Someone is harassing my friend online. Is this a reportable offence?
My friend (female, I may add) told me last night that she has been receiving abuse and harassment online for the past month. It shocked me because she isn’t the type to take **** from people online. She asked for help. I don’t know what I can do personally so I am asking this here.
This is what she has told me has been going on. Originally, she said she met him on YouTube. After a few days, they fell out and ever since, he has been harassing her and making her life online a living nightmare. She says that he knows (how, neither of us know) her email address. He knows which websites she goes on and when she goes on them and what she does on them. He knows her IP address and has threatened to use it against her. He is impersonating her on websites and chat rooms and telling people to add her email address and watch her strip. He is reffering her email to several online predators and she is getting rude and disgusting messages from these people. He is trying to operate scams by using her identity. He is signing her up for websites all over the place. On the websites she is involved with (mostly forums), he is joining up and creating an entire campaign to turn everyone against her which involves making up vicious lies, rumours and spreading filth about her. On her social networking profiles (bebo, myspace and facebook), he has been sending all her friends disgusting messages and spreading lies that is threatening to get her in a lot of trouble in her own life. She has closed her bebo and myspace profiles down because of this.
She recently told me about all of this and I was shocked. This, to me, sounds like a very serious case of online harassment. He has her IP address, and we all know that anyone can track them down to the area you live in with any online tracker. He has threatened her, and I have seen the messages, that if she doesn’t give in to his demands, he will post her IP address everywhere he can find and will track her down and spread her details across the net. She is extremely worried, and so am I for her safety.
I went to her house yesterday and I have been observing this in action and it is disturbing. Apparantley, from an email I have seen, he says he will leave her alone if she “performs a dance” for him on webcam. This, sounds like sexual harassment. She is really worried and wants ME to help her, but I haven’t been in a situation this bad before and I am wondering about further courses of action.
Can this be taken to the police and can they follow through with legal proceedings? She has saved every email sent from his address, and she has taken screenshots of everything he has done on websites and all the things he has asked her to do and all the threats he has made. I told her to put them onto a flash drive incase something happens to her computer and she loses it all. She is still receiving abuse daily and has even resorted to staying offline. She has been also using MY internet to avoid this freak because that is the only way she can do things without being pestered.
So, can I report to the police and what can they do, if anything? Oh, and no stupid answers please. Thank you
Posted on June 1st, 2010 in Law Enforcement & Police |
June 2nd, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Yes this can, and should, be reported. Good luck to you both.
June 3rd, 2010 at 7:15 am
no sh!7 this is reportable der duh der.
June 4th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
people have been prosecuted for this all ready. report it and let the law deal with it
June 6th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
call the police they can track it
June 8th, 2010 at 11:13 am
If you suspect that an online stalker knows your actual location it is imperative that an official report be filed with your local law enforcement agency IMMEDIATELY. This is especially true if threats of physical violence are part of his/her attack.
In any case, you must contact law enforcement in your area prior to our accepting any case for any Cybercom that involves any offline risk. If you have already contacted your local law enforcement agency and filed an official report and/or you are:
a) being stalked (followed from site to site, sustained direct harassment through e-mails, IM, etc.)
b) being harassed (chat room flaming, derogatory postings, etc.)
please refer to our interactive Cyber stalking Self-help guide which is designed to help you find information about your problem quickly and then file the appropriate report with our organization, where necessary.
If you have reached this page in error and the Cybercom you wish to report is not a case of Cyber stalking [online stalking] or Harassment,
I hope that helps and good luck to your friend.
June 9th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
whether or not it’s considered “harassment” depends on your state laws regarding harassment and stalking. here in michigan, it is a criminal offense. using electronic means of communication to stalk or harass someone is recognized under the law. check into your state’s law on the subject. in addition to her, the law also covers harassment of friends and family as a means to continue the harassment of the subject. seriously, obviously she’s feeling terrorized. if she doesn’t know who he is, though, that could be an issue…
June 11th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Yeah dude its gotten pretty serious. I would take everything u have and go to the police. The only thing they can do is investagate, but u still can give it a shot. She if she can call her internet provider and get her IP address change. I know a frind that this happened to and the Internet company was more than happy to help them out with changing the IP. I can also say make her change all her passwords and create new email accounts. Sorry to hear about this. Next time she needs to be more carful.