Summary

Social networking sites have become extremely popular in the last few years, such as Facebook, which has over 750 million active users. Most Facebook users spend large amounts of time each day online, and many users thoroughly enjoy the Facebook experience. Occasionally, Facebook is used to harass or stalk people, making logging in a fearful or annoying experience for users who normally love participating in social networking.

ICS recently solved an Internet harassment case involving Facebook, in which an unknown user was harassing a man. The client did not know whom the Facebook user was, but it was clear that the person intended to created problems between the client and his girlfriend. The harasser had created a fake Facebook account and began sending messages to the client and his girlfriend. Facebook security settings allow users to block bothersome users, but when the client blocked the unfriendly user, they simply created another account and continued to harass the client. The Facebook harassment was becoming an obnoxious issue, and the client needed to know who was behind the fake accounts in order to get them to stop.

Conclusion

Once hired by the man, ICS began investigating the activity and content being sent to the client. The subject had created 5 different Facebook accounts, and had sent more than thirty messages to the client from these fake accounts. As part of his investigation, the client agreed to provide ICS investigators with access to his Facebook account in order quickly react to incoming messages. When a new message came in, ICS replied by sending out a rope message. Rope messages are designed to extract the IP address from the subject’s computer without their knowing, and thus providing ICS with information about the sender, such as their location and service provider. The rope sent out by ICS private investigators was successful, and the IP information from the sender was immediately traced, providing our private investigators with the address of the person who had been harassing the client.

All information gathered during the investigation was compiled into a report and the client was briefed in a timely and accountable manner. The client immediately knew the identity of the subject when the report was given, and from there was able to decide how to move forward on his own.

ICS accepts a wide variety of Internet related case types. Clients may need an Internet related private investigation if they have experienced:

• Harassment through email or social networking sites
  
• Personal or private information being leaked or posted on the Internet
  
• Internet fraud or scams

What to do Next

No one should put up with Internet harassment, blackmail, or fraud. If you have experienced a situation similar to the ones listed above, please contact ICS right away to begin a free consultation. A private investigation is often the first step towards taking legal action against an Internet crime, so do not hesitate to begin your case. Call any one of our on call private investigators 24 hours a day at Toll Free (800) 828-9198 or contact us online via our free consultation form.