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The objectives to shut you down; glad you returned.
Internet harassments a crime; it includes City Data private messaging.
That is exactly what the objective is. And I gotta tell you--after a while, it starts to wear you down. I have already curtailed my activity on the site. One thing I will not do is leave because of this person. I realized something, however, for the first time online (and I've been online 25 years). That is, that you will encounter people online who, if they could meet you in real life, might very easily kill you.
I have a newfound but dark "respect" for the internet as a place where those so inclined will do their futile best to annihilate you. That it's futile seems only to urge them on more.
Sorry for being so grim, but that has been my experience.
I disagreed with someone online about Scott Peterson on a different forum and I was attacked by multiple people there. One of them tried to dig up my social media profile and she found one that she thought was me, but it wasn't and she posted that person's name and info on the board. I realize people have strong opinions but really, some people take it too far.
I don't think police would do anything unless the person makes specific threats. They would tell you to stop posting on the boards. If they find out your phone number and address, harass you there, the police would be more likely to get involved. Because it's not as reasonable to ask someone to change their phone numbers or move. But it's still reasonable to tell them to just leave the message boards.
Wow! Oh dear. That is truly frightening.
I know from experience, having had my name and photograph used by a stranger to create an account on other sites, that the police will do nothing to help you even if your particular state has harassment laws that encompass online harassment. I believe in this specific case, I offended the supporter of a local small-town politician. My "punishment" went on for a long time, and no one would help me. The impersonator would make comments in my name and with my photo intended to inflame certain parts of the community. Know what? I wouldn't have blamed this community for harming me, because the comments were that bad.
Fortunately, after a year's worth of very hard work and sincere suffering, Google was who helped. Google took down cached comments that made me look like something out of a Stephen King novel.
Needless to say, at that time, I ended all online activity using my real name.
Thank you, and best wishes you never have to go through this again.
There was a woman from Ohio back in the early 2000s who had a forum about Scott Peterson. If she didn't like what someone posted on her forum, she would hunt them down and post their personal information on the forum. The Amanda Knox trials also resulted in friends of Amanda, including a retired FBI agent, hunting people down and trying to get them fired from their jobs. People go a bit crazy with trying to defend a guilty person online.
Yeah, I have ended all comments on true crime issues. I don't really understand it, but web "sleuths" seem...almost fanatic, for reasons that just don't make sense. They're not tied by blood or marriage to the people they get obsessed with; they don't have anything to gain from their opinions, one way or another.
Lots of normal people are interested in true crime. I just can't explain why the subject seems to attract so many scary types.
It hasn't happened to me, but I've been following the Maura Murray case and have heard about cases of abusive and/or cyber-stalking behavior there. For some reason, true crime cases seem to bring out the worst in people, even if they've never met the victim or alleged perpetrators.
Yeah, I have ended all comments on true crime issues. I don't really understand it, but web "sleuths" seem...almost fanatic, for reasons that just don't make sense. They're not tied by blood or marriage to the people they get obsessed with; they don't have anything to gain from their opinions, one way or another.
Lots of normal people are interested in true crime. I just can't explain why the subject seems to attract so many scary types.
I too don't really understand why true crime discussions attract such strident angry people seeking to harm those who hold a different opinion, but it happens. It might be due to the fact that there seems to be only two points of view: guilty, or not guilty. That can lead to two groups with mob mentality, both emboldened by the fact that they are a mob. That the mob becomes obsessed with the accused is where things cross the line regardless of whether they believe the accused to be innocent or guilty.
There is really nothing that can be done once a mob gets your real name and begins a cyber slander campaign. Cyber crime units are busy with bigger problems, and there's an assumption that anyone who is a victim of cyber bullying probably did something to deserve it even though this is not necessarily true.
I know from experience, having had my name and photograph used by a stranger to create an account on other sites, that the police will do nothing to help you even if your particular state has harassment laws that encompass online harassment. I believe in this specific case, I offended the supporter of a local small-town politician. My "punishment" went on for a long time, and no one would help me. The impersonator would make comments in my name and with my photo intended to inflame certain parts of the community. Know what? I wouldn't have blamed this community for harming me, because the comments were that bad.
Fortunately, after a year's worth of very hard work and sincere suffering, Google was who helped. Google took down cached comments that made me look like something out of a Stephen King novel.
.
Was it easy to remove those cached comments yourself or did you have to request that Google remove them?
The police are often quick to call something a civil matter instead of a criminal one. in some cases, it could be both, but they won't help.
I too don't really understand why true crime discussions attract such strident angry people seeking to harm those who hold a different opinion, but it happens. It might be due to the fact that there seems to be only two points of view: guilty, or not guilty. That can lead to two groups with mob mentality, both emboldened by the fact that they are a mob. That the mob becomes obsessed with the accused is where things cross the line regardless of whether they believe the accused to be innocent or guilty.
There is really nothing that can be done once a mob gets your real name and begins a cyber slander campaign. Cyber crime units are busy with bigger problems, and there's an assumption that anyone who is a victim of cyber bullying probably did something to deserve it even though this is not necessarily true.
So true. This experience has shown me something naivete blinded me to. Namely, the idea that being "protected" by anonymity + the internet does not protect you from evil. Pardon the use of that word, but it's a word this experience has brought to mind a lot. It's as if disagreeing isn't even the motivation for these bullies. They want to draw blood. I mean, they really want that, and, if they can't get it, they will do their best to destroy you within the only arena they can.
Was it easy to remove those cached comments yourself or did you have to request that Google remove them?
The police are often quick to call something a civil matter instead of a criminal one. in some cases, it could be both, but they won't help.
That is exactly what happened: it was deemed a civil matter, when the nature of the posts attributed to me were clearly intended to incite reprisals by the people "I" said awful things about. And, yes, Google eventually removed them. It was an entire year of (pardon the term) "name-rape." I don't use the "r" word lightly; that was exactly what it was, and the police knew it, and--and maybe I better stop here, or I'll say something someone might take me to task for.
So true. This experience has shown me something naivete blinded me to. Namely, the idea that being "protected" by anonymity + the internet does not protect you from evil. Pardon the use of that word, but it's a word this experience has brought to mind a lot. It's as if disagreeing isn't even the motivation for these bullies. They want to draw blood. I mean, they really want that, and, if they can't get it, they will do their best to destroy you within the only arena they can.
It is very ugly.
That is what crazy people who hide behind the internet do to others if they can. There was a woman who was cyberbullies and she committed suicide a couple of years ago.
That is exactly what happened: it was deemed a civil matter, when the nature of the posts attributed to me were clearly intended to incite reprisals by the people "I" said awful things about. And, yes, Google eventually removed them. It was an entire year of (pardon the term) "name-rape." I don't use the "r" word lightly; that was exactly what it was, and the police knew it, and--and maybe I better stop here, or I'll say something someone might take me to task for.
IMO, the police should have tried to help you because it sounds like this person was trying to sic a mob on you; as a result, you could have been a victim of violence, someone throwing a brick through your window, etcetera. Hopefully that person has moved on, but probably to a new victim.
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