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Edmonton police freak out over Playstation 3
David Oilund, 16, a video game player who regularly plays online in Edmonton, said "creepers" have tried to chat with him while playing games.Dude, I know how you feel. That happens to me all the time. However, since I'm not a 16-year-old boy, it's not newsworthy."You just leave and go somewhere else and play a different game or whatever," he said.
But "creepers" have so freaked out the police in Edmonton that they made an announcement that was picked up by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Edmonton police seem particularly alarmed about the Playstation 3. The supposed pattern is that pedophiles will make friends with kids online and then lure them onto MSN messenger (!). "And from there things can progress," the public information officer darkly insinuates.
The article says the scam began in the United States, where online predators offer to exchange Microsoft points for kids' taking naked photos of themselves. Which sounds pretty disturbing until you Google it and discover another baseless fantasy cooked up by clueless police and media. I'm all for parents being more informed about what their kids are playing, but I'm also for the police and media getting a clue before saying scary things.
By The Creeper at 12:20 PM ON 08/27/08
Sorry guys, I'll stop. Gawd, I just get so hungry you know? And children... they taste just like popcorn!
By Greg at 12:54 PM ON 08/27/08
Hey that kid don't look sixteen. And even so, isn't sixteen a bit "old" to be "lured"? And even if the story were true, and the kid's taking pictures of his bits and pieces for free games, then the parents have more to worry about than the freak on the other end.
Your kid is more likely to get molested by his uncle than some freak on the Internet.
By Rob at 1:13 PM ON 08/27/08
It's spelled Edmonton, not Edmunton.
By Justin Fletcher at 2:23 PM ON 08/27/08
From the link:
"Some of the most popular games are 'Halo 3,' 'Call Of Duty,' 'Final Fantasy' and 'Grand Theft Auto,' Forbes reported."
Whew, thank goodness. Three out of four of those are rated M, so kids won't be playing them. Stupid pedophiles!
By Tom Chick at 4:56 PM ON 08/27/08
Oh my, how embarrassing. My excuse is that I don't speak Canadian so I'm not very good at spelling the different kinds of words you guys have. Y'all speak French or something, don't you?
Anyway, apologies. That was pretty bad...
By Anonymous at 8:51 AM ON 08/28/08
It's interesting how they exchange microsoft points over the PS3.
By Sean at 2:22 PM ON 08/28/08
Hah, when I saw this earlier, I thought you were spelling it wrong on purpose and I just didn't get the joke.
By Amelia at 2:02 PM ON 12/22/08
This is my first time.
Amelia:
This is my first time....More »