Griefer issue

Hi everyone,
Something happened last night on sl that has me very worried. A friend of mine was visiting my apartment and suddenly there was this....person...in the room. It was an apparently female vampire avatar. She/he/it proceeded to throw this cylinder shaped cage around me and another around my friend. My friend and I both logged out immediatly, and then logged back in about 30 miutes later. Within 10 minutes, it showed up again, this time wearing a very scary looking demon "skin". My friend said that this person harasses him often by just showing up and doing something like the cage thing, so I think he might be the primary target, and I also think he's being tracked by something in his inventory. All this is scary enough, but here's the kicker: the griefer knew my real life name and addressed me directly, saying that I was "next". I have not shared my real name with anyone on sl. If this person knows my name, what else does he/she/it know? My address? My credit card number?
I have reported the abuse, and I had that avatar banned from my "home", but is there something else I can do? How do I fight something like this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The RL info twist is the worrisome part. I can only think of four explanations. Most probable: You've overlooked someone in SL who has enough RL info about you to enable someone to track you down in RL. It could be someone who has engaged you in a long conversation, or several conversations. A clever person who knows how to choose questions artfully can pick up enough details that seem innocuous by themselves but put together can be used to identify you. I've seen that happen before. Next most probable: It's someone who knows you in RL and has decided to play a prank on you. Next most likely - provided it is actually possible (I don't know enough to say): Could it be somebody might have given you something in SL that allows a "keylogger" or other tracking device to be planted in your computer? This can be done and has been done through forums and e-mails; I don't know if it could be done through the SL client, but someone I am acquainted with in SL is convinced a stalker in SL planted the keylogger she found on her computer via SL.

Least probable - I hope - but most alarming: The possibility of a security breach at LL. I'd urge you to file a support ticket, call up the LL 800 numbers, and otherwise try to get in touch with them. There's been no sign of a security breach so far (to my knowledge) but there's always a first time.

Maybe someone else more knowledgeable about security could add to this?

First if they knew your RL name then it must be somebody you know in RL or they got it from somebody. I highly doubt they got it from hacking anything within SL. As for the cage, thats all over SL. Its nothing more then a script kiddie item. I would not worry too much about it to be honest. Its bored script kiddies with nothing more constructive to do with their time in life so they need to feel important somehow, You know, its that whole....

"love me daddy" thing. They need attention.

The best thing to do is report them (Not that it will do any use), mute them, and also eject ban them from your land. As for the cage there is alot of ways out of it.
Sitting and standing is the best to escape these. They are no big deal really just more of a pain in the butt then anything.

Its sad to say but it seems that SL is going the way Yahoo chat has gone. Where script kiddies collect and hang and do nothing but attempt to create terror in a world they know is lawless and anything goes as long as SL can't be in trouble with real life law. Its going to get to the point where SL people are going to start having to fight fire with fire in world.

I wanna be in your gang VooDoo

and that my friends is why i don't give rl info out. people think i am parnoid. i am just carefull.

I think it's already past that point and has been for some time. People need to do what they can to help make SL an unpleasant and counterproductive place for griefers.

Please explain how not giving out RL info keeps you safe from cage-wielding demons.

Also, the OP specifically stated that he or she doesn't give out that info, so why are you so smugly superior?

Rae, I'd be kinda creeped out too at first, but I really think that it's likely a RL friend playing a Halloween prank on you, like Har suggested.

First make sure you have logs of the threats and the address by real name, then look up the cyberstalking laws in your area. Then search the internet for the cyber-stalking prevention and aide groups.
They are out there.
Those groups should be able to show you what you need to do to protect yourself in future as well as assist you to deal with the current issue. Get the friend you believe to be the primary target to do the same
Good luck

Hi Rae,

i would agree that it is most likely someone you know and the weapon is more likely a Cager which is easily acquired at Freebie warehouses. I would not worry too much as it is probably a prank by a friend. If this does continue longer and poses a problem, most certainly post an AR until their account has been either suspended or canceled.

We all have at one time or another come across pathetic wannabe attention seekers. You can always set your land to non-scripts, non-objects. In either case, i wouldn't panic about them.

Cheers Trix.

Welcome to the forums Trixie. But why this thread? It's long dead.

Hi Trixie and welcome to the forums

This thread is kinda old and it would seem the issue wasn't just cages.

Once again, welcome, I'm sure someone will be along with pie shortly

Sally

Sadly it simply doesn't work that way. Fighting fire with fire just gets YOU an AR usually.

Jeez, again questioning people on why they posted what? Didn't you learn the first time?
I guess not, right?

I didn't see this thread the first go-around, and have found it to be very interesting --- and a little bit scary.

Has the situation resolved itself? What happened? Perhaps the original poster shared his e-mail or Instant Message info with someone in game, and that somehow lead to being able to track down his RL information? I want to keep my RL and my SL as separate as possible which is why Mara Razor has her own e-mail account. I was going to give her her own AIM/Yahoo Messenger, but I would never use them.

The problem has appeared to resolve itself. I reported it and I haven't seen the stalker since then. However, I did want to make one thing clear. Never have I shared my real life surname with ANYONE in SL. Not even once. And I don't know anyone in RL who plays SL. I am very careful to keep the two worlds completely seperate. So I don't know how this person got my last name, except maybe through my payment information. I was talking to someone in SL who knows about some of these things and he said that Linden Labs has had to hire a bunch of new people in the past few months and it's possible that the applicants may not have been screened as well as they should have been and a few bad apples got through. Scary thought.

Once upon a time, it wouldn't have even bothered me that much. I live soooooo far out in the middle of nowhwere that I would be like, "Find my house! I dare you!" But, now thanks to GPS and Google Earth people can find my house!

But, one of the things about living in the Land of the Hillbilly is that if you use GPS to find somebody, you never know when you might find yourself staring down the double barrel of somebody's shot gun.

There used to be this real nut on AOL who really harrassed several of us from one chat room. Anyway, he'd send me IMs claiming he knew where I lived and that he was coming to beat me to death with a bat. He accidently got my son once who told him, "If you're feeling froggy - jump! But, my shotgun has two barrels, one will take care of you." Anyway, he eventually sent me an e-mail with my son's first name in the subject line, and it was a very sexually explicit e-mail. Well, the Hatchling was a minor at the time. So, I printed it out, took it to the federal court house, and now he's under court order to have no contact with me or my son. My e-mail inbox is blissfully empty, but he is still harrassing some of the other people.

maybe someone you know from somewhere else who knows your name? Like another forum, website, etc... and they know you play SL and such, and did this? Maybe they're coming from the other side of it, not just SL.... thats a hopeful imho...

Okiphia-
I don't subscribe to any other chat rooms, or forums, other than an artists forum that I haven't been to in about two years. And even there, I had a different user name and I didn't use my real name.

One easy explanation: The stalker is someone who has had physical access to your computer.

Scenario: Darth Vader is visiting your home. You go to the kitchen to get snacks. Darth pops over to your computer. "Ah, she plays Second Life, I see". Darth opens the login screen, and notices your user name entered there from your last session. Darth notes the user name for future reference.

"Thanks for the cookies,", he rasps. "I have to be going now. See you around." Psssh-wheee. Psssh-wheee.

Wow.. thats an awesome scenario lol.. I want darth over for cookies!

That explains everything!
I wonder how Darth got past my dog.....
Maybe I need a new dog.

Jedi Mind Tricks

Ye laugh, because I put Darth Vader in there. But the evil villain could be your next door neighbor, or a friend of your kid's from school. Anybody who's had a chance to take a peek at your monitor.

If you work in an office and read the forums and respond to offline IMs while at work, someone could just glance at your screen and see your user name. Another way your RL info can seem to leak out.

I am totally safe in that, no one but me has access to my computer. Well the dog, but I never taught him how to read.