How to Deal With a Stalker

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning we get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our links, at no cost to you. Please read our disclosure for more info.

shutterstock_127509986

Society and culture today place a big emphasis on our social networks and personal relationships with others in our lives: through the advent of online platforms that keep us connected even when distance separates us, it is now possible to keep in touch with greater ease. Only a few decades ago, friendships and other personal relationships would fade away without constant updates being automatically logged for us to see on public and personal social networking sites. In fact, today complete strangers can follow us and find out our most personal information as well as contact details, which can lead to stalkers and other dangerous relationships. If you feel like you might have someone who is stalking you – being too involved in your personal life without cause, following you both in person and online, and making inappropriate calls with consistency – you must learn what are the best next steps to take to prevent this potentially dangerous situation from becoming even worse.

Recognizing a Stalker: What You Should Look For

Stalker behaviors can be intimidating, manipulative, and terrifying – but often they remain unnoticed, or are not dealt with properly by the authorities. Do you know someone who seems to be following you around physically – in patterns of behavior that do not make sense? Does someone continue to call your house and hang up, or deliver creepy messages to you over the phone? Perhaps you might not know this person, or it may be an acquaintance that you have not formed an intensive relationships. Exes can also be a big source of stalking behaviors, and are usually malintentioned. By letting these behaviors continue to play out, you put yourself at a big risk – no matter how benign they seem today. Nipping this kind of behavior in the but now can prevent danger in the future – and eliminate many of the annoyances that you find yourself dealing with today.

Should I Contact the Police?

Contacting the police should not be a last resort, but an action step taken early on in the game. When your physical safety has been threatened – either with a verbally-delivered threat, or with any physical action – you should involve the police as soon as possible. Not only will you better protect yourself and those you love by involving the police, but you might help other strangers who are suffering at the hands of this stalker. The police can help you to establish a restraining order that mandates that particular individuals must not contact you through specified mediums, and that they physically stay away from you and your family. If the situation is more mild, however, it is smart to keep them informed, involved and aware – and the police can respect your request to be discreet. They will be able to create a file that might prove useful in court later down the line that officially documents your grievances, without having to file any charges.

Gathering Information: Reverse Phone Lookups and Logs of Contact

To help you and the authorities better identify some of the issues surrounding this potential stalker, you should If you are continually asking yourself, who called me – and feel worried for your own personal and physical safety – performing a reverse phone lookup can be a great solution. Caller ID can help you to log the contact information, yet blocked or masked numbers can mislead you in your efforts to determine the source of this stalkerish behavior. Looking up this information with a reverse phone lookup company can help you fill in any gaps of information that might be missing from your home or cell phone contact list.