Sexual Predators
Who’s a Typical Victim?
Typically, a cyberstalking victim is new online, and inexperienced with the rules of Netiquette (online etiquette). And typically, the stalker feels empowered by the perceived anonymity online. They feel they can hide behind their monitor. But, unless you have found a truly sick and depraved stalker, or one with an ax to grind, most lose interest quickly if they don’t get the reaction they seek.
What About Online Stalking That Moves Offline?
Although most cyberstalking cases start online and stay online, some move offline. That’s when it can get very dangerous. The cyberstalkers often find the victim offline using all the people-finding tricks I shared with you earlier. They’ll find your home address and your child’s school or telephone number, and generally make a threat either by telephoning you or sending a note offline, or by sharing your personal contact number with others online to encourage them to harass you.
And it can be very frightening. I’ve shared the “Dear Jennifer, I am going to kill you” story, where the woman involved couldn’t even leave her house to go to work. Very recently a mother called me in a panic—her fourteen-year-old son had been receiving threats online, which became offline phone calls and threats. Her son was frightened, and she was going to keep her children under close supervision until the cyberstalker was found. She was also going to step up her home’s security by adding a burglar alarm.
The cyberstalker seemed to know more about her son than anyone who had only known him online would know. We went through the typical information risks. I asked her if her son had a profile. He did. But he said that it included only his first name and age, nothing about where he lived or went to school. He also said that he didn’t share any of this information online, and normally just chatted online with his friends from school.
The latest threats had been called in from local pay phones, which took it from being a cyberstalking case to being a real-life one. The police were already involved and contacted AOL to get the cyberstalker’s real identity. (AOL will provide this information only pursuant to a subpoena or a valid police investigation, and will give the member a chance to take legal action to block the disclosure before doing so.) Once the cyberstalking moves offline, most police officers are more confident and more willing to investigate.
