Protect Yourself and Your Family

What to do if you discover you're being stalked

No weapon formed against you shall prosper   -Isaiah 54:17

When most people finally discover they’re being stalked, the stalkers have been tracking and studying them for months, years, and even decades. This is why it’s very important to start retroactively protecting yourself and your family, and the 1st step is to disrupt the hacking.  

.

If you're being stalked, there's a high probability your electronic devices and accounts have been hacked to keep track of you. This includes (but not limited to):  phone, email, social media, banking, computer, home Wi-Fi/router, car Wi-Fi/bluetooth. Disrupting the hacking will take time but it’s critical to do the following:

• Delete any unfamiliar apps (potentially spyware) from ALL devices

• Thoroughly back-up ALL electronic devices and initiate factory resets on ALL  devices.  Contact your service provider to ensure no loss of data/information  

• Change all usernames and passwords on ALL accounts (email, i-cloud, google drive, screen savers, social media, credit cards, banking, home Wi-Fi, car Wi-Fi, Amazon, YouTube, etc) 

• Activate 2-step verification on ALL accounts (email, i-cloud, google drive, screen savers, social media, credit cards, banking, home Wi-Fi, car Wi-Fi, Amazon, YouTube, etc) 

• Close off webcam access on phones, iPad, computer (webcam covers)

• Make all accounts private when possible and increase the level of security on everything (i.e. thumb print is more secure than codes)

• Contact your provider and confirm your router (home wifi) is the updated version with the most secure safeguards (i.e. firewalls, etc)

Below are additional ways to Protect Yourself, Your Family, Your Home, and Your Environment.  This list is not exhaustive and will not guarantee the stalking will stop, but the disruption will require more energy from the stalkers.  Some of the safety measures are time-consuming and costly.  Investing in your safety is an important part of your journey to becoming a Victorious Survivor--Pace yourself and do what you can!

FAMILY/CHILDREN

Your family, or those you spend significant time with may become collateral damage- They may also be stalked in order to keep track of you or to further the torment the stalker wants you to experience

Victory Tip: Normalize safety conversations with your family (especially children).  

Use it as an opportunity to teach your children to be proactive in taking control over their safety:

• Teach them to pay attention to their surroundings and people. Turn it into a game and see who can remember people and situations while out.

• Emergency Drills and Check Ins: Family game plan for dangerous situations and creating code words to alert you if they feel danger/uncomfortable

• Most importantly, teach your children to learn to listen to their gut instincts/ their intuition. This is a life skill that’s priceless.

• Consider self-defense training or sports (i.e. Karate, etc)

• If there's a legal issue/restraining order, you may have to alert school administrators and/or employers that additional monitoring is needed for safety. Ensure the situation is kept as confidential as possible when sharing with school/companies.

• Activate (secure) tracking sources for all family members (i.e. share location): phone, car, and/or on-person  

• Practice electronic safety:  Show examples of Spam texts and phishing emails, and examples of what happens when hackers gain access to your devices.  Regularly remind them to NEVER click on unverified links (See resource section).

ENVIRONMENT 

Routines:  Change your routine regularly and take different routes to/from common places. When possible, change regularly scheduled appointments to different days/times. Stalkers rely on your patterns to track and harass.

Environment: Monitor your surroundings, discreetly take photos of people who are repeatedly following you and/or get tag # if possible. This is your legal date stamp when you are dealing with repeated followers. Victory Tip:  This is not promoting photos of someone you have only seen once, but when being followed by the same person especially in the case of gang stalkers.  Never confront the stalker and know your state’s laws about taking unauthorized photos.

Home: Consider installing a professional alarm system and change your locks if you suspect they have access to your home.  Have lights around the exterior of your home and security cameras. Wireless cameras are cost effective but susceptible to hacking. Stalkers hate counter surveillance because they thrive in remaining hidden, so expect hacking/distortion attempts. Create strong passwords and set-up 2 step verification.

Phone: If your phone is ‘on’, there are ways to track your location if the stalker has the resources and/or connections (people) to do so.

If you think your phone has been hacked--See resource section. Victory Tip: NEVER click links in SPAM/Phishing texts. If you receive an excessive amount of SPAM texts, your service provider may have a process for reporting (record keeping).    

Unidentifiable Phone:  Even if your phone has not been hacked, stalkers may still track your phone calls (if they have access to resources/connections (people).  If you are making calls that you do not want tracked or known, consider purchasing an inexpensive GO phone or tracfone, which is a pay as you go service, and you can change your phone number at any time online. Victory Tip: Regularly changing the phone number on the GO phone is important because if they discover the number, they can use it to track you.   

Car:  Invest in a car camera (front and rear) with a sim memory card (not wifi only). This is helpful for tracking those who are following you, getting tag numbers, and adding a layer of safety for you and your family. Stalkers hate counter surveillance because they thrive in remaining hidden, so expect hacking/distortion attempts. Create strong passwords and set-up 2 step verification. Victory Tip: Before leaving your vehicle anywhere (valet, dealership for service), take a picture of your odometer to track if your car has been driven.

Email:  Continue to use the same email address the stalkers are likely to have. However, create a new email address that’s not associated with your name or any identifiable titles...Gradually start to use this account for new transactions (i.e. Go phone setup, security cameras, etc.), and create strong passwords and set-up 2 step verification.  Victory Tip: NEVER click links in SPAM/Phishing emails. If you receive an excessive amount of Phishing emails, your service provider may have a process for reporting (record keeping).

Home Internet Router: Contact your provider and confirm your router (home Wi-Fi) is the updated version with the most secure safeguards (i.e. firewalls, etc.) AND confirm you have access to the latest app which will allow you to monitor your wifi security (i.e. AT&T Smart home manager, Xfinity xFi app). These apps will alert you if an unauthorized device attempts to join your network-Create strong passwords and set-up 2 step verification. Victory Tip: If you're using the factory name and/or password for your router/wifi, consider changing both--Contact your provider. Remove any stickers from the router that displays the factory name/password.

Social Media:  If you choose to continue using social media, do so carefully because this gives stalkers lots of entail to your location, social connections, interests, photos, and your life.  Victory Tip: Set up ALL possible security measures such as: turn off all location tracking, limit who sees your 'friends/connections', limit who can view and share your posts, limit who can tag you. Create strong passwords and set-up 2 step verification. If you think your social media has been hacked--See resource section. 

Home Services: Be cognizant of who enters your home and know the name of representatives for different services: pest control, lawncare, alarm system, cable/internet, HVAC, etc.  When possible, request the same representative to perform your services because it’s important to be aware of who has consistent access to your home and its details (i.e. layout, camera location, alarm, router, etc.).  Victory Tip: Have an indoor camera that can be moved between rooms and turn it on when needed. Out of courtesy, let the representatives know you have an indoor camera system. 

Finances:  They want to create financial ruin which can occur in countless ways (i.e. damaging home or vehicle, hacking financial accounts, etc.).   Victory Tip:  Set up alerts on all accounts so you are immediately notified when charges are deducted.  Establish a free credit monitoring account to be alerted when there are changes to your credit.

Documentation: The stalker’s goal is to remain hidden so there may not be tangible proof, but circumstantial evidence matters. The more information you collect can be a paper trail to help tell your story and track trends, but the goal is not to become obsessed or hypervigilant about collecting evidence…  

• Document trends and/or incidents with valid details (i.e. Repeated tag #'s, phone numbers/IP addresses, screenshots, videos, emails, dates, times, brief descriptions of event/incident, etc.)  

• Save and/or download all forms of contact and keep in a secure/locked place and share copies with a trusted friend (if needed).  

Victory Tip: Never put yourself in danger to collect evidence and avoid confronting the stalker(s)