Technology enabling cyberstalkers to torment victims

February 17, 2018

Technology enabling just cyberstalkers

to torment victims

video : https://www.10tv.com/article/technology-enabling-cyberstalkers-torment-victims

Technology is not your friend if you’re on the other end of an obsessed stalker.

“If someone is trying to hurt you, they have more tools in their toolbox now,” says Kristin who didn’t want her last name used but spoke openly with CrimeTracker 10 openly about her cyberstalking nightmare.

Kristin suffered from more than a year of torment at the hands of an ex-boyfriend.

“When you specifically tell someone – Do not interact with me – when you block on Facebook or social media or block their phone number and they start going around it and creating new Facebook pages or new Snapchats and emails and phone numbers, that’s when it gets to the point where you are at their mercy,” she said. “They keep interacting with you and all you want is for them to stop.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7.5 million people are cyberstalked every year. That’s up 45 percent from just two years ago.

“It’s almost an infinite number of ways with different types of apps on your phone or different sorts of social media platforms that creates that opportunity for interaction,” says Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein.

He says between 85-90 percent of stalking reports filed in the capital city have some form of cyber element.

Last year, more than half involved stalking by phone or text and 35 percent of victims reported cyberstalked used email or social media to harass them.

“There’s certainly been more instances of stalkers using spoofed numbers, fake email addresses, fake Facebook pages,” Klein said.

Kristin says she experienced it all. In 47 days, she documented more than 1,352 phone calls, 75 text messages, and 107 different numbers that were spoofed.

And she quickly learned the technology on her smartphone gave her ex an effortless way to keep his “eyes” on her.

“The police officers thought I had spyware on my phone, where my ex had access to my cell phone and was able to download an app and integrate inside other apps already on my phone,” she said. “As long as I was on my phone and that specific app that the spyware was integrated into, it could access my location. Then they could use their own cell phone to figure out where I was.”

Kristin says she started collecting evidence – screen grabs, photos, emails – of everything her cyberstalker used to make her life a living hell. She kept it all in a binder that grew to 3 inches thick. It was her proof of life.

“If I was killed, at least I made sure I was able to stand up for myself as much as possible through this book,” she explains. “I remember being so scared that I didn’t even want to get out of bed, so I had a highlighter and found a back of a receipt and I wrote my will on the back with a highlighter because I was convinced I’d be dead before he was ever caught.”

The federal government, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories have all enacted criminal laws to address stalking. But Kristin wants more. She says there needs to be better legislation to protect victims like her.

“I felt like my abuser was innocent until guilty and I was lying until proven truthful,” she said.

The City Attorney’s office has a specific division dedicated to domestic violence and stalking. Prosecutors work with investigators from the Columbus Division of Police.

“I can’t stress enough how important it is for individuals to trust their gut and when they feel uncomfortable, call our office. Don’t be embarrassed. It’s ok. We’re here to help,” Klein said.

Resources :

SOURCE

OTHER INFO :

Royal Canadian Mounted Police www.rcmp.gc.ca

Bullying and Cyberbullying

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Government of Canada Dept of Justice

A HANBOOK FOR POLICE AND CROWN PROSECUTORS ON CRIMINAL HARASSMENT

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Cyberstalker sentenced to one year in Canada

February 17, 2018

IF people would report the cyberstalking and IF all police departments had trained forensic investigators then this problem could be alleviated. Stalkers think they can't be caught but it is ever so easy if the right people have access to the right equipment and support. About 7 years ago it took me 15 minutes to track a person who communicated a threat, locate her to within 10 feet of her location, where the police arrested her. Though she had removed the threat from her social account it had been screen captured by the victim and the data was still on her phone. These people don't need to be allowed to get away with it because there are too many tools to track people down now.

February 17, 2018

Reporting UK Internet Hate Crime and Abuse

There is a common belief amongst UK internet users that anything can be posted or said on-line if the website is hosted abroad

For instance it is believed that racism, homophobia, threats of violence, incitement to religious hatred etc cannot be acted on by the British Law enforcement agencies or the UK justice system if it is posted on You Tube, Facebook, Twitter etc, because they are American owned companies and therefore come under their “Free Speech Laws”.

Recently a number of convictions in the UK have proven this to be a common myth and a lie.
Material (videos, documents, music etc) posted on any site anywhere in the world by a person in the UK still falls under the “Obscene Publications Act 1959 and 1964” and therefore the person posting it is liable to arrest and prosecution.

http://www.iwf.org.uk/hotline/the-laws/criminally-obscene-adult-content/obscene-publications-act-1959-and-1964

Comments or posts deemed to be of a racist, homophobic, slanderous, religious hatred or violent nature are also breaches of UK law no matter where the site is hosted and are a breach of the UK’s “Communications Act 2003”.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/section/127

Both laws have been used to arrest and convict people posting on foreign hosted and foreign owned website.
This post outlines the laws and gives people the relevant information on how to gather evidence of a breach of these laws, how and where to report them.

* * *

Gathering Evidence and Making a Report. .

The more information you can supply the stronger the case the police and the Crown Prosecution Service will have to prosecute the person. If you follow the steps below they should have all the information they will need.

1) Record all relevant information about the item. This information should include; what website it is posted on, who posted it, the date of upload (if shown) and any comments.

2) Write down how the item makes you feel. This is a handy piece of information to give the police, they will ask.

3) If possible copy the source item. This may mean copying the image, video or music as it may be removed before the police see it and they will want a copy. If it's abusive comments please follow the instructions in point 4.

To copy an image right click on it then select "save image as".

To copy a video or music item, please Google the website name followed by "download". Select a website that will do the download rather than software and follow the instructions.

We do not advocate copyright theft and items should only be copied to aid the police in catching the culprit.

We will suggest some sites at the bottom of this article to help.

4) Take screenshots of the item. Still images in all cases will be of help. Please visit this site that gives full instructions on how to take a screen capture.

http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm

5) When you have done all this contact your local police department via the link below. You can do it via email or telephone. Give them the full details about the item and the evidence you have gathered.

http://www.met.police.uk/links/index.htm#uk

That's it.

The UK law enforcement agencies have the ability and legal right to find where that person is located, so don’t worry about the logistics of how it’s done.

Don’t listen to lies; the incitement to religious hatred is a crime!

The incitement to religious hatred or religious intolerance falls under UK anti-Racism legislation. And thusly is also a breach of the United Kingdoms laws.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_and_Religious_Hatred_Act_2006

Please check out a few news items that demonstrate how these laws have been used to arrest, prosecute and convict online hate promoters and abusers.