.  When I was hired as a tech support agent, I told the staff that I would be working less hours due to having another full time position.  Nick, the “Quality Assurance Manager” (i.e. guy who listens to the phone sex calls and “critiques” them), told me that I was “boring.”  While his opinion did not really matter to me, I still became a little bothered by it when I was told that I had to actually make conversation with people who could barely speak their native language themselves.

Universal Talk is based in London, England, and a large majority of their callers are from the same place.  Very rarely did I ever speak to an American caller, because the staff at Universal Talk does not really like Americans, according to various posts in their forum, which I will include at the end of this post.

In any case, I continued working for Universal Talk as well as the other place, since two streams of income is a good way to ensure financial security.  I became a little more vocal and tried conversing with drunks and ignorant callers to the line, enduring racist and abusive comments.  When I left the other position, I returned to work for Universal Talk full time as both a phone sex operator and webcam entertainer. 

I also decided to work for their psychic service, in addition to these other services.  Again, it was a stream of income.  The psychic service was fun at first, since I enjoyed reading tarot cards for friends in the past and had never received payment for it.  Again, Nick contacted me and asked me if I would use something aside from tarot cards in my readings.  I was confused by this, because tarot readings are what I specialize in, but incorporated a pendulum reading for customers as Nick suggested.

Things started to get really bad when I began having conversations with these people on the phone, mainly because they cannot converse properly.  I am a former English honors student, and have exemplary speaking, writing, and communication skills.  Because I am American, however, I suffered much discrimination from callers as well as staff members.

In addition to these issues, payments were often not processed on time, causing a lot of financial stress for me.  I took up smoking cigarettes profusely to deal with the stress, and I have had health issues because of it.  I have since stopped smoking, but it helped to deal with the anger I experienced, so that I would not take it out on callers or the staff. 

The staff lied continually about payments being processed, saying that their bank only processes wire transfers at a certain time.  Basically, Universal Talk only pays via wire transfer into a bank account, and the initiate the payment through their English bank, Lloyds, then it is converted into American currency via their offshore account through Wachovia, or Wells Fargo.  They say that Wells Fargo is to blame for any late payments because of their processing time, but anyone who has ever sent or received a wire transfer is well aware that it is nearly immediate, when receiving a transfer.  If someone sends a domestic wire transfer on Tuesday, the recipient will receive it Wednesday, typically.  An international wire transfer can take up to 5 business days, due to currency conversion, but it never takes longer than that unless there is an issue with the sender.

Honestly, I could have gone my entire life without knowing all this about wire transfers, but because I doubted Universal Talk’s honesty and legitimacy, I found out all this information by myself, just to verify that I would be paid.

On top of this, Universal Talk sends its contractors 1099s at the end of the year, as they do not pay taxes for the people who contract with them.  However, they definitely act like employers, and could be categorized as such by the Small Business Association as well as the IRS.  According to Cornell University Law School, an “employer” can be defined as “any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and includes a public agency, but does not include any labor organization (other than when acting as an employer) or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization” (Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute, 2014, retrieved from:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/203). 

It is because of this that I am writing this report.  I feel that Universal Talk is directly responsible for paying half my taxes as well as half the taxes of all its operators.  This is another issue I will be reporting to the IRS.

In the end, I was terminated for being “abusive,” and can prove that I was, in fact, only making intelligent conversation with these people, but because I am American, I am expected to act as a slave.  This also begs the question, is this human trafficking?  Because of this job, I was forced to leave my residence in Las Vegas as Universal Talk’s service apparently was noticed by my neighbors and they assumed that I was an escort.  Universal Talk does nothing to discourage these assumptions, and they even allow their employees to give out personal contact information.  I suffered harassment from neighbors (including a sex offender who lived in the same apartment complex) as well as from the apartment staff.  All this was regarded as “abusive” by Universal Talk, but I was the abuser, according to them.

Does that make sense to anyone?  Because I do not understand it, and I am pretty intelligent.

Here are several screen shots and emails which support my claims.  There are many, many more emails which I am forwarding to the IRS.  There are way too many to include here.  I also have recorded conversations with various “customers” where I was accused by staff of being abusive.  I am not sure how “abusive” is defined by Universal Talk, but anyone I know would agree I was only making conversation and have a distinct personality.  I feel that Universal Talk just does not like American women, at least not those who have a backbone. 

As of today, I am awaiting my final payment.

Dear Anonymous

To confirm , a payment of $xxx.xx has been submitted and you will receive it on Friday 18^th July.

On the 1^st August you are due to receive $xx.xx – would you also like this processed?

Regards

Chat Admin

I absolutely would like all the money I am due to be processed and sent to me.

Thanks so much! :D

Dear Anonymous

We can confirm that both payments will be paid.

The first payment of $xxx.xx has been processed and a proof of payment has been attached.

Regards

Chat Admin

From: Anonymous Anonymous [mailto:Anonymous.Anonymous0@gmail.com]
Sent: 16 July 2014 10:12
To: chatrec
Subject: Re: FINAL PAYMENT - 41907 Anonymous Anonymous

Much appreciated.

I will let you know if there are any issues, as my bank does not have any issues processing incoming wire transfers. :)

Have a great day!

Dear Anonymous

That’s not a problem. Please note that if you require phone conversations in the future the number you can dial is 0044 207 309 6617 (calls will be charged at international rates to the UK).

The TOLL FREE number is for hosts only.

Otherwise, we will provide responses to emails you send, within office hours.

Best Regards

Chat Admin     

From: Anonymous Anonymous [mailto:Anonymous.Anonymous0@gmail.com]
Sent: 16 July 2014 10:25

I need a transaction ID number for the wire transfer.  You failed to include this information.

I will give you an hour to respond by email.

Dear Anonymous

All future emails from you will be deleted if you are not polite. You are not in the position to make any demands from us.

Regards

Chat Admin

From: Anonymous Anonymous [mailto:Anonymous.Anonymous0@gmail.com]
Sent: 17 July 2014 11:39

Hello :)

This is a polite reminder that you must include a transaction ID for your wire transfer.  Thanks so much and I hope you have a great day!

Dear Anonymous

We have given you this already.

Regards

Chat Admin

From: Anonymous Anonymous [mailto:Anonymous.Anonymous0@gmail.com]
Sent: 17 July 2014 12:12

Forgive me, I do not see it in this exchange.  Please do send it.

Thanks so much!  Have a GREAT day!

:D

Dear Anonymous

PRIVATE INFORMATION EXCLUDED

Regards

Chat Admin

From: Anonymous Anonymous [mailto:Anonymous.Anonymous0@gmail.com]
Sent: 17 July 2014 12:16

Oh wow!  :D  I'm so very grateful to you!  I'm actually on my hands and knees singing your praises! :)

My tone of voice may not reflect that, nor may my emails, but believe me, I REALLY AM!  :D

Do have a GREAT day!

THANKS AGAIN!!!  YAY!!

Kindly,
Anonymous Anonymous

Care to elaborate on your statement "make demands?"  It sounds very threatening, indeed.