Okay, long story short, this internet stalker has been tormenting me for over a year now- nothing explicitly threatening, at one point I talked to the cops and they said if she didn’t explicitly threaten me, there was nothing they could do- but basically sending me vulgar messages nonstop, calling my cell phone a zillion times a night, doing little email hacks to deny me access to my email and playing my b/f and I against one another by claiming to find evidence of cheating, etc. I was pretty sure it was the ex-girlfriend of my boyfriend but, since this stalker was so clever at hiding her tracks, I couldn’t know for sure.
So, she royally fucked up recently and I was able to obtain an IP address- 72.255.3.118 which, as far as I can tell, belongs to STSN GENERAL HOLDINGS, INC and/or iBAHN General Holdings Corporation. A quick google turns up that this is an ISP for hotels/conventions. Well, guess who works at a Marriott International in Newport, RI? That’s right, ex-girlfriend.
Basically, I’m not sure this is conclusive, so I thought I’d turn it over to the Dope.
Am I right, can I trace this IP back to a newport, RI location? Can I narrow it down any further than simply “STSN” which could cover a multitude of hotels?
Say it’s her in Newport. I’m pretty sure using your work internet to send vulgar, anonymous messages is a can-able offense, is there a way for me to use this against her without involving the NYPD, who obviously have better things to do?
She’s caused a great deal of stress and emotional pain to me during this year. At one point she was literally following me around on the street and sending me emails describing what I was wearing. I was so scared to go anywhere by myself at night!
I want to get her back, and I have an advantage now that I know who she is, and she doesn’t know I know. Besides somehow being able to get her fired, does anyone have any ideas as to what I can do for revenge?
forget the internet stalking… have you told the police about any of the rest of this, particularly the part about her following you around texting your clothing? This sounds far more serious than some internet annoyance.
Yeah, but this is NYC- I was told, if she’s not threatening you, it’s just a nuisance and change your cell number and email. Gee, thanks guys. They wouldn’t even compel Verizon to give up the restricted number she was calling me on. I think I’m on my own with this.
Can’t you file a restraining order? I am not up to date on the legal workings of restraining orders, but I would venture a guess that nowadays they could apply to internet communications as well.
If you are sure about the identity and employer of the stalker, I’d send her employer a letter stating that one of their employees is harassing you, using company resources to do so, and you would appreciate their cooperation in resolving the situation.
The trouble with the IP address is that it is from an ISP that supplies internet services to hotels. The IP could be from the wireless network supplied to guests, and could change on a regular basis. The ISP may not have (and probably will not give) the records showing where that IP was allocated at that time. It could well be a router address, anyway.
So you are probably out of luck with the IP. Pursue other avenues - complain to your cell provider about abusive texts and phone calls, every time. Keep complaining to the police. If you get no joy from the desk, escalate it. Secure your email and computer, too.
Maybe call it to explain the situation, then forward an offending message complete with timestamp and IP address to that and see what they can do for you?
How is she doing that? Change your email address for a start. If you think your computer is compromised get someone who understands security to secure it for you.
Furthermore, if you give them your email address, and whatever methods are being used to harass you, they should be able to get their own IT people involved, and finding her should be really simple.
Of course, if you’re tracking the IP address I’m kind of wondering why you aren’t aware of that person’s return email, cell number, etc.
Is it worth spending some $ on the problem? Hire a private detective. Let them use their resources to get proof which could then be turned over to the cops or whatever.
We used to have call blocking on our phone. If someone disabled their caller id, they couldn’t call us…our phone wouldn’t even ring. It was very nice…see if your phone company offers that.
A similar service will prompt the caller to type in their phone number if there is no caller id data…you don’t want this one, because she can just type in whatever she wants.
One other thing…if she sends you an email, you can view the original raw source of the email and get a good idea of where it is originating from. Although, like others have said, I would definitely change your email address.
However, keep in mind that you may miss some calls that you would have liked to receive. When people have me paged with an emergency, I return their call from my cell phone (my only phone) and I have caller ID blocked. Although my answering service is supposed to point this out to callers, I currently cannot reach about one in twenty people.
I find this a bit hard to believe, I think you need to talk to the police again because this is pretty much what States’ anti-stalking laws are for – you are being stalked, period. The internet stuff is part of it, but not the only salient aspect. I don’t think an “explicit” threat is required in that this perp’s behavior may meet whatever standard they have. If the NYPD still isn’t interested, contact a criminal attorney, they should be able to get things rolling.
Here’s an idea where you might be able to confirm that it’s really her and use that to give to the police or give to her employer (if she calls from work)…
If you can get her to call a toll-free number (maybe because you can get her to think she won a prize, or needs to talk to customer service) her caller ID will be captured. People can’t do a number block on their caller ID when calling toll-free numbers.
I know how you can get a toll-free number inexpensively, set-up a recorded message, and view the caller ID via a web site to see who calls. PM me if you are interested.
Also, some hotels have free wireless, and anyone could theoretically sit in a hotel lobby and use that service. So, not that you haven’t correctly connected the dots, but it could be harder to prove than you think. I know of an IT shop that used to test VPN connections by unplugging the PC from their local network and just camping on the wireless signal of the hotel across the street…