Don't Be An Online Victim

Use Cyber Street-Smarts

• Use a gender-neutral username/e-mail address

• Use a free e-mail account such as Hotmail or YAHOO! for newsgroups/mailing lists, chat rooms, IMs, e-mails from strangers, message boards, filling out forms and other online activities

• Don’t give your primary e-mail address to anyone you do not know or trust (see above)

• Don’t put too much information in your profile, especially on sites such as Myspace And be careful what you post on your blog! Remember, the default is that everyone online can view your Myspace profile unless you mark it private.

• Lurk on newsgroups, message boards/forums and chat rooms before “speaking” or posting messages

• When you do participate online, be careful -- only type what you would say to someone’s face

• Don’t be so trusting online - don’t reveal personal things about yourself until you really and truly know the other person

• Your first instinct may be to defend yourself - DON’T - this is how most online harassment situations begin

• Don’t fall for phishing e-mails that claim your account has been suspended or needs to be updated - it’s a scam!

• If it looks too good to be true -- it is

• For more online safety tips, go to www.haltabuse.org/help

Where to go for help if you need it:

1. KEEP EVERYTHING! Don’t delete messages, chat logs, etc. Place them in a separate folder on your hard drive or diskette/zip disk, CD, DVD etc
and print out a hard copy

2. Call your local police, whether city, county or province - ask for the Computer Crimes Unit or someone who handles online incidents

3. Call the state police (or equivalent)

4. Call the FBI Computer Crimes unit in your area (or equivalent) ONLY if you’ve received a direct death threat or threat of physical harm

5. When speaking to law enforcement, be calm and know your facts - who, what, when, where, and, if possible, why...and keep it concise

6. If the above fails, try these online resources:
WHOA (Working to Halt Online Abuse)
WHOA-KTD (Kids/Teen Division)
Cyberangels

About WHO@
WHO@ (Working to Halt Online Abuse) is the oldest online safety organization
dedicated to helping adult victims of cyberstalking and online harassment.
Founded in February of 1997, WHO@ is also the only organization to provide
the most up-to-date cyberstalking statistics. Their president, Jayne A. Hitchcock
travels the country training law enforcement and other about cybercrime, how
to track down cybercriminals and how to work with victims. WHO@ has grown
to include the KTD (Kids/Teen Division) at haltabusektd.org.

Her latest book, NET CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS 2nd edition, published by
CyberAge Books, is available in bookstores everywhere (netcrimes.net).

For more information, you can reach WHO@ at haltabuse.org, via e-mail
at whoa@haltabuse.org, or P.O. Box 782, York, Maine 03909.

©2006 J.A. Hitchcock whoa@haltabuse.org