Is your teenager being stalked on Social Media?
Kids will be kids and they are often naïve enough to trust people that they haven’t met or who appear to be credible based on their social media profiles. Local police aren’t likely to take a report and conduct an investigation for social media online stalking. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are not going to disclose account information to help you identify the stalker and even if they did reveal profile information, the person’s name, email and other identifiers could be made up. Here are some tips on how to stop cyberstalking and prevent it from happening.
What can you do?
You should attempt to identify the true identity of the stalker and determine where the stalker lives, works or goes to school. Hiring a licensed private investigation firm with national resources that specializes in locate/skip-trace investigations, is one way to accomplish these items.
The Private Investigation firm that you hire can also conduct a background investigation to discreetly profile the stalker and assess the threat level of the individual. If you are able to identify the true identity of the stalker and where he or she resides you can potentially gain the attention of law enforcement in the appropriate jurisdiction. Another option is to have an attorney initiate contact by sending a letter and or making some calls to the stalker directly or to his/her parents. Overall, it takes an aggressive approach to stop social media stalking.
Recently Santoni worked on a locate investigation case where an adult male befriended a teenage female on Instagram. She eventually stopped communicating with the person, but he continued to repeatedly contact her and even wrote that he would come see her soon, uninvited. We were contacted by the family’s attorney to gather information on the subject and identify him through his social media. Through our social media investigation we were able to determine where he lived, who his parents are, places he frequented, who his friends were and eventually his true identity. The information we uncovered was provided to the family and their attorney. The family of the stalker was contacted, and the background information was provided to law enforcement. If a situation like this should present itself to you, contacting a professional investigative service to report cyber stalking will provide you with the best expert solution.
Tips for monitoring your child’s social media:
It’s not easy. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a startling statistic. The study found that 22 percent of teenagers log onto their favorite social media sites more than 10 times a day, and that 75 percent own cell phones.
- Have regular and open conversations with your children about the guidelines of using social media and set your ground rules.
- Make sure your child has secure and appropriate privacy settings.
- Don’t let your child join social media until they meet the age requirements. These guidelines are in place because of legislation to help protect children.
- Educate your child not only about the dangers of online stalking, but also cyberbullying. According to DoSomething.org, 43{2f3748b5ca5ab0ef62f1154c571df9c56b0d52fa28ba96fa4f869e5919b9e929} of children have experienced cyberbullying and 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once.
- Limit the time that your child is allowed to be online and keep the computer in a main area of the house
- Monitor the photos and location info that your child posts online.
