Our modern digital world offers many advantages, adds efficiency to our lives, and even fun. However, sometimes people abuse digital resources for the purpose of cyberstalking, and it can escalate into a dangerous situation. Read on to learn more about what cyberstalking is and how to protect yourself.
Online stalking, also known as cyberstalking, is a serious cybercrime that could lead to physical harm or fraud. You need to be fully aware of how cyberstalking works and how you can protect yourself.
Cyberstalking is when someone stalks you online, and it’s a serious crime. Stalking is defined as “the act or crime of willfully and repeatedly following or online harassment of another person in circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to fear injury or death especially because of express or implied threats.” Cyberstalking is when the stalking takes place online through chat, forums, email, social media, or other online venues. Usually, cyberstalking takes place over a long period of time and may also be called cyber harassment.
The internet has made it easy for predators to easily stalk someone online and form inappropriate connections with adults and children while still remaining anonymous. Often these scammers pretend to be someone else (catfishing) or misrepresent their age, nationality, location, and gender.
In the real world, stalking would be defined as the unwanted attention of someone. It might include phone calls, showing up at your home or work uninvited, following you, secret surveillance, using instant message platforms to text you, defamation of character, or posting on social media platforms to intimidate or embarrass the victim. Cyberstalking can be a form of cyberbullying.
Online stalking may be even more pervasive because stalkers can remain anonymous and carry out so much abuse online. Most people share way too much information online through social media, chat, forums, email, etc. It’s become a stalker’s playground with so many victims to choose from.
The goal of any stalker physically or online is to defraud, intimidate, harass, threaten, embarrass, or hurt their victims. Some online stalker’s motives are even darker, looking to groom children for sexual exploits, lure victims for theft or fraud, and even worse.
You may join a dating app and start up a conversation with someone. When they start to make odd comments, it might be a little annoying until they continue and become more aggressive until you actually become fearful.
If you have a social media presence and post content and repeatedly receive offensive or negative comments, this too can be considered cyberstalking. Generally, the offenders start small but escalate and sometimes even send harassing and threatening messages a few times a day. Often cyberstalking is connected to a domestic violence issue and it’s your spurned partner doing the attacking.
Sometimes school-age bullies use social media to terrorize other kids in their grade. That is also an example of cyberstalking.
Alarmingly, it’s the cyberstalkers that you never hear from that are the most dangerous. Because so much of our personal information is available online, someone may take an interest in you and become obsessed, following all your social media channels and poking into public records and other online sources to find out all they can about you. Using this information, they could contact you through phishing campaigns to perpetrate fraud or use the details they gathered for identity theft.
Some common cyberstalking tactics that a stalker might engage in would be:
Some cyberstalkers are merely using you for identity theft. If you post a lot online and have been the victim of a data breach, they could have enough information to take over some of your accounts or open new ones in your name.
Experts warn that most cyber stalkers are someone that you already know. Even though it might be a casual acquaintance or co-worker, more often, it is not a total stranger but someone you know who has feelings of jealousy, resentment, or anger towards you.
Often cyberstalkers turn out to be your ex-partner. Jilted lovers often have a hard time moving on and will stalk their ex online. It may start off innocent enough, but they may take it up a notch or two to get your attention. Many celebrities have cyberstalkers who are simply fans that want to be noticed by the object of their obsession.
Sometimes cyberstalkers turn out to be someone with mental health or substance abuse issues with impulse control disorders. It is still illegal, but they may not be able to control themselves.
Catfishers (someone who pretends to be someone else online) may also become involved in cyberstalking. Unfortunately, the crime is often hard to prosecute because of the anonymity of online usernames.
Although cyberstalking is unpleasant and can make life difficult, there are some ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim.
If you are the victim of cyberstalking, report it to the police immediately. These crimes are taken very seriously by federal law enforcement. Do not destroy any evidence; show it to the police. Keep screenshots of any evidence.
There are very strict cyberstalking laws that you can rely on in times of trouble. Cyberstalking can be very scary and disturbing. If you are a victim, don’t wait; take the steps below immediately: