[Speed3]

Yesterday at 4:45 pm a local police officer showed up at my house.

He said someone from an online forum had called, knew a lot about me and said I was suicidal.

This is the only online forum I am on. I thought this was anonymous ?

How did this person get my personal info ?

Luckily my husband arrived home minutes after the officer and I did not have to be interrogated.

Why didn't this member PM first. I would have gladly talked about my level of suicidality.

I was not suicidal.

The whole thing was embarrassing and upsetting.

What to I do now my trust has been broken. Should I close my current account and open a new one ?

[Speed3]

If a moderator reads this could you please give me some answers.

Thank you

[DocJohn]

It was no one on the community support team. We do not have the resources to be a crisis service here (as we say repeatedly). Sorry to hear about it...

Best,
DocJohn

[-jimi-]

Speed, since Doc says the staff didn't do anything and they are the only ones (I assume) to have your IP, you must have leaked some information yourself. Otherwise there is no explanation to how this happened.

[Speed3]

Yes I must have, I am going to go through all my posts.

Someone went through a lot of trouble to step outside their boundaries.

[big zero]

Keep in mind that a person can also get your IP address from your e-mails. Did you have any e-mail exchanges outside the forum with people from here? It's true that only the staff have the members' IP address, but with an e-mail all you have to do is look in the header and there it is. And once someone has your IP address they can relay it to your ISP or even directly to the police along with their concerns...

An IP address won't narrow down the location enough to find a single person without additional information or unless you're a police officer with good reason to bother the ISP, as the ISP very rarely gives out such information.

OP, I found you from information you posted in one of your threads. I'll pm you the specifics of that so others don't repeat my process. But... Just know that it's a lot easier to find people than one might think.

After I read your post I did the same thing. Took me all of 5 minutes to know her name, age, address and more. That was done through a simple Google search.
It shouldn't pose a problem usually but people need to be careful how much personal info they share on any site if they really want to be anonymous. But honestly... our days of anonymity are pretty much over I think.
Speed, you may be able to have the posts that gave clues to your personal identity deleted.
I'm sorry you had to go through this and I'm sorry for the loss of your son

Originally Posted by Michael D.

An IP address won't narrow down the location enough to find a single person without additional information or unless you're a police officer with good reason to bother the ISP, as the ISP very rarely gives out such information.

OP, I found you from information you posted in one of your threads. I'll pm you the specifics of that so others don't repeat my process. But... Just know that it's a lot easier to find people than one might think.

[-jimi-]

Well you can always try to find me. I don't think I have left anything in here pointing to my person. If you think you found the real me PM me and let me know.

The Internet is as anonymous as you let it be.

[Pikku Myy]

Not me sweetie

[(JD)]

This is really upsetting to me and I'm sorry it occurred. I'm sure it has affected many others on the site, to hear about it.

Yes, perhaps in chat or otherwise you have little by little given out information that otherwise needed to be kept private. If in posts only, then anyone reading--even the public at large--could have put it together.

Plus remember there are the full spectrum of mentally unwell people here (members and guest readers) and some do keep track of others as part of their disorders or whatever.

I used to take notice when someone posted something I felt was too personal regarding being able to locate them... and sent a PM re like Hey did you know you posted your home town in your profile, and then just posted about what courses you're taking at xxx college? Anyone who is into that stuff can find a person IRL that way.

I'm glad you were okay, and that it turned out okay "in a way" but what a hassle you had! Be well and take care, okay?

Originally Posted by jimi...

Well you can always try to find me. I don't think I have left anything in here pointing to my person. If you think you found the real me PM me and let me know.

The Internet is as anonymous as you let it be.

Originally Posted by Pikku Myy

Not me sweetie

Nor me. What Michael and I did was just to show how easy it can be. I don't know anything about what was going on that led to this particular event but I don't think that whoever called the police meant to harass Speed or invade her privacy. I also don't think she has any paranoia issues but some people here do. They need to be careful about how much they reveal about themselves.

[-jimi-]

I'm just saying if you are being careful you can keep your anonymity. Rule one... don't do Facebook.

[Pikku Myy]

ps. if I received a knock on my door for every time I come on PC in desperation I would be permanently locked up rofl

[sugahorse1]

I'm so sorry this happened. I would also be very nervous

[KellyDaMighty]

Im really sorry you had to go through that. I just joined and I'm glad you posted this, almost as a cautionary tale for us newbies to not be too free with or trusting with our info. I really hope your situation is resolved.