Dealing with a cyberstalker?

AcctJustForMe · 2020-12-08T15:43:46+00:00

Delete your Google account but...do you live alone? If not check your comp for key loggers.

eluriaeve · 2020-12-08T17:07:40+00:00

You say he’s texting you? I was able to get my number changed for free from t mobile because I was being harassed. Worth it. 💜

teriyawki · 2020-12-08T16:07:46+00:00

I have factory reset my phone and logged out of my accounts multiple times.

roxyhydrogen · 2020-12-08T17:07:38+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. This person definitely has some serious issues. I also had problems with an ex boyfriends getting into my accounts and now I’m completely obsessed with privacy and managing my passwords. For starters, I would definitely recommend that you change all your passwords and make sure that they’re all different from each other. Make sure you write them down or use a password manager. Creating a new google account and deleting the older one is also a very good idea, because a person can do a lot with a single google account. When resetting the passwords, make sure you’re not using an email this person has access to. Also, many people don’t know this, but the password they use in all of their social media has been leaked in some hack and pretty much anyone on the internet can find it using an email. Check to see if this didn’t happen to yours, there’s a website just for it. Again, I’m very very sorry this is happening, but you can use technology to avoid this person ever making contact with you again.

Davina33 · 2020-12-08T17:08:39+00:00

Everyone has been so helpful. I don't have much to add apart from one of the ruthless strategists once recommended r/opsec. There's another one and these will help us get as computer literate as possible.

quarterlyavocado · 2020-12-08T21:26:17+00:00

In addition to everything else posted here, I suggest filing a police report. This behavior might escalate, especially he finds out he doesn’t have access to your accounts anymore. Even if law enforcement can’t prove anything right now, having an official record of this may prove important later

honeybeeroll · 2020-12-08T20:50:07+00:00

When you get a new Google account/email and a new phone #, give it out to friends and family one by one, and make it clear that if this psycho contacts them for some reason, do not give your info to him. I recommend going one by one just in case someone purposefully or accidentally is feeding him info, you can find the "mole." I've seen where people changed their numbers and email only to continue being harassed, and they sound someone either intentionally gave their info to their stalker, or friends/relatives weren't careful and the stalker stole it from.

I recommending getting a Google voice number to use in the future, so guys or even just people you don't know too well don't get your real number. I'm very sorry he's attacking you like this, I hope getting a new account and number ends this.

nymphaetamine · 2020-12-09T15:05:33+00:00

Cybersecurity geek here.

First off, change your phone number. I know, it's a HUGE pain, but this asshole is just gonna keep harassing you as long as he has your number. Make note of any online accounts that are registered to your number in case you have any 2-factor authentication set up and turn off the 2fa off BEFORE changing your number. Turn it back on when you have a new number. Don't give the new number out to anyone but very trusted family & friends either and warn them that this guy is harassing you and they are not to give out your number to anyone else.

As others have said, you may have a keylogger on your computer. If he's ever been in your home, there are USB drives that can install keyloggers even if your computer is locked. All he'd have to do is plug it in for a few seconds while you were in the bathroom, and it will install and run silently leaving no traces to the untrained eye. He may have used a rubber ducky USB to capture all your logins too. Format the hard drive, reinstall the OS, and turn off remote access completely. Better yet, get a whole new computer if you can afford it. There are many types of keyloggers out there and it could very well be a rootkit which runs at the sub-OS level, and wiping the drive won't get rid of it. VPNs, while a great thing to have in general, won't stop keyloggers either. Check your computer for any suspicious USB drives or SD cards, and do a sweep of your home for hidden cameras or recording devices as well. This guy sounds like enough of a pathetic creep to plant some spy shit in your house.

Regarding your google account- again as others have said, check the logged in devices section and also check what recovery accounts & phone numbers are registered to it. He probably tampered with that cause he figured you'd change your password once you noticed he had access, and adding his own email/phone number as a recovery option allows him to reset your password and get back in. Remove any suspicious recovery emails/numbers, log out of any devices that aren't yours, change all passwords to something no one else can guess(long, with numbers & symbols, and not related to anything personal to you like birthdays or pet/family names) and set up 2-factor authentication to require a code sent to your phone for every login attempt.

Apart from google, change all of your other passwords. Since he has access to your google account, if you use chrome then he has ALL of your passwords too because chrome stores them. He can log into your google account on chrome and it will sync all of your passwords to his computer. Bank passwords, paypal, socials, icloud, etc, I don't know what all services you use but if he can get into your google account, he can get into your other accounts too. (side note, this is one of the many reasons I hate google & chrome)

If you're not techy enough to do all of this yourself, get a trusted geeky friend to help. Even a local computer shop will be able to help, and trust me they've seen this shit before. I saw far worse when I was a shop tech and I was always eager to help people lock down their shit from losers like this guy.

File a police report. They'll probably tell you there's nothing they can do since he hasn't murdered you yet, but logging into your accounts without your permission falls under the computer fraud and abuse act and IS a crime. If he does escalate, having a prior police report on file will work in your favor if you have to press charges.

Lastly, don't respond to him anymore. Ever. Any attention you give him, even negative, is exactly what he wants and will only encourage him. I'm sorry you're going through this and have to go through all this additional BS to secure your digital life, hopefully this guy gets hit by a bus soon.

EDIT- One thing I forgot- OP, get your router checked out too. If this guy is actually smart, he could have done something to it and set up a man-in-the-middle attack. This will allow him to capture ALL network traffic. Passwords, what sites you visit, etc. If you use wifi, change the SSID & the password now. Better yet, hardwire your computer and don't use wifi at all. Your ISP will probably be able to help with this if you explain what's going on, there may be a service charge if they have to send someone out but it will be worth it. This prick could literally sit outside your house and intercept your wifi traffic without you even knowing.

2020-12-08T20:25:32+00:00

You need to secure your google account as others have advised. Also check for keyloggers as others have also advised.

I know this is easier said than done, but don’t let this loser ruin your life. This weirdo is literally logging into your account and running searches on the same thing over and over. Someone is literally using their time to search why they are an ugly failure on your account.

Don’t respond to the random messages you get from different numbers. Block them right away, and ignore them.

How has he ruined your life? If you feel like contacting him again, ask him why he feels compelled to search for why he’s an ugly failure on your account—can’t he do it on his own?

He keeps doing this because he gets what he wants from you—attention.

Title	Dealing with a cyberstalker?
Author	SuccessfulAppeal333
Upvotes	65
Comments	28
Date	December 8, 2020 3:38 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/FemaleDatingStrategy
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/comments/k96dtp/dealing_with_a_cyberstalker/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/dealing-with-a-cyberstalker.738154 https://theredarchive.com/post/738154

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