Linda was being stalked by her ex-husband. She had managed to escape an abusive & controlling relationship, but her ex was angry about the end of the relationship and refused to move on. As the stalking escalated, Linda (not her real name) realised she needed help to truly escape him physically and virtually.  

Using technology to enable stalking

The signs that something wasn’t right started soon after she managed to break free from her husband. He would communicate with her frequently by phone, email and online messaging. She asked him to stop, but the frequency kept increasing. More worrying was that he seemed to know details about where she was and whom she was talking to.

Once she was out in her car and while she was on the motorway on the way to work she heard a loud meow. Concerned there was a cat trapped under the bonnet she immediately pulled into the hard shoulder and checked the car. Nothing. No cat. She got back in the car and started driving again. Just as she pulled into work she heard it again. As before, she checked the car but nothing. For the next three months she would hear the cat noise periodically. Had he got to her car? Was it safe?

Months later, and by complete chance, Linda found a surveillance camera set up in her kitchen. She had no idea how long it had been recording her and what she should do about it. She suspected that there were more cameras recording her throughout her home and that her car had a tracker on it.

Knowing that he had set up her online accounts and devices she strongly suspected that he was monitoring those too. She had changed her passwords since, but kept the new passwords in a notebook in her home (her ex still had access to the house). She had noticed once when she returned from work that it wasn’t exactly where she had left it.

She felt she had no privacy or security. She just couldn’t escape him.

The impact of the feeling of being under constant surveillance and the constant threat of her stalker turning up was taking a serious toll on her physical and mental health. She was exhausted and scared. She decided she needed help and approached a local stalking charity that made an immediate referral to The Cyber Helpline to support with the technical aspects of the case. 

A Cyberstalking Action Plan

Her case was assigned to a Helpline Responder who specialised in cyberstalking and online harassment. Having dealt with a large number of cyberstalking cases, The Cyber Helpline has developed a unique Cyberstalking Action Plan – a methodology that can be used to support stalking victims.

The first priority was to make sure Linda was safe. The Helpline Responder worked with the stalking charity to understand their risk assessment and safety plan. As a high-risk case, it was clear that decisions on removing his access would have to be made in line with the safety plan. There was also an active police investigation, which meant it was important to communicate regularly with the police officer in charge to ensure no activities jeopardised the investigation. 

Having understood the background to the case with Linda, and the other engaged organisations, The Cyber Helpline team formulated a plan. It would start with mapping her online footprint, move to gathering evidence of compromise to assist the police investigation and understand the stalkers access, and then to gradually give as much security and privacy to Linda as possible.

The team worked with Linda to understand what devices she had, the online accounts she used, the technology in her home and the way she used the internet. Once this was mapped out the team helped her collect evidence of compromise and review the current security status of each item. No action was taken at the time - the key was to collect evidence without alerting the stalker or removing access and forcing him into changing his behaviour.

Her ex-husband had access to her iCloud account, had set himself up on an app sharing location and was regularly logging in to her email and social media accounts. All evidence was securely stored and sent to the police to support the investigation. 

In parallel, a separate team worked to understand what was happening with the cat noise in the car. After getting the car model details, the team downloaded the manual and started understanding how this might be happening. They found two things. One, you could set the car to make a certain noise if you were near certain map locations or people’s addresses in your contact book. One of the noise options was a cat’s meow. Two, the car had a SIM card slot to allow the car to get online. A SIM card had been inserted into the slot and was likely being used to track her location in the car.

Over the next three months, the team worked with Linda to remove her husband’s access, secure her online accounts & devices and support the work being done by the police and the stalking charity. 

Justice & privacy

Linda’s ex-husband was eventually charged with a serious stalking charge – stalking involving fear of violence - and also for coercive and controlling behaviour during their marriage.

While she is still nervous of how her own technology might be used against her, she now feels free of the surveillance she was under and that she has her online privacy and security back. Importantly she now understands how she can protect herself online.

If you are experiencing cyberstalking - or any type of malicious online activity you can access our help here.