[SOLVED] Social Network Stalking...

[dominiquecaras]

Hello TH community. I apologise if I am posting this in the wrong place and I am sure there are better forums that I could ask these questions, it's just I believe most of you here are technological experts and perhaps you can give me some advice in this matter that I have been dealing with for a long time now...

To make a long story short, I am being stalked on Instagram by a certain person and blocking, muting or restricting this person does nothing, I have tried all that and he just keeps coming back with new accounts.

The reason I am here is to ask a question to those who know about IP's, Mac Addresses any form of Networking etc, before I try very hard to contact Instagram about this matter as I don't wanna be wasting my time if they can't do much about it from their end.

Anyways, I was wanting to ask, if I was able to get in touch with Instagram, could they possibly do a special block on this guy, perhaps block his IP or computer/phone mac addresses, from no matter how many accounts he makes from locating my profile on Instagram... that way, he can never find me nor contact me again, I am just wondering if this is technologically possible? It may sound like a strange question, but it is 2020 now and I feel there should be things like this put in place for people who are in the same situation as me.

Your thoughts?

P.S. if I have posted in the wrong place, I hope the mods can repost my subject in the right area of the forum. Thank you for your time guys!

Dominique!

 

[USAFRet]

<moved to the correct Forum>

All they can do is block his account.
Just going down to the local Starbucks gets him a different IP address. And MAC address is not seen past your local router.

But if things are obnoxious enough, maybe change your account. I know that's not ideal, but...

 

[Deicidium369]

<moved to the correct Forum>

All they can do is block his account.
Just going down to the local Starbucks gets him a different IP address. And MAC address is not seen past your local router.

But if things are obnoxious enough, maybe change your account. I know that's not ideal, but...

They won't block him if he is not threatening - so unless he start threatening you, changing your account is about the only thing you can do.

 

[dominiquecaras]

They won't block him if he is not threatening - so unless he start threatening you, changing your account is about the only thing you can do.

...and what if he does start threatening me, is there a way that they can block him from ever finding my account, no matter how many different IP's and accounts he tries?

Thank you for your kind replies and thanks to the mod who moved this topic to the right place. Sorry for the inconvenience!

 

[Ralston18]

And I will simply add that it is time (or perhaps past time to) for you to report that "certain person" to the authorities.

Put the stalking/harassment on the record. Do not be intimidated into not doing so.

That person may be in for a very surprising call or visit.....

And let everyone you know be they family, friends, co-workers, employers, etc. know that you are being stalked and harassed.

There is no shame on you. No matter what your harasser may imply. Harasser's are by nature weak in some manner.

Bullies often look for a weaker target when they realize that their current victim is strong and has support.

Do the above and hope that the next targeted victim has the resources and wherewithal to do the same.

 

[Gam3r01]

Agreed, if this is a serious matter then law enforcement should be contacted.
As for your current issue, have you set your account to private? What exactly are they doing that is considered stalking?
If your account is set to private all they can see is the profile picture and the option to request a follow. If you deny it or just ignore it then they cannot see anything, and cant send further requests or even messages.

 

[dominiquecaras]

Thanks for the replies, the problem here lies that he hasn't threatened me in any way, that's why I haven't been to the police about it as I feel they can't do much unless he makes some kind of threat against me, it's more "harassment" and "unwanted contact"... he has been contacting my friends and family though, but it has been more in a friendly and respectful manner. He is smart that way.

Believe me, if I could, I would go to the cops, but as you can see, I am in a bind here when it comes to this guy. As far as a private profile goes, he just makes fake accounts so I don't know if it is him or not.

I feel my only choice now is to contact Instagram some way and see if they can do something about it, but that's why I am asking here to see if there is a way they can block him completely from finding my account.

Any more info on that, Thanks again for your kind replies and help!

 

[USAFRet]

'contacting friends and family' = stalking.
Report that to the site admins.

One of the problems is that a tenacious idiot will still find you, by going through your other contacts. And you can't regulate them.

All you can really do is change your account, and just ignore whatever he does.
Maybe...maybe....send one and only one message "Please go away". Nothing more. Don't let him get under your skin.
That way, it is on record that you asked him to leave you alone.

He's looking for a reaction from you. Get you all riled up. Don't give him that satisfaction.

 

[Gam3r01]

If you make your account private it will be very obvious it's said person. No posts, limited to no followers/following. You absolutely should make your profile private at this step.

 

[dominiquecaras]

I should tell you guys that I have a decent amount of followers due to my businesss and because of that, I get LOTS of requests on my private account so it is difficult to see what account is his when I am approving followers on Instagram. It sounds maybe lazy I know, but again here lies the problem when it comes to all this and even if I do delete my account he will probably just find me again and continue the same thing.

Anyways, I was mainly asking if IG has the ability to block stalkers of this nature or would they have the ability if I managed to get in touch with them... with evidence of course.

 

[Gam3r01]

Without something severe, such as threats of harm, excessive use (ie every 10 minutes), or a breach of TOS I doubt instagram could or would do anything. It won't hurt to ask, but it's not like they have some special power to block a person from creating more accounts from various emails and use of VPNs or public networks.

If it's not severe enough to properly check who requests to follow you, it sounds less desperate. If you let someone follow a private account without prior identification then it's not a private account in the first place.

 

[SamirD]

I would read the terms of service for IG and see if he has violated anything. If so, then report the account and you have to keep reporting each account. Unfortunately, it's their platform and they can act/not act as they see fit. That's the price for 'free' services like this.

And to be honest it's even like this in real life in the US. I had broken bottles shattered all over my business parking lot and found landscape damage of over $1000, I called the police to report a hate crime as I know this is targetted and the officer has 'never seen a hate crime prosecuted since he's been on the force'. They will probably do nothing as they usually do. It's time to simply ditch places that treat their citizens/members/customers like this. Life is too short to have to deal with this nonsense...

 

[mdd1963]

Making an account private but then approving any/all requests certainly defeats the advantages of taking it private...

Delete/block as fast as you can any bad actors, and do not respond..

Such is the life of Instagram's 'fame'....

 

[dominiquecaras]

Without something severe, such as threats of harm, excessive use (ie every 10 minutes), or a breach of TOS I doubt instagram could or would do anything. It won't hurt to ask, but it's not like they have some special power to block a person from creating more accounts from various emails and use of VPNs or public networks.

If it's not severe enough to properly check who requests to follow you, it sounds less desperate. If you let someone follow a private account without prior identification then it's not a private account in the first place.

The thing is, he would make several accounts a day to bother me, even when I block him, but it's more like nonsense about what he is doing etc... not threats. It's not about blocking him making accounts, I could care less tbh if he is still around on Instagram, my question was could Instagram hide my account from him (even if I made a new one) which I am desperate enough to do, but the thing is that he will just find me again.

As I said, if I asked Instagram and showed evidence of him making several accounts a day as I mentioned to harass me, could they do a special block on his IP address or his computer/phone whatever he is using from finding my account, no matter how many accounts he makes or using VPN? A long shot I know, but I have to ask as that is what I am really shooting for.

Thanks again for all your replies!

 

[USAFRet]

As I said, if I asked Instagram and showed evidence of him making several accounts a day as I mentioned to harass me, could they do a special block on his IP address or his computer/phone whatever he is using from finding my account, no matter how many accounts he makes or using VPN? A long shot I know, but I have to ask as that is what I am really shooting for.

Thanks again for all your replies!

No, they can't.
As mentioned earlier, the local Starbucks provides a different IP address.

 

[Gam3r01]

Even if he makes new accounts, how exactly would that be bothering? You cant send messages, repeat notifications, etc without accepting the follow.
If its several accounts per day, or even per week, they wont have any posts or followers.

When you go through your list of approvals, just automatically delete any that dont have at least X number of followers.

 

[dominiquecaras]

No, they can't.
As mentioned earlier, the local Starbucks provides a different IP address.

True, but I heard that IG has access to a users computer/phone MAC Address/IMEI Number etc, I did some research on that and I was wondering if they could block him from finding my account using that method if possible?

 

[Gam3r01]

True, but I heard that IG has access to a users computer/phone MAC Address/IMEI Number etc, I did some research on that and I was wondering if they could block him from finding my account using that method if possible?

For using instagram to follow other instagram accounts? No.

 

[USAFRet]

MAC address is not seen past your personal router. And even that is easily changeable.
Right now, I have probably 25 individual MAC addresses (one per device) behind a single public IP address.

 

[dominiquecaras]

MAC address is not seen past your personal router. And even that is easily changeable.
Right now, I have probably 25 individual MAC addresses (one per device) behind a single public IP address.

What about an actual routers MAC address and not the computers, I heard that Instagram has access to that, at least that's what I heard from other people anyway, although it could be pure myth as you know the internet as people like to gossip, but it's worth asking.

 

[punkncat]

I had a very similar issue with a person through social media for some years and even into recent time. I started out with blocking the person and then the same issue with sock accounts and such, finding loopholes in the way it handles information when you are friends of the friend and all that. The harassment went beyond typical and we contacted the social media site who was basically unable to do anything more than we were already doing. It's SUPER easy to get a new account regardless.
It reached a point where law enforcement was involved, In essence short of being a minor and getting into some super creepy stuff, they aren't going to lift a finger. I am sure there is record of it somewhere but beyond that, zip.

Ended up changing my own account information but that only worked so long. I basically limit my social media experience to people I explicitly know and also know aren't friends with that individual. Ultimately the single best thing to do was just inform everyone I knew of a brief my side/warning about what was going on, the things being said and to ignore them, as I now do. Just leaving it alone has eventually led to this individual being bored and rarely does anything arise from that quarter.

Best of luck to you.

 

[USAFRet]

What about an actual routers MAC address and not the computers, I heard that Instagram has access to that, at least that's what I heard from other people anyway, although it could be pure myth as you know the internet as people like to gossip, but it's worth asking.

No. That is only seen inside your personal LAN.
The only public thing is the IP address.

All "the internet" knows is "send data to this public IP address". The router then figures it all out.
And either sends it on to the relevant device that asked for it, or simply drops it in the case of random outside traffic trying to come in.

https://superuser.com/questions/510920/is-my-mac-address-public-when-browsing-the-internet

 

[dominiquecaras]

I see... it's interesting when you say all this because if anyone uses Instagram or has at least experienced it (and some of my friends have) there's a thing called a "device ban" which they told me about and I have looked it up as well, I am just wondering if anyone knows here how Instagram does this as you would imagine if they do this to people who has broke their rules several times then they "do" have access to a devices MAC address or IMEI number of a phone.

Device ban is pretty much a ban where you can't log in to Instagram on any account or make a new account on a certain phone device, the only way around it is by rebooting your phone to factory settings and then make a new Apple/Google ID and it works normal again. That's what I looked up anyway.

So I guess my question is (if anyone knows here of course) if Instagram can do this then surely they "do" have access to a MAC Address or IMEI number of a device, although another source did say that they only have access to a persons advertising ID and that's different from the IMEI/Mac Address.... or is it?

Any know about that? Sorry. I guess I am still trying to cling onto hope that there is some kind of way I can get rid of this person...

 

[Ralston18]

Going back a step or two.

I do not know you, your business, where you live/work etc. and I am not asking.

Overall, it is very likely that there is some organization or support group in your area that helps people with problems such as yours. Find them.

They may even be able to provide some sort of legal advice and a formal letter (cease and desist) from a lawyer may end the matter. You may even be able to directly obtain legal advice/assistance on your own. Ask.

Be sure to tell and emphasize to family members and friends that you do not want any more contact from or by that person.

Continually document all further comments and contact by your stalker.

Do so honestly and objectively with dates, times, and details. Print out anything relevant. With timestamps whenever possible.

And keep trusted family members and friends informed accordingly. Even if embarrassing in some ways.

Technology can only go so far. The issue is, as titled in your original post, social.

 

[dominiquecaras]

Going back a step or two.

I do not know you, your business, where you live/work etc. and I am not asking.

Overall, it is very likely that there is some organization or support group in your area that helps people with problems such as yours. Find them.

They may even be able to provide some sort of legal advice and a formal letter (cease and desist) from a lawyer may end the matter. You may even be able to directly obtain legal advice/assistance on your own. Ask.

Be sure to tell and emphasize to family members and friends that you do not want any more contact from or by that person.

Continually document all further comments and contact by your stalker.

Do so honestly and objectively with dates, times, and details. Print out anything relevant. With timestamps whenever possible.

And keep trusted family members and friends informed accordingly. Even if embarrassing in some ways.

Technology can only go so far. The issue is, as titled in your original post, social.

Thanks for the advice... still though, this stalker is from another country and hasn't threatened me, so I doubt if I did approach these people that they can do much about it, that's why I was wondering since I did hear Instagram has access to a persons device, not sure if it's MAC Address, IMEI, Advertising ID or some other number as there are so many and they could block him from finding my profile that way instead of going through the hardship of seeking legal advice... which will probably be a waste of time when it comes to my situation.

You think there would be something... it is 2020 after all. Not trying to be a whiner, but there should be better things put in place for stalkers such as this. If anyone has any more advice when it comes to my question, I would appreciate it. If not, thanks anyway!