Triggering (Bullying): Cyberbullying

[Katrina123]

Ok my situation isnt as bad as of some other kids but still I feel that my privacy has been violated and thats important enough.
Since 2008 Ive had a Stardoll account. Recently I stopped playing as much and only logged in to see whats new. But Ive been hacked by a group that likes to call themselves "Gurlzsec" and are pretty much blackmailing me saying they will think of something if I want my account back. They keep finding my new password even though I change it daily and worst I think they've gotten hold of my personal email address. They call me fat, stupid and even threaten one of my friends that stood up for me.
It is really annoying because i cant escape them. What should I do?

[Reverie.]

Hey, Katrina,

First of all, any bullying that upsets you is just as important as any other kind. Whether it's over the internet or not, you're entitled to as much help as anyone else. I am glad you've posted here, and I hope that any replies you get are helpful.

Is there a way that you can change the e-mail address on your account before you know for certain that they have it? Maybe you could make one specifically for that and change it to that to save them getting hold of any other personal details that may be associated with your e-mail. Aside from this, there is probably some way you can contact the people on the site. If you can find it, I'd suggest contacting them about it, or maybe even closing your account if you can. There's nothing to stop you opening up another one in the future that they may not know about.

When you change your password, do you make it a mixture of characters? Try having a mix of lower case and upper case letters, along with numbers and other characters too. The more of a variety you have the less chance these people have to finding out what it is.

Don't let them get to you, either. I know that might be hard but to be honest, they're hiding behind a screen and picking on you, which makes them weak. IF they don't have the courage to even say things to your face, they aren't worth worrying over. Even if they did say it to your face, they still aren't. They have no right to pick on anyone, so you're coming out on top by not dropping down to their level. Just ignore it. If you can, don't use that account. If it sounds like they are going to blackmail you into giving them something for the account, I'd probably just ignore that too. The account can't be more precious to you than how you feel.

Chin up,
Hollie.

[theawesomeman]

If they have hacked into your account on a website, then on most websites you can report it to the website. That will make it nearly impossible to hack into your account again.
You can also try to not use the website for awhile. I would try doing this for 4 to 6 weeks. If you do this then they will notice that you're not try to get on the website anymore and leave you alone. Try this if the website dosen't have the feature of being able to report people. I hope this helps.

[Chris.]

Sorry to hear about this.

Most social networking or games sites have a 'contact us' or a support, or email address. I would send a message explaining what has happen - at which point they will either ban the IP address who is hacking the account - or they will close your account 100% and let you start a new one with a NEW email address and password. Remember, this is a serious thing, and needs to be taken serious which all websites do take seriously - so you need to report it and then the issue will be solved.

I hope this problem is solved.


Best wishes,
Chris

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

Resolving this comes down to knowing computers and hacking. Depending on their abilities, your computer could be infected (even if you have an anti-virus program and firewall), so download one of two programs: HijackThis (more commonly used) or TDSSKiller. They're free to use and download, without disrupting any anti-virus, internet security or firewall you may already have. After, you must answer an important question, do you want to continue using Stardoll? If so, make TWO new e-mail addresses. The first is to be used only for Stardoll and nothing else, so if it gets hacked, none of your friends will be affected. The second is to be given to your friends so they can stay in contact with you. Chances are they're using a brute force hack with proxies, which means they use a program that runs numerous possible passwords until the right one is found. It's incredibly simple and doesn't require any computer knowledge to use because if you cannot create such a program, it's very easy to find websites where you can download it. Alternatively, it could be a trojan keylogger virus or some other malware if they're more determined.

If you do not want a new Stardoll account, then make at least ONE new e-mail address to stay in contact with your friends.

You should also contact the website and tell them your account and e-mail address have been hacked.

It doesn't matter what you do with your current e-mail address, other than transferring the saved e-mail addresses for your friends. If you want to, you can Google search the hackers' e-mail address and chances are it will belong to a user because calling someone stupid, fat, and threatening your Stardoll account is just being a pest, probably nothing sophisticated.

Beef up your firewall, interpret protection, anti-virus programs, etc... so reduce the chances of being affected in the future. For example, I use Norton for internet security, 4 firewalls, encrypted my entire system, use passwords with numbers, symbols and letters (lower and upper case) in random sequences, and have a batch of programs. I've had people try to hack my system before (only 1 succeeded), got their IP address and it's very simple to find plenty of information about them, including location, e-mail addresses of people they associate with, etc... .