Need Linden support for handling stalker

My friend has had a run in with someone in SL this morning. This person was waiting for her our home and threatened to "get her" IRL. Then later when my friend TP'ed to her club, this person was waiting for her there.

She is understandably freaking out.

She sent in an abuse request about the first time (but can't find it online now to update it about the second time).

Oh and she told me the person had a Linden Labs Employee tag above the name.

Now what should/can we do about this? Any advice or pointers to the right person to talk to about this situation would be most appreciated.

You've already done it. Or rather she has.

The other thing to do is put him on ignore and ban him from her land.

The only thing you can really do is tell her to ban the person from her home and place of work.

Hello Trance, does your friend know this avatar?

Have they accepted any gifts from them? I'm thinking chat-spy or equivalent here. If your friend has chat log enabled, they can include it in an Abuse Report to LL.

the lindens inworld all end with the last name linden not other group tags etc

If it was really bad I would telephone them otherwise you have to simply submit more reports via the inworld system. Once you submit them inworld they are gone you can't update them. You have to make a second one for a new incident however it looks like its a bit on the strange side with real world death threats so I would tell her to pick up the telephone

the only thing she would see if it was a linden would be like any other name except the last name would be Linden

ie: Joe Linden (not tags or groups etc blah blah blah)

for abuse reports like this submit the screenshot and use a lot of detail. If he is still causing issues its likely that he has her card from being on a friend list and is locating her/him that way otherwise its pretty hard to stalk someone other then to follow them to their profile picks or something.

I had it happen once he followed me home so I just banned him

That's enough to get someone a warning/suspended already. It'll be too late now, but if it ever happens again have her AR with a screenshot of that group tag (just make sure the name bubble is on the screen before she uses Report Abuse).

She can (and should) add the harassment as well, but when it comes to making a decision the fact that someone is trying to impersonate a Linden will probably lead to a sanction in some way already.

Also have her consider what her "picks" show in her profile. It may be too late there, but its something to always be aware of.

Calm her down. The important thing is to be thorough and methodical here.

1. There is no danger to her. Unless the stalker starts telling her things like her real life name and address, any other threats he might make are meaningless. They should be laughed at, not feared. (Unless I read your post wrong, and this person showed up at her Real Life home. If that's the case, it is the police, not Linden Lab, who should be notified).

2. Collect evidence.
a. Make sure she is creating a chat log file, and that IMs are included in that log (there are settings in Preferences for these).
b. If/when he shows up again, get a snapshot showing his fake Linden group tag.
c. Call up the stalker's Profile, and make a copy of all pertinent information.

3. Consider defensive measures. If the stalker starts doing things other than mere verbal abuse, a defense device (Mystitool, among others) can keep her from being pushed, caged, or orbited. Not absolutely necessary, but can provide some additional security and peace of mind.

4. Do not take offensive measures. They can get YOU AR'd. A lot of griefers try to provoke you into doing something, then AR'ing you.

5. Take anti-bugging precautions. Use a chat bug scanner (MystiTool again) or avoid chat and use IMs to keep from being overheard. Remopve any items that the stalker may have given her as presents. Teleport to one or two intermediate destinations before arriving at your final destination.

6. Once you have collected hard evidence of behavior that is against the TOS, submit an AR. Submit a new AR for each subsequent offense. If any of your friends witness the offense, ask them to AR the stalker as well.

Most of these Asswipe Faceaches get their jollies by getting gullible people to beleive they can find you in RL. they can't, at least not very easily, if you haven't given them information to go by. Do as others have said, AR, Mute, Ignore, Eject, Ban, Cage, Orbit, set on fire, emasculate, decapitate...........

And people wonder why others are scared of her.

Only those of evil intent need fear me.
*Naughty intent is still OK*

Id like to stress here,

Contrary to Robin Linden's Trust bullshit;

NEVER give out your RL information on Second Life.

Never give your RL last name, your RL telephone number, your RL address.

Simply put, you project likability and kindness onto people you meet in Second Life, you have no way of knowing they actually exist.

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Barring that advice -------->

If for some reason you have decided to bring someone from SL into your RL , then know full well thats what it means.

As soon as you give out your RL information *YOU* no longer control how much of your real life they intrude into.

SO you better make dam sure you know them.

If you aren't sure you've known them long enough - you haven't.

If you think you've known them long enough - you probably haven't.

QFT

because it bears repeating.

If the avatar's last name isn't Linden, they're not a Linden. People make group tags for anything- I've had scammers trying to make themselves look like my employees by putting on group tags with my name or my business name in them (albeit misspelled, lol).

Anyway, unless your friend has given out a lot of RL info, it's most likely this stalker is just talking out his ass and needs to get muted/ARed/banned.

Impersonating a Linden even in jest is not something LL ignores. Impersonating a Linden is a TOS offense. AR the person.

BTW, it's currently possible (well, last I checked the Jira entry about a week ago) for someone to track another av when that av teleports. LL knows about it and they'll fix it fairly soon. There's no need for the tracked person to wear an attachment or anything like that.

Currently the best defense against it is to teleport several times quickly. Of course, don't go anywhere you're known to frequent! (I think its funny how in so many movies, the hapless victim flees to their cabin in the woods -- as though nobody could possibly know about the family cabin! Ah well, it makes for good scary scenes in dark forests.)

The best defense against a very persistent SL stalker is to start a new a whole new life in SL. If you make a new avatar (new SL name), even using the same billing info, they'd either have to be a world-class hacker or an LL employee to connect the two as long as you don't frequent the old places. Of course, this is a last resort (other than quitting SL altogether).

The best defense against *most* stalkers is to react as little as possible and be a boring target. Mute them, ignore them, use movelocks so they can't bump you (e.g., mystitool has one). Put up with them and let them interfere as little as possible, but don't give them the pleasure of knowing they're affecting you. Your typical asshole will get bored and move on. Even many psychopathic types need some kind of recognition and would look for other victims. (Of course, I'm no psychologist, so take this like advice from some guy in a diner, or a forum post!)

Why not ask someone with more weapons than a small country to err have a word with them?

I know two guys from Jersey City who can do the same thing....

Most people give clues on how to find them in their profile.

Such things as groups you belong to,

And the locations provided in your "picks"

Also you tell people who your friends are and even if you are careful they might not be ..

someone called?

One guy was really giving me hassle once, i did a little research and freaked him out.

Him: ***hole i'm gonna **** your mum!!1
Me: Calm down Mark.
Him: How do you know my name?
Me: Hows the weather in Manchester?
Him:... (silence)

He left me along after that

I'm no hacker, the guy had hinted at 'my space' in his profile, i looked him up and had all the info i needed to scare the crap out of him hehe.

Hey if you do need someone bounced around like a rag doll though give me an IM

LOL

Putting the address of your Myspace or telling people your Myspace

Is probably not a good idea. Stalker or potential Stalkee.

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Myspace is for kids and people who *think* it makes them "young and hip" anyhow.

Manchester breeds them that way. It's all the rain!

I will add to Lindal's list here:

If you own land/rent land from an estate, use the land tools to protect yourself. TURN ON AUTORETURN. Restrict building, object entry and scripts to GROUP ONLY. Check the prim usage on your land and return things that do not belong to you or your group. Ban them and any known alts.

If you rent an apartment from a landlord or do not control the land options, talk to your landlord and have them do it for you. I had a tenant who was being harassed by someone and I happily banned the harasser from all my properties so that they wouldn't have the opportunity to come near to her place and use a chat spy.

If you don't feel secure where you are, you should shore it up or consider moving.

Hey Bren -- you from Jersey? Somebody wack that jabrone!