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Sexual Predators Using Xbox, PlayStation to Find Kids

by Tim Stevens on July 2, 2008 at 11:41 AM

Gaming Chats Serving as Gateway to Kids for Sexual PredatorsOnline worlds are already plenty dangerous enough for impressionable kids. Now, according to USA Today, online gaming is being pegged as the next possible source of harm for young kids, with sexual predators using voice and text chat in online gaming services like Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network as venues to meet kids.

Several predators have been arrested after taking advantage of kids through these services. They tend to get to know the kids as they play games together, and as they become more familiar, exchange contact information.

For its part, Microsoft is helping law enforcement agencies figure out how to track the histories of such predators online and extract their messages and activity from Xbox consoles. However, as usual, the best prevention is for parents to keep an eye on what their children are up to. Yeah, we know you folks out there probably don't need another thing to worry about when it comes to your kids being online, but worrying is better than being ignorant, right? [Source: USA Today]

Tags: kids, playstation, predators, xbox live, XboxLive

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