- Cyberstalking and Harassment Reportline
- Child Pornography Reportline
- Identity Theft Reportline
- Scams and Fraud Reportline
If the cybercrime you wish to report is NOT listed above, please use our Cyber 911 Tipline. If your case is an emergency, we advise you to contact law enforcement immediately
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The IRC (Internet Relay Chat) Team, also know as the ChatAngels
Named for the first place on the Internet they offered help to online victims, the IRC Team is being renamed the ChatAngels. The new name better fits their expanded role of providing help to all interactive communication users online, including mobile technologies.
The IRC still needs us the most, but other areas are catching up on abuses and confused users. For those of you unfamiliar with Internet Relay Chat, the IRC is a chat environment available online, without charge. It is not part of the Web, and requires the use of a special software, the most popular of which is mIRC. The IRC operates through thousands of servers, each controlled by different groups or individuals. Each server has multiple channels, often titled with the description of the chat topics in that channel. It is far more popular outside of the United States than within the United States. It is also where the darker side of the Internet flourishes, with channels such as "baby rape" and "father/daughter sex." A vast majority of the child pornography distributors function in IRC, often in the open. (Click here to read more about the F-Serves on IRC.) In this crazy place where children and adults wander seeking information, communication and entertainment, IRC users need our help and expertise the most. As we move forward, and surfing patterns and habits change, the IRC Team (ChatAngels) will expand into the Web as well, helping those who need our help in large portal chats, instant messaging arenas and Web-based chat. Our WiredPatrol will also be the first of the online help groups to offer "wireless" help, to text messaging technology users as well.
Their help is sorely needed. The Internet has experienced growth unlike any industry in the history of mankind. Never before has a technology advanced so quickly in both the ease of use and the number of users. Once upon a time, the only users were scientists, educators, and government officials, none of who would have ever thought of maliciously hacking into another user's computer, or stalking an innocent victim. The Internet was used solely for the purpose of exchanging information.
Today the Internet is a place where people can meet with each other to play games or simply to chat. It is a utopia for researchers, and it is a place where merchants can sell their goods. Today there are numerous uses for the Internet and millions of users. It quickly became apparent that there was also a need for programs to sniff out possible viruses, for firewalls to protect computers from invasion, and for organizations to teach people how to use these programs and be safe while surfing the Net and to help people victimized by abusers of the technology.
WiredSafety's WiredPatrol responded to the need of a safe haven and a place where users could come for help by forming the IRC Team. The members of this team are highly trained not only in the technologies of the IRC chat program, but in answering the calls for help from users who are being stalked, harassed, and hacked. This team of concerned and caring individuals not only helps victims by instructing them on avoiding such occurrences in the future, but also points them to another WiredPatrol Team (Cyberstalking and Harassment team) who will help them immediately by teaching them how to eliminate their problem.
Victims of malicious acts are not the only people that the IRC Team assists. Our volunteers welcome new users to the chat program and help acclimate them to this new environment.
Because of the efforts of this special team, thousands of people are now chatting, e-mailing, and surfing safely on the Information Highway.
With WiredKids.org, our children's and teens' programs, special teams within the ChatAngels offer safe chat supervision to children and teens in our WiredKidz.org and WiredTeens.org channels. They teach these young people how to communicate safely with strangers and how to use the Internet, and all its technologies, responsibly. Privacy is a very important lesson to be learned when using online technologies. It is one of the most important messages taught by the ChatAngels. Readers' Digest has featured our work in helping victims of cyberstalking and harassment in its article, Angels Online (April, 2000) and we train and assist law enforcement agencies in tracking down and combating cybercrime on IRC and other communication technologies.
Operating 24/7, with its worldwide volunteer base (all of whom are unpaid volunteers), the team offers a helping and caring hand whenever it is needed. Our multilingual support allows our international team to help those who don't speak English as easily as those who do. Internet users have quickly learned that they are never alone online, not as long as there are WiredSafety's and WiredPatrol's ChatAngels.
Interested in joining and offering your help? 
Our
volunteer form is located here, and for law enforcement agents and
high tech security experts, at www.cyberlawenforcement.org
(soon to be renamed WiredCops.org).