Omegle / Omegle Clones

High Risk

Omegle connected users with random strangers for video and text chat with no registration required. The original site shut down in November 2023, about a week after settling a lawsuit brought by a user who was matched with a predator at age 11. Many sites and apps now copy the same idea, and children on them can be shown nudity and sexual content, or be targeted by adults, within moments of connecting. There is no safe way for a child to use them.

Remove this app immediately if found on your child's device.

Omegle Is Gone, the Idea Isn't

Omegle shut down in November 2023. The premise it popularized - a video or text chat with a random stranger anywhere in the world - lives on in dozens of copycat sites and apps. On them, your child is one click away from:

Adult nudity and explicit sexual acts
Adults who go there looking for children
People who will screenshot or record them
Requests to do sexual things on camera

The Clone Problem

Sites and apps that work the same way include:

Chatroulette
Emerald Chat
Chatspin
Camsurf
OmeTV
Chatrandom
Monkey

Most rely on a checkbox or a typed-in age, nothing more.

How Exposure Happens

When the BBC spent about 10 hours on Omegle in 2021, researchers were paired with dozens of children, and in a single two-hour stretch they were connected with 12 men masturbating and eight naked men. There is no reliable filtering and no real age check on these sites.

The Recording Risk

Strangers can easily screenshot or record video calls without the other person knowing. Predators use this to:

Collect images of children
Blackmail children into sending more content (sextortion)
Share images with others

What To Do If Found

Block these sites at the router/DNS level - This covers every device on your Wi-Fi, not just one
Have a direct conversation about what they may have seen
Don't blame your child - Curiosity is normal, but they need to understand the risks
Check for signs of sextortion - If your child seems distressed, fearful, or is being blackmailed
Report any exploitation to CyberTipline.org and local police

Documented Incidents

Predator ActivityNov 2023

Omegle Settles Lawsuit Over 11-Year-Old Matched With a Predator

About a week before shutting down, Omegle settled a lawsuit filed in Oregon in 2021 that accused the platform of pairing a then 11-year-old user with a sexual predator.

Source: Associated Press (via KSAT)

Predator ActivityNov 2023

Omegle Shuts Down After 14 Years

Founder Leif K-Brooks shut Omegle down, acknowledging that some users had committed 'unspeakably heinous crimes' and saying the site was 'no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically.' The BBC had reported Omegle was mentioned in more than 50 cases against pedophiles in the previous two years.

Source: Associated Press (via KSAT)

Predator ActivityFeb 2021

BBC Investigation Finds Children and Explicit Content on Omegle

In about 10 hours on Omegle, BBC researchers were paired with dozens of under-18s, some who appeared to be seven or eight. In one two-hour period they were connected with 12 men masturbating, eight naked men and seven porn ads.

Source: BBC (via MyJoyOnline)

App Information

Age Rating

18+

Platforms

WebVarious clone apps

Similar Apps

ChatrouletteTinychatCooMeetChatrandomEmerald ChatChatspinCamsurfOmeTVMonkey

Checked October 2026

Key Risks

•Exposure to adult nudity and sexual content
•Direct video contact with predators
•No real age verification
•Strangers can screenshot/record your child
•Adults seek out children on these sites
•Children can be manipulated into showing themselves

Warning Signs

•Browser history shows omegle.com or similar sites
•Child uses the camera a lot when alone
•Apps with names like 'Random Chat', 'Stranger Video Chat'
•Child is secretive about video chatting

What Parents Can Do

✓Block random video chat sites at the router or with a DNS filter
✓Talk about why video chatting with strangers is risky
✓Keep cameras and computers in shared rooms for younger kids
✓Use a family DNS filter (for example CleanBrowsing or OpenDNS FamilyShield)
✓Check for clone apps: Chatroulette, Tinychat, CooMeet, Chatrandom, Monkey

Safer Alternatives

→FaceTime with approved contacts only
→Video calls with known friends/family