How to Protect Yourself From Cyberstalking

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow Common Is Cyberstalking?SignsExamplesConsequencesPreventionCopingCyberstalking LawsKeep in Mind

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

How Common Is Cyberstalking?

Signs

Examples

Consequences

Prevention

Coping

Cyberstalking Laws

Keep in Mind

Close

Cyberstalking refers to using the internet and other technologies to harass or stalk another person online. It’s also potentially a crime in the United States. While it can take many forms, it’s essentially the digital equivalent of someone following you around, except they’re setting off phone notifications at all hours of the day and night. Cyberstalking is an increasingly common problem that can create considerable mental distress.

This online harassment, which is an extension ofcyberbullyingand in-person stalking, can take the form of e-mails, text messages, social media posts, and more. It is often methodical, deliberate, and persistent.

It’s not just digital creeping or lurking. It’s a real form of stalking and can feel incredibly disturbing and invasive. Most of the time, the interactions don’t end, even if you express your displeasure or ask the person to stop. Not only that, but the messages they send are often inappropriate, disturbing, or even threatening. The result: you’re left feeling fearful, distressed, anxious, worried, and always wondering ‘what’s next.’

Evidence suggests that cyberstalking is a growing problem.

According to the Pew Research Center, 41% of Americans have experienced online harassment, and 44% of them consider it a significant issue.

While some of the online harassment that people in the survey experienced was just nuisance behaviors, nearly 1 in 5 Americans said they had experienced severe forms of online harassment. These actions included physical threats, sexual harassment, and stalking.

Signs of Cyberstalking

Some signs that you are experiencing cyberstalking include someone sending you too many messages, a person sending you inappropriate messages, liking all of your old posts on social media, manipulating you into interacting with them online or trolling you.

Online impersonality, GPS tracking, threatening messages, catfishing, and doxing are also behaviors associated with cyberstalking.

Examples of Cyberstalking

When it comes to cyberstalking, those who engage in this behavior use a variety of tactics and techniques to harass, humiliate, intimidate, and control their targets. In fact, many of those who engage in cyberstalking are technologically savvy as well as creative and come up with a multitude of ways to torment and harass their targets.

So what is considered cyberstalking? Here are some examples of things people who cyberstalk might do:

What are the main types of cyberstalking?

Consequences of Cyberstalking

Just like stalking, cyberstalking has the potential to cause a wide range of physical and emotional consequences for those who are targeted. For instance, it’s not uncommon for those who are being harassed online to experience anger, fear, and confusion. They also might have trouble sleeping and even complain of stomach trouble.

The consequences of cyberstalking also impact a person’s mental health and overall wellbeing. Frequently, people who have been a target of cyberstalking experience distress,anxiety, anddepression.

There are even reports that targets of cyberstalking may experiencepost traumatic stress disorderandsuicidal ideation.If you are experiencing cyberstalking, it’s important that you reach out for help. You can contact the National Center for Victims of Crime at 1-855-4-VICTIM (1-855-484-2846). And, if you or a loved one are in immediate danger be sure to call 911 right way.

You also should consider getting help from a mental health professional. They can help you process your feelings as well as provide support and guidance for what you’re experiencing.

How to Find a Therapist

How to Prevent Cyberstalking

When it comes to preventing cyberstalking, it’s important that you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself online. Although it’s not possible to completely prevent cyberstalking from occurring, there are steps you can take to increase your security and reduce the likelihood of it happening.

Make Security a Priority

The first step in preventing cyberstalking is to ensure that your devices and your online accounts are as secure as possible. Here are some steps you should consider taking.

Practice Good Digital Hygiene

In order to protect yourself from cyberstalking, it’s important to practice good digital hygiene. What this means, is that you are aware of the digital footprints you’re creating online and you’re taking steps to protect your accounts and your identity. Here are some things you should be doing on a regular basis.

How to Cope With Cyberstalking

Online anonymity makes it challenging to trace cyberstalking back to a particular person, but there are still things you can do to increase your safety and combat what you’re experiencing. Here’s everything you need to know about dealing with cyberstalking.

Set Up Roadblocks

The first step to addressing the cyberstalking you’re experiencing is to do what you can to put an end to the interactions with the person cyberstalking you. While they may still find other ways to reach you, you can at least make it harder for them to contact you. Try to set up these roadblocks to cyberstalking.

Increase Security

It’s important to remember that people who engage in cyberstalking are already crossing a number of personal boundaries in order to make contact with you. For this reason, you need to do everything you can to increase your safety.

You also should prepare yourself for the possibility that their online harassment could escalate to in-personstalking. So, make sure you’re also taking steps to keep yourself safe at home, school, and work. It may even help to create asafety plan.

Here are some other things you can do:

How to Do a Digital Detox

Take Action

If you have asked the person cyberstalking you to stop and their behavior continues, it’s important to take action against them. This includes contacting the appropriate authorities and collecting evidence of their actions. You also may want to consider talking with an attorney.

Here are the key points that will need addressed when taking action. Your local law enforcement can let you know if there is anything else you can do in order to stay safe.

Even though there is not a specific federal law against cyberstalking, there are laws that can be used to prosecute those who engage in cyberstalking.

Cyberstalking is a serious crime, and it can result in serious consequences for those who engage in it.

Anti-Stalking Laws

For instance, the federal law against stalking is often used in these cases. This law states that anyone who uses electronic communications technology to engage in conduct that causes a person reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury or “causes, attempts to cause, or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to a person," could face imprisonment.

Anti-Fraud and Abuse Laws

There are other federal laws that could be applied to cyberstalking cases as well. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act could be used to charge someone if the target has been secretly recorded using their own computer or in situations where the perpetrator gained access to sexual photos or videos through unauthorized access to the target’s computer.

Anti-Extortion Laws

Likewise, a person may be charged with extortion if they publish or threaten to publish private photos or videos of another person with the intention of forcing them to do something they don’t want to do, especially if they communicated through interstate commerce channels like phones, computers, or the internet.

Anti-Telecommunication Harassment Laws

There also is a statute that indicates that it is a crime to use a telephone, the internet, or any other telecommunications device to annoy, abuse, harass, or threaten another person. Meanwhile, anyone who engages in caller ID spoofing—meaning they disguise the number that appears on the target’s caller ID— could be charged with a crime.

State Laws May Also Apply

As for state laws, those vary from state to state. If you are curious about your state’s cyberstalking laws, contact your local police department. They should be able to tell you what laws your state has to address cyberstalking.

If you are concerned about cyberstalking, there are some actions you can take. Good digital security practices can help—keep your accounts private, audit your social media connections, and block people when necessary. If someone is cyberstalking you, document the behavior, contact local authorities, and report them to the sites where they have harassed you.

Mind in the Media: How Accurate is The Depiction of Stalking in Netflix’s You?

7 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pew Research Center.The state of online harassment.Pew Research Center.Online harassment 2017.McFarlane L, Bocij P.An exploration of predatory behaviour in cyberspace: Towards a typology of cyberstalkers.First Monday. 2003;8(9). doi:10.5210/fm.v8i9.1076Begotti T, Acquadro Maran D.Characteristics of cyberstalking behavior, consequences, and coping strategies: a cross-sectional study in a sample of Italian university students.Future Internet. 2019;11(5):120. doi:10.3390/fi11050120Short E, Linford S, Wheatcroft JM, Maple C.The impact of cyberstalking: the lived experience - a thematic analysis.Stud Health Technol Inform. 2014;199:133-7.Cyberbullying Research Center.Cyberstalking.Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.Online harassment and cyberstalking.

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pew Research Center.The state of online harassment.Pew Research Center.Online harassment 2017.McFarlane L, Bocij P.An exploration of predatory behaviour in cyberspace: Towards a typology of cyberstalkers.First Monday. 2003;8(9). doi:10.5210/fm.v8i9.1076Begotti T, Acquadro Maran D.Characteristics of cyberstalking behavior, consequences, and coping strategies: a cross-sectional study in a sample of Italian university students.Future Internet. 2019;11(5):120. doi:10.3390/fi11050120Short E, Linford S, Wheatcroft JM, Maple C.The impact of cyberstalking: the lived experience - a thematic analysis.Stud Health Technol Inform. 2014;199:133-7.Cyberbullying Research Center.Cyberstalking.Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.Online harassment and cyberstalking.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Pew Research Center.The state of online harassment.Pew Research Center.Online harassment 2017.McFarlane L, Bocij P.An exploration of predatory behaviour in cyberspace: Towards a typology of cyberstalkers.First Monday. 2003;8(9). doi:10.5210/fm.v8i9.1076Begotti T, Acquadro Maran D.Characteristics of cyberstalking behavior, consequences, and coping strategies: a cross-sectional study in a sample of Italian university students.Future Internet. 2019;11(5):120. doi:10.3390/fi11050120Short E, Linford S, Wheatcroft JM, Maple C.The impact of cyberstalking: the lived experience - a thematic analysis.Stud Health Technol Inform. 2014;199:133-7.Cyberbullying Research Center.Cyberstalking.Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.Online harassment and cyberstalking.

Pew Research Center.The state of online harassment.

Pew Research Center.Online harassment 2017.

McFarlane L, Bocij P.An exploration of predatory behaviour in cyberspace: Towards a typology of cyberstalkers.First Monday. 2003;8(9). doi:10.5210/fm.v8i9.1076

Begotti T, Acquadro Maran D.Characteristics of cyberstalking behavior, consequences, and coping strategies: a cross-sectional study in a sample of Italian university students.Future Internet. 2019;11(5):120. doi:10.3390/fi11050120

Short E, Linford S, Wheatcroft JM, Maple C.The impact of cyberstalking: the lived experience - a thematic analysis.Stud Health Technol Inform. 2014;199:133-7.

Cyberbullying Research Center.Cyberstalking.

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.Online harassment and cyberstalking.

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