Victim Resources - The Methods Used by Cyberstalkers

The Methods Used by Cyberstalkers

According to Wikipedia the following are the methods most commonly used by cyberstalkers:

False accusations

  • Many cyberstalkers try to damage the reputation of their victim and turn other people against them
    • They post false information about them on websites
      • They may set up their own websites, blogs or user pages for this purpose
        • They post allegations about the victim to newsgroups, chat rooms or other sites that allow public contributions, such as Wikipedia or Amazon.com

        Attempts to gather information about the victim (or the "target")

        • Cyberstalkers may approach their victim's friends, family and work colleagues to obtain personal information
        • They may advertise for information on the Internet
        • They may even hire a private detective
        • They are generally obsessive, extremely persuasive and hell-bent on finding out any information about their victim, no matter how small
          • Their irrational obsession with this task is often masked under the guise of "due diligence" or "concern for the welfare of another person" or "professional research"

          Monitoring their target's online activities

          • Often attempting to trace the victim's IP address in an effort to gather more information about their victims

          Encouraging others to harass the victim

          • Many cyberstalkers try to involve third parties in the harassment
          • They may claim the victim has harmed the stalker or his/her family in some way, or may post the victim's name and telephone number in order to encourage others to join the pursuit
          • Sinister and sophisticated stalkers will endeavour to force 3rd party attention on their victim by way of baseless complaints to law enforcement, industry, regulatory, governmental, customs and immigration and border security agencies

          False victimisation

          • The cyberstalker will claim that the victim is harassing him/her
          • The cyberstalker will sometimes even launch anti-stalking / anti-harassment civil proceedings against his victim
          • The cyberstalker will frequently make baseless complaints to police agencies and the like claiming that they are the real victim
          • Bocij writes that this phenomenon has been noted in a number of well-known cases

          Attacks on data and equipment

          • They may try to damage the victim's computer by sending viruses.

          Ordering goods and services

          • They order items or subscribe to magazines in the victim's name
            • These often involve subscriptions to pornography or ordering sex toys then having them delivered to the victim's workplace

            Arranging to meet

            • Young people face a particularly high risk of having cyberstalkers try to set up meetings between them and the cyberstalker

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