How To Deal With An Internet Stalker

grabbed this from TwilightGuy.com

grabbed this from TwilightGuy.com

I wondered if I’d find an internet stalker to stalk me.  Maybe now I can say I’ve arrived.  I’m going to take a page out of TwilightGuy’s book and replace all the potty language with something else, so you can see the original message without polluting your mind too much 🙂  Here’s a comment I got on my post about retiring my email signature:

You fish-head. You are so far up your own OINK!! you can probably smell dinner cooking.

Why don’t you go get a proper job and stop exploiting the goodness of people too kind to tell you to go SNORT!!! yourself – seeing that you’re obviously so damned good at it!

Pop out to the woods – and don’t forget to take a loaded weapon – bears are bright, but not being able to read; they may well never have had the pain of reading your stinking diatribe all over the http://www. However, even if they have, it does nothing to decrease the chances of your head getting ripped from your cretinous shoulders.

Good Luck…..

I was pretty sure I knew who left the message, considering there’s a person on a mailing list who’s made it a point to write this blather about me for a few months now.  But I had to check… here’s how he signed the comment:

Smart enough to not put his real name (his initials are actually J.L.E.).  The website he put was my own, and of course he put my gmail account because that’s how he knows me (that’s what I use on the forum where he met me).  Just to be sure it really is J.L.E., I checked out the IP addess (no, he’s not bright enough to leave that, but it does it by default.  Sorry J.L.E., why don’t you NOT be anonymous next time?):

Now, not that it has to be J.L.E., just because it’s in the UK.  But with all the other harassment I’ve received from him, I’m sure this is the same guy.  Oh yeah, just a couple of days ago I got an email saying I left his Yahoo Group… which I didn’t apply to leave… he just kicked me out.

I’m guessing this is a chemical thing, or some psychological obsession, not a normal guy who’s ticked.  Oh, I should mention, this guy has adult children, so I’ll just assume he is a grandpa… it’s just not normal for a grandpa to be so mean like this to someone he’s never met.

So, back to business… this internet stalker stuff is pretty common.  What can you do about it??

Twighlight guy makes fun of his stalker on his blog (and then, his readers continue to make fun of the loser).  It’s pretty funny… check out this post.  But not everyone is a blogger.  Here’s what I recommend:

DO NOTHING. Seriously.  You aren’t going to get anywhere.  Do the best you can to ignore everything, even the biting, personal attacks.

IF there’s a chance the online harassment could go offline, or if it just doesn’t end, I suggest you get official help.  File a report with the cops.  Why?  I bet they won’t do anything about it… but at least you can establish a history of complaints, so in a year you call they won’t say “you should have reported this earlier… just let us know next time it happens.”

So that’s it… do nothing.  Move on in life – you probably have other, better things to do.  It sucks being attacked, but I just don’t have the bandwidth to do anything… and anything would likely be the same as, as they say in the Bible, kicking against the pricks.

9 thoughts on “How To Deal With An Internet Stalker

  1. angela

    Who has time to do this? Are you sure it’s not a robot?

    It sucks sometimes to always be the bigger person but if you take it to heart you’re a) letting them win, b) only polluting your own inner zen.

  2. Jason Post author

    Angela, I am positive I know who it is. He’s been sending me this type of message for a while now, and declared he doesn’t comment on blogs, but apparently he broke his own rule and commented on a blog 🙂

  3. Kevin Donlin

    You’re right — it’s either a chemical thing or an 8th grader in his parents’ basement.

    However, I’ve had two people show up on my doorstep in the last 6 years. One was a prospective client, the other a sales guy. Neither wanted to gun me down, but either could have.

    Best is to keep your home address off your web sites — use a PO box, but call it a suite number 🙂

  4. Nancy B

    It always makes me sad when JLE jumps off the nice wagon… I have all of his messages (from any source) sent to trash… Life just is too short for this.

  5. Merlyn Sanchez

    Sorry to hear this! And considering some of the exchanges on a discussion group we all belong to, I can understand why you think you know who it is. I can’t believe any normal adult has the time or desire to engage in this kind of behavior. To what end? It’s just sad but I agree with Nancy… life’s too short for this. Good luck!

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  8. Rabbi R. Karpov, Ph.D., CPRW

    So sorry that happened, Jason. What a pity this person thinks he has nothing better to do with his time.

    Appreciate what you do, and so appreciate that you do.

    Sincerely,

    Rabbi R. Karpov, Ph.D., CPRW
    Member: CDI, PARW/CC, AORCP and NRWA

  9. Jason Post author

    Thank you Rabbi. I have to admit, writing this post, especially since I knew who it was, was liberating and fun… I know it could have been much worse, but this was almost delightful 🙂

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