Victim Recommendations
Cyberstalking: Dangers on the Information Superhighway
By Trudy M. Gregorie, Director of Training
National Center for Victims of Crime, 2001
Recommendations for Victims of On-line Stalking
If you are being harassed on-line, there are several things you should do:
- If you are under 18, tell your parents or an adult you trust that you are being harassed or threatened. Do not keep this to yourself. Parents must know what is going on to be able to help and support you.
- If you are getting harassing e-mail, get a new account or request a new log-on name and password from your Internet service provider. Close your old account. Learn how to use the filtering capabilities of your e-mail program to block e-mail from certain addresses.
- Save every piece of communication you get from the cyberstalker. Save all of the header information you can if it’s an e-mail or newsgroup posting. Print a hard copy, and copy the communication to a disk for documentation.
- Start a log of each communication explaining the situation in more detail. Document how the harassment is affecting your life and what steps you’re taking to stop it.
- Once and only once, contact your harasser directly and state in simple, strong, and formal terms to stop contacting you and/or posting anything about you. State that the communications are unwanted and inappropriate, and that you will take further action if it does not stop. E-mail a copy to the system administrator of your Internet service provider. Save copies of these communications, and note that you sent them in your log.
- If you receive harassing on-line messages and it is possible to trace the origin of the unwanted message and you have informed the sender that you do not want to be contacted, you may want to consider reporting the on-line stalker to the Internet service provider (ISP) because many ISPs have policies that prohibit the use of their services to harass or abuse another person. Some ISPs may be willing to cancel the stalker’s account. If you receive abusive e-mail, identify the domain (letters after the @ sign) and contact the ISP. Most ISPs have an e-mail address such as abuse@[domain name] or postmaster@[domain name] that can be used for complaints. If that does not work, you can usually find contact addresses by going to www.networksolutions.com/cgibin/ whois/whois (do a “who is” search on whatever ISP you need). If e-mail complaints don’t work, make a phone call. Save copies of these communications, and note all contacts in your log.Quick Exit
- Contact your local police. Report every incident of on-line abuse and provide the police with copies of evidence you have collected. Save copies of any police incident reports, and note each contact to law enforcement in your log. If the stalker is out of state, you should also contact your local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1. Call the FBI Computer Crimes Unit in your local area. [The Federal Interstate Stalking and Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C. Section 2261A, was amended in 2000 to cover on-line stalking as well as stalking by phone and mail. Also, some on-line stalking cases may fall under 18 U.S.C. Section 875, Interstate Communications (to make threats to physically harm or kidnap another person in interstate communications is a felony) or 47 U.S.C. Section 223, Obscene or Harassing Telephone Calls in Interstate Communications.]
Keep in mind, however, that this may be just a short-term fix or may even exacerbate the situation if the stalker discovers that you notified the ISP. [Under those circumstances, he/she may attempt to retaliate against you or begin/continue to stalk you off-line.
Regardless of whether the on-line stalking ceases, you need to be aware that the stalker may have obtained personal information on you via the Internet or through other sources, and, consequently, you may be still at risk for off-line stalking, in which case you need to do appropriate safety planning.]