Getting harrassed online

Sorry you have had this disturbing experience.

You say you have tried blocking , but he still gets through? I expect you went through the process of googling 'yahoo abuse'and following instructions?

 There is a place where you report 'messenger abuse' as well as blocking it

 However they say it is an automated process 'due to large volume' of abuse reported. Hmmm.. a sad sign of a minority of people who are out to misuse modern technology at any chance they have and abuse others.

More general advice:

 Dont take it personally.

Keep cool.

Don't respond. 

Go completely 'quiet' and contact trusted friends via an alternative identity/via emails,etc. Hopefully you haven't shared too much personal info...

Stay 'apparently' off line or preferably not signed on at all, so you don't feed his obsession.....also then you won't see  if he is still trying to 'bother' you and have that worry.

Eventually that way he will be sure to move on 'to new ground', where he can get responses he craves.

Good luck,

Chris,

UK

Hi,  It's awful you had to go through that, I hope it's still not going on.

One sad thing is... he said you need help - when in fact HE needs the help!

I would suspect someone like that has several Yahoo ID's, and when you block one they just switch to another.  The best thing to do is ignore him; he's trying to get you angry and upset, and if you ignore him he'll go away.

Best of Luck :-)

Paul.

Hi womanc,

Contact the police.  Immediately.

Now you know to be careful who you allow to IM you.

The Internet lulls people into a false sense of security.

Case in point: people have 3,500 "friends" on Facebook that they wouldn't ordinarily talk with in person.

Please, be careful who you allow into your online friendship network.

Contact Yahoo to alert them about this person.  Keep a written journal of the dates and times when he contacts you, when you notified Yahoo, and if possible, print up his IMs or e-mails as evidence of his threats, and make copies.

You don't want to IM this guy, even if he IMs you, you can decided to log off the computer when he sends you a message.

Myself, I routinely avoid anyone who IMs me that I don't know personally in real life.

Please, protect yourself. 

Regards,

Christina

Hi womanc,

It's your choice whether or not to go to the police.

I made that suggestion because you said the guy threatened to stalk you and other things.

Is Yahoo messenger e-mail or IM?

Either way, be aware that in the future you should not get too chummy with total strangers.  This is your recovery, keep yourself healthy.  You don't need to deal with things like this and SZ at the same time.

Regards,

Christina