Jackass!

Any time someone is pressuring you for any personal information (location, other contact information, last name, anything to identify you) it should throw up a gigantic red flag.

I know of several cases where a teen, over the course of time, in casual conversations, told a guy a bunch of information... the guy was really slick and extracted his school, the (small) housing community where he lived, his brother's name, the coffeeshop where he worked, his dad's name, etc.

The guy claimed to be a hot teen, but turned out to be a middle-aged pedophile, and since the teen was not out, the pedo used the information to coerce the teen into meeting up, threatening to "out" him to his parents, employer, friends, etc if he didn't. Of course, it was an empty threat... a pedo is not going to show up and out somebody, because he will get arrested... but to a closeted gay youth, that was a chance he didn't want to take.

Unfortunately, these bad situations are happening entirely too frequently, and the pedophiles seem to have a 6th sense where they can sniff out closeted gay youth, often ones that don't have strong support from family. The youth can end up at the least emotionally scarred and sometimes worse.

I'm not saying this is always going to be the case, and I think lots of times anyone talking to you over a period of time might very well, completely innocently, want to know what you look like (and you them as well.) But you should always be extremely cautious, and no matter how long you've been talking with someone, unless you've met them in person, you really have no idea if whom you're talking to is remotely who they say they are.

I would simply block him, and put a comment in your IM client so that you remember who it is 6 months or a year down the road when you might not remember him.

 

Which, not to be cynical, he could have gotten from some other person like you

If I have the slightest question, I ask them to go on webcam, or send me a pic with a particular oddball pose or a paper "salute." If they are legit, they shouldn't have a problem. If they balk or make excuses, they probably aren't real.

 

That was one case. I can think of several others offhand that are almost identical to it.

The outcome for the kid depends a lot on what happens; if the kid is coerced (subtlely or directly) into performing a sex act, then s/he can end up feeling very degraded and violated; it is not unlike rape or other sexual abuse, and it's that much worse, because very rarely will the kid tell anyone what happened.

Some kids are able to take it in stride better than others; the issue is that, even if nothing happens sexually, the kid still usually feels guilty or dumb for being taken advantage of, when in fact he or she was skillfully manipulated, using the most vulnerable things about him or herself that the pedo could squeeze out in conversations over weeks or months, so the kid never remotely had a chance against an experienced pedo who has been honing his craft for years.

With some good counseling, most people can overcome almost anything that happens, but it's one of those things that a little extra caution will help to avoid in the first place.

(Sorry for the partial thread hijack)