Can someone help me deal with this online issue?

[The Mummy]

Hi.


I didn't really plan on joining any more forums, as I'm already active at quite a few, and most of them have ended up dead over time. But I figured that maybe some people here may know a little about how to deal with Internet abuse. I hope, anyway.


So, the issue is this: I go on a lot of other forums, and most of them concern video game discussions. But over the past 2 years, some guy has been relentlessly harassing me, including stalking me on practically a daily basis. He signs up countless profiles likely using proxies, and spams on one particular forum more than the other ones, all because the admin left it with no moderators a number of years ago. He said that if I wasn't banned, he would launch "spam hell" and continue to return. After I signed up again, right after the admin banned my original account, he proceeded to insult me in various ways with dozens of other accounts, having started doing this during the summer of 2017. And he has been doing this pretty much every week over the past year or so. Plus, he uses alternate accounts to flood the forums with disgusting images, of (for example) coprophilia, and again, a lot of insults are directed at me because of my disability (autism) and whatever else I've talked about online, like with me being in films.

Not too long ago, he referred to me as being a nobody who 'uses my retard checks to finance films so they cast me as an extra' and saying my abuse is deserved, and that I cannot act. He also knows I have a page on imdb.com due to me being in low budget films, so he has been messing about with pages on there and adding fake posters to pages, by editing the associated gallery pictures. And on Fandom based wikis, he was even creating individual pages for all the professionals I've been working with, which is rather creepy.

He also followed me to the real Wikipedia (and similar acting related wiki sites) after he learned I was editing pages on there about a certain actor, and once he exposed an IP address from a New Zealand company in one such edit, but I've reported him to this company before, only to have my complaints fall on deaf ears. So after getting so sick of his nonsense, I finally contacted my local police to have them talk to me about his persistent abuse. I've did this a few times, but they don't seem interested in going on a wild goose chase when I don't know his actual name.

To turn it up a notch, he sent people to my friend's house, so my mate began ignoring me over the past few months. After that, he started making these mockery videos, based on negative events in my life, and uploading them on YouTube. In several of those videos, he was wearing a white glove and playing about with random objects in his kitchen, and then posting on forums with even more aliases, trying to pretend there was "clues" in the videos as to his identity. After I put up a video of me talking to the police, live, he deleted his YouTube account.


This guy is a complete nutter. I'm also sure he recently contacted a guy I met, who cast me in a film once, just to tell him I uploaded the film he owns on a site without his permission, as I had him asking me about it this week. I'm sure this psycho watches me all of the time, so if I make any more videos or add anything to my IMDb page, he'll see it. Nobody else follows me around all these random forums. It's only him. But the guy that directed the film wouldn't say who had messaged him, but I reckon it could only have been him, because I left links on a forum he has been known to pester me at.

I hope no one else has been put through this sort of harassment from these lunatics, but it seems very common nowadays to attract unwanted attention from fruitcakes like this character. To be honest, my e-life has been all but ruined thanks to jerks like him. When I create a new YouTube account as well, all these idiots do is post abusive comments, steal the videos, post about it on Twitter, or vote the videos down so that other viewers will think they're crap. But they mark their profiles as hidden so I cannot see who has subscribed to me. The YouTube support forums aren't that helpful, so I'd appreciate your advice on this matter.

 

[pete.i]

Not a lot you can do to be honest. Nobody on this, or any other, forum can help. Stalking, harrasment and obscene posts aimed at you are all illegal in the UK. Go to the police again. You will need to keep the offending material, all of it, for evidence and hope the police get off their backsides and do something. Complain to the social media support etc. That, really is about all you can do short of deleting your on-line persona.


Anyway that is my advice for what it is worth. I have seen this post, or one very very similar, on other forums so the advice is probably not what you want to hear.

 

[The Mummy]

Thanks for the advice, Peter. My name just so happens to be Peter too. I think it's sad though, when people have to do this. But there is such a thing as taken responsibility and all.

 

[Smart_Guy]

What police did you report it to? If it's like we have here, there should be a division under police that concerns internet crimes. I forgot what it's called even in my own language, (shrugs). Cyber crimes or something? I think if you just talk to the police general office they would just drop it for not knowing what to do. Bring them records of the online abuse and show it to them. Giving evidence is one way to push the police to move.


I honestly dunno what to do in such cases. My social skills are zero and I'm a shut-in. Even stepping out of home scares me. The answer I gave above is what I read about in the instruction we have here for such cases.


Good luck!

 

[root]

There is a fair chance that your local plod don't have a "cyber crime division"

Over the past few years online abuse and harassment etc have started to get more attention, so I would suggest that you "print" or otherwise save with time stamps etc all the evidence you can find about this campaign.

Look at the Wikipedia edit history etc.
Be as concise as you can and build the timeline...

It is not up to you to contact companies Google YouTube etc to have t fleas information, but thy would work with police to find information.

Even a link to a now deleted video that was a part of the problem may be helpful.
Also make a note of the times and dates of when you have reported this before. If you have case numbers include them.
Take it to you police station. Maybe have someone go with you to help.

Explain you have been subject to a campaign of harassment.
You hav reported this before and have been let down.
Show them the timelines of this guy following you around.

Ask them for contact details of how you can stay in touch. Who to report more to etc.


Basically, even though the police have let you down, your only option is to persist with the police...
(Are you sure it isn't someone you know, brother/sister etc?)
Are you using the same username at each site?
How is this person finding you?

 

[The Mummy]

I reported him to the police, in Edinburgh.

He saw me posting about being an actor years ago, and complaining about the staff on imdb.com not believing me in regards to Sylvester Stallone being in some movies as an extra, before he became famous. I'd frequently provide evidence on their support forums, of where he was seen as a background actor in said films, and they would almost always say in their replies that what I was showing them was not legitimate proof. Because of this, they were screwing around on his page, and removing other films that they argued were not considered to be verifiable. But I think they were just doing it on purpose. After a while, I gave up trying to prove them wrong. It was beginning to make me look obsessive going on about it all of the time, and although I thought I was doing a good turn, I didn't want them to think I was harassing them. I've since talked to my mother about it, and she said it's better not to tell people about my findings, as somebody always tries to be a moron over nothing, and put a spanner in the works.

Anyway, he was aware of my posts on there...

Plus, I was telling people on a Resident Evil forum about the films I'd been an extra in myself, or films I was looking forward to being in, in the future. Later on, my troll made a post on the same forum faking having autism, and saying he wanted advice. Then he ended up signing up at loveforum.net after I told him to go there, because I didn't know at the time that he was making it up, and I pointed out that I didn't think anybody on a Resident Evil forum would know about autism. It was only when he started uploading avatars of people I know in real life, that I knew I'd been played. The Resident Evil forum has since relocated, so all of the old posts from 2017 have been removed. It's almost like a different site now. It was totally revamped. Fortunately, I printed off some of his posts.

The relationships site he stalks me on is now called acyberlove.com, and there aren't any moderators, despite people on there pointing out that leaving a forum like that is asking for trouble. It must have been about July of 2017 when he first signed up. Nearly every week thereafter, he would just flood the forums, often with topic titles like...


My paid for extra roles.
My ladyboy dong.
My sister's boyfriend's suicide.
My next decade on dead forums.
My jail buddy, Pyro.

He did it as recently as 2 weeks ago. He always goes on about my problems to do with social services, and especially to do with two women that used to support me. But I ended up having legal problems with them, so he is aware that I've posted about this online. The same with my acting stuff.



Over the years, social services have just been fobbing me off about gaining alternative support, so my anxiety has gotten worse. They've also caused my sister a lot of heartache by taken her kids away. She only gets to see one of her sons, in a supervised setting, but they ended up cutting her time down to once a month. She hasn't seen her other son in over 6 years.


You can sometimes see who has visited your profile page, so I know he uses some accounts to look at my profile, to view my posts, then spams with separate ones. He needs to have one account freed up to check my profile. I've did that too. I've made a new account and used it to see when he has last signed in. Guests cannot view a person's post history. But then if they use invisible mode, it won't display their last time online.

For a while, he diverted his attention away from those forums, and joined the Acting Wiki, which was hosted on Wikia. They changed the name from Wikia to Fandom. Somebody has since closed that wiki. He would also create multiple accounts on there, but he would use most of these profiles to edit pages normally, without breaking the terms of service. But he was essentially hanging around just to spy on me.

I know that was him too, because he was creating film pages with names similar to the aliases of users he knows I had issues with before, like on YouTube. All of this was showing up on the recent activity displayed on the right side of the screen, as if he was trying to get my attention. I'm not sure for certain, but I think he also signed up a separate account and asked to be an administrator, because the wiki we were on was absolutely dead, and he would have wanted a sense of control.

On the Resident Evil forum, he also posted a picture of himself wearing sunglasses, and one of his dog, and I know that one of his YouTube pseudonyms has "James" in it. And before he changed his profile picture to whatever he has now, he had a photo of a guy with black hair wearing sunglasses. So I remembered a guy that was on a Capcom site years ago called James, and I found that guy's Twitter profile recently, and he has the same looking dog in his main picture, and he has the same hair color as the guy in the photo that was posted to that forum in 2017. The printed-off pages of his posts are at my parents' house, although I'm beginning to strongly suspect that's him, being that it's too much of a coincidence that a guy calling himself James has the same looking dog, and also happens to be into Resident Evil.

I mean, there's millions of guys out there called James, that probably enjoy playing the same games. But keep in mind, if somebody is annoying me to this extent, they must be really angry about some petty nonsense stemming from an encounter that occurred oh so long ago. But as much as I want to be correct, I cannot be certain if it's him, because I couldn't see the other guy's face clearly in the other photo. He was holding a shotgun, saying that he was on a firing range, and he had sunglasses on.

I remember this guy was an admin on that old Capcom site, but he lists his location as being Australia on all of the sites you can find him on. Even so, New Zealand isn't far from Australia, so if he moved there, he may just have Australia as his location because he hasn't updated his profiles. Nonetheless, I know this guy has to remember me from any site to do with Resident Evil, because all the problems I've had with people trolling me are usually to do with survival horror related, video game forums. And Capcom is the company that produces the Resident Evil series, of course. So I reckon it's probably someone from way back in the 2003-2007 period, when a lot more of those forums were still around.

Still; I don't enjoy this Sherlock Holmes BS one bit. The name of the company that that old IP address belongs to, is called Spark. When I emailed them, they never responded. I've did a live chat with the sales team as well. Nope! It's just a waste of time. They did tell me about an investigation team I could contact, but it's hard to call them because it's morning there when it's night where I live, and they put you on hold. And I doubt there's anything they can do.

Too long, didn't read: The dude is a certifiable madman.

 

[root]

I reported him to the police, in Edinburgh.

You can't just wander in and say "dudes doing this". You need proof to substantiate your claim.

But I think they were just doing it on purpose.

IMDb has to try to maintain some standards... They need that credited role, not a clip that looks like etc... Whilst I don't know your exact situation, I'd be dubious that there was a company out to get you personally...

I've since talked to my mother about it, and she said it's better not to tell people about my findings, as somebody always tries to be a moron over nothing, and put a spanner in the works.

That is sage advice... Especially when arguing on the Internet...




Anyway, he was aware of my posts on there...

It was only when he started uploading avatars of people I know in real life, that I knew I'd been played.

Sounds like it is someone you know in real life? -how else would they know people you Know...?

The relationships site he stalks me on is now called acyberlove.com, and there aren't any moderators, despite people on there pointing out that leaving a forum like that is asking for trouble.

Un-moderated forums are like a cesspool... Not a good place to be. -it's too easy for cliques to develop or really toxic shit to go down.

Over the years, social services have just been fobbing me off about gaining alternative support, so my anxiety has gotten worse.

If you have legal troubles in the UK, I'd recommend "consumer action forums" it started as a place campaigning about bank charges... But now has sections covering most law subjects... Critically there are people there that know the differences between the English and Scottish law systems... Plenty of people who have been through plenty of troubles.

like on YouTube. All of this was showing up on the recent activity displayed on the right side of the screen, as if he was trying to get my attention. I'm not sure for certain,

Recommended videos are algorithm generated, based on stuff you watch. He cannot influence it... (You can also select "I am not interested in this user" if you don't like the suggestion.

he also signed up a separate account and asked to be an administrator,

you don't get to be admin because you ask... Entrusting you to run a site, and entrusting you to decide what content goes on a site can put the owners in legal trouble if you put "bad" stuff...

The name of the company that that old IP address belongs to, is called Spark. When I emailed them, they never responded.

They would have investigated, even if you never heard the outcome (assuming they actually received your message.

I've did a live chat with the sales team as well. Nope! It's just a waste of time. They did tell me about an investigation team I could contact,

You should email them. With the time/dates/IP info...

I'm not saying this is not happening. But some of the things you say cannot happen... (Like there is no way to control someone else's "recommended" YouTube feed.

 

[The Mummy]

It wasn't a YouTube feed. It was a display of the latest edits on the Acting Wiki.


On IMDb, you can also add unbilled parts, with proof per their rules.

 

[Wallaby Dan]

You can't just wander in and say "dudes doing this". You need proof to substantiate your claim.


IMDb has to try to maintain some standards... They need that credited role, not a clip that looks like etc... Whilst I don't know your exact situation, I'd be dubious that there was a company out to get you personally...



That is sage advice... Especially when arguing on the Internet...




Anyway, he was aware of my posts on there...


Sounds like it is someone you know in real life? -how else would they know people you Know...?


Un-moderated forums are like a cesspool... Not a good place to be. -it's too easy for cliques to develop or really toxic shit to go down.


If you have legal troubles in the UK, I'd recommend "consumer action forums" it started as a place campaigning about bank charges... But now has sections covering most law subjects... Critically there are people there that know the differences between the English and Scottish law systems... Plenty of people who have been through plenty of troubles.


Recommended videos are algorithm generated, based on stuff you watch. He cannot influence it... (You can also select "I am not interested in this user" if you don't like the suggestion.

you don't get to be admin because you ask... Entrusting you to run a site, and entrusting you to decide what content goes on a site can put the owners in legal trouble if you put "bad" stuff...


They would have investigated, even if you never heard the outcome (assuming they actually received your message.

You should email them. With the time/dates/IP info...

I'm not saying this is not happening. But some of the things you say cannot happen... (Like there is no way to control someone else's "recommended" YouTube feed.

The only way i can think this could happen is if..IF he/she was using your wifi and then got control of your computer. That would mean someone close, not much more than next door.

 

[The Mummy]

On the Acting Wiki, there wasn't anyone running it. It was dead. So anybody could just volunteer, but usually you'd think you'd need to give that job to someone with a known rep already, and not a random new member requesting it. Still, I think he did that.

I don't think I'll post on forums much for the rest of the year. I only really post on NeoGAF now, and a few Silent Hill forums, with a handful of other regulars. We never get any new members signing up anymore. The Silent Hill series is done and dusted anyway. Even those once popular fan sites are no more. The thing about NeoGAF is that if you just speak your mind about a game, expect to get backlash.

Maybe I'll just stop adding my acting work to IMDb and elsewhere now. I don't think anybody cares anyway. I've not been in any films for almost a year, and I've got a few coming up soon.