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I have recently been the victim of online harassment. It has been an interesting two weeks to say the least about it. Much of what I hope to share in this article I already knew and much was also learned as I tried to find the best way to rid myself of this problem.
The first and most important thing is to save everything. Save all emails, IM's, everything you can get your hands on.
If the person stalking and/or harassing you sends you an email the first thing you want to do is check the headers. If you don't know how to do this I am providing some links at the end of this article that can help you.
Once in the headers you want to look for an originating IP. It may appear like this:
X-originating IP:
After the : will be a set of numbers. These numbers sets will be separated by a . and in most cases there will be nine numbers although sometimes there can be only eight.
If the person who is doing this has a static IP you are in luck. A static IP is most common with DSL or other type of permanent online access. A variable IP comes when the user has a regular dial up. However, the first six numbers should not change.
An example of an IP might look like this:
123.456.789.000
If you want to block this user from emailing you and that is good enough you can create a rule and have the user blocked. This means that any emails from them will be deleted.
I would not block them though right off. Also DO NOT delete the emails as may be your first instinct. You really must save them as hard as it may be. This will be your evidence should you decide to involve the police in this matter.
Gather as much evidence as you can without confronting this person. It is likely that nothing they might tell you is true anyway. An IP address never lies and once an email has been sent they cannot take it back nor can they say it wasn't them.
Once you feel you have enough information on the person who is stalking or harassing you online then you can place the call to the police. However, if there are any direct threats made to your safety or your life contact the police IMMEDIATELY.
It may or may not be serious but it should be taken as serious until it can be proven otherwise. Always best to be safe than sorry.
There are many people out there and this can happen to you. It has happened to me. They feel empowered by the believed anonymity of the internet.
If you know what to look for however, there is no anonymity at all. Everything can be traced and the originating sender can be discovered. It just may take time.
From personal experience I know this can be very trying but you have to remain strong. Don't let this person take your control or your power away from you.
If you are being stalked or harassed here are some helpful links to point you in the right direction to getting this stopped.
Remember, just because someone starts stalking you online doesn't mean it could not develop into offline stalking. Stay Safe everyone.
Links:
Excellent list of helpful links on combating a stalker/harasser:
http://www.vaonline.org/cyberstalking.html
WHOA: Working to Halt Online Abuse
http://www.haltabuse.org/
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