I am being followed

[branigon]

I am being followed, tracked, in second life by someone.  This person knows what sim I am in at any time.

 

I have not accepted any items that could be worn with a tracker in and I have not given this person mapping rights so as to find me on the map.  This person is on my friends list though but im not happy about being tracked.  Does the "my second life" section on my dashboard allow this person to track me ? I am referring to the "follow info" in that section which I have now changed to "nobody".

 

Can anyone help please

Many thanks :) 

[Marigold Devin]

Welcome to Second Life Forums, branigon

Are you a creature of habit?  Do you have information on your profile that would help somebody to tail you? Do you have a mutual friend who is likely to be telling this particular person where you are? 

Also, do you ever 'Google' your name? Are there any clues in the search results that could perhaps lead someone to wherever you are inworld?

[branigon]

No, no and no im afraid.  I have no clues in my profile at all.  I said to this person " oh youre tracking me are you well ok where am I know then ?" said that after I tp'd to a random sim and they still found me

[KarenMichelle Lane]

Well let's see. You hang out at the Shark Beach Club & are a member of the Firestorm Support Group + Like )))byGabe's Eclectic Designs((( products. Additionally your Picks have 2 in-world locations associated with them. Your "tracker" could be a member of one of your Groups so they know when you are online.

Locating you on a totally picked at random region suggests that you have them as a Friend and have given them the Locate on Map permission. So, who in your friends list has this setting, because they may have an ALT that is tracking you.

If none of the above apply, then remove any and all objects given to you by others for a few weeks.

 

 

 

 

[Tex Monday]

Sign on to www.secondlife.com and log in....

Then, click on "My Second Life"

On the "people" tab, there is a cog next to each person's name. If you were to click it and then click permissions, there is something there that allows someone to see where you are on the map. Try unclicking that.

I believe what you previously changed just refers to posts on the forum or the feed.

Good luck.

EDITED to give specific directions from Log In...

[Amie Kaestner]

Second Life is renowned for harbouring weirdos, stalkers being only one of them. You signed up for this!

[PeterCanessa Oh]

---

branigon wrote:

... Does the "my second life" section on my dashboard allow this person to track me ? I am referring to the "follow info" in that section which I have now changed to "nobody".

---

Creepy as it sounds to normal folk, the people who use twitface and the like use "follow" to mean that people can read what you post on the feeds, not actually follow you around, or even see where you are.  LL jumped on the 'sociak medai' bandwagon without caring much what "xxx is following you" would look like to their existing customers because they are desperate for sign-ups.

[The only good thing about it, for me, is that it's quite funny to see the type of people who start following my alt which never types anything and is hardly ever in world.  They must be really desperate!]

 

[jwenting]

---

KarenMichelle Lane wrote:

 

Locating you on a totally picked at random region suggests that you have them as a Friend and have given them the 

Locate on Map

permission. So, who in your friends list has this setting, because they may have an ALT that is tracking you.

 

---

Or just random chance, or she found a place she ended up liking in someone else's profile and now keeps running into that person as they just happen to both hang out and the same venues a lot.

[Awe Thor]

There are a couple of methods of "stalking" people in this manner; you can't do anything about it.

Either get used to it, and wait until they get bored, or make an alt using a different email address - and credit card, if necessary - and have no contact with your existing avatar.

[Czari Zenovka]

---

PeterCanessa Oh wrote:

---

branigon wrote:

... Does the "my second life" section on my dashboard allow this person to track me ? I am referring to the "follow info" in that section which I have now changed to "nobody".

---

Creepy as it sounds to normal folk, the people who use twitface and the like use "follow" to mean that people can read what you post on the feeds, not actually follow you around, or even see where you are.  LL jumped on the 'sociak medai' bandwagon without caring much what "xxx is following you" would look like to their existing customers because they are desperate for sign-ups.

[The only good thing about it, for me, is that it's quite funny to see the type of people who start following my alt which never types anything and is hardly ever in world.  They must be 

really

desperate!]

 

---

I never paid any attention to the feeds until someone I didn't know (turns out they were from the forums and had read some of my posts) began "following" my non-existent feed.  I received an email from the forums (maybe because I have send IMs to email turned on in world, or maybe that's how the feeds are...no idea) that said "xyz is following you."  At first I was like, "Huh?????" not using FB and only recently using Twitter a tiny bit.

Once I figured out that the person was a forumite (and now on my real "friends list" in world) I "got it" but yes, to those of us who don't do "social media" per se, that was a little jarring.

[branigon]

Well I can assure you this person is able to know what sim I am in at any time,  I have not to my knowledge accepted any items from this person that a tracker could be concealed in, normally an item you wear I believe.

No one on my friends list has mapping rights so if this person has an alt I am friendly with then they cannot track me that way.

I wear no huds only an AO.

I could pick a sim at random that ive never been to and this person will know that I am in that sim.

Maybe someone has now devised a tool to track without having to give an item with a tracking device in it ?

I am sure someone in this forum knows how this person is tracking me so I guess I just wait for that reply

[Perrie Juran]

---

branigon wrote:

 

I am sure someone in this forum knows how this person is tracking me so I guess I just wait for that reply

---

This topic has come up many, many times in this Forum and if any one knows of a clandestine way (some type of hack) to track an Avatar no one has ever posted it.  And there are a lot of very knowledgeable people who post here.

In just about every case we were able to identify some form of 'social engineering' of the types others have posted.

 

[Freya Mokusei]

I haven't seen these two suggestions:-

1. Remove ALL attachments, everything that isn't a clothing layer (including hair, shoes, mesh), teleport around maybe for a couple of days. If you notice any change in your persuers behaviour, it might still be the most common method of being followed (scripts in attachments).
2. Disable Voice and Media in your viewer. Don't click hyperlinks in-world. There's a high potential for exploits in both systems.

@Perrie, I don't know about other posters to this forum, but I am deliberately vague when it comes to exploits and other security issues. I have no reason to give people who harass and terrorise further ammunition. As you know the final definer of such things is LL, I leave communication of such issues to them.

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Perrie Juran wrote:

---

branigon wrote:

 

I am sure someone in this forum knows how this person is tracking me so I guess I just wait for that reply

---

This topic has come up many, many times in this Forum and if any one knows of a clandestine way (some type of hack) to track an Avatar

no one has ever posted it.

  And there are a lot of very knowledgeable people who post here.

In just about every case we were able to identify some form of 'social engineering' of the types others have posted.

 

---

And no one ever will.

The most threatening secrets of the nefarious are those they're not keeping.

[Awe Thor]

If such an exploit was possible, do you really believe that the originator would be so stupid as to explain how it was done, in public, for free?

Apart from anything else, they might get head-hunted to go work for LL.

Which is a career-limiting move if anything is.

[Ohhnoes]

---

branigon wrote:

I am being followed, tracked, in second life by someone.  This person knows what sim I am in at any time.

 

---

Yeah....I will email you the naughty pictures later this week!

[Jazleen Raynier]

You say they are on your friends list, this person is most definitely not behaving like a friend so maybe its time for you to remove them. One less way of them finding you,

[Perrie Juran]

---

Freya Mokusei wrote:

I haven't seen these two suggestions:-

1. Remove ALL attachments, everything that isn't a clothing layer (including hair, shoes, mesh), teleport around maybe for a couple of days. If you notice any change in your persuers behaviour, it might still be the most common method of being followed (scripts in attachments).
2. Disable Voice and Media in your viewer. Don't click hyperlinks in-world. There's a high potential for exploits in both systems.

@Perrie, I don't know about other posters to this forum, but I am deliberately vague when it comes to exploits and other security issues. I have no reason to give people who harass and terrorise further ammunition. As you know the final definer of such things is LL, I leave communication of such issues to them.

---

Really replying to both you and Maddy together.

I just stated my general observations on what has been posted in the Forums.

I'm not saying it can't be done.

To the OP I will say, if you have truly ruled out everything else, if this person is still able to track you while your avatar is buck naked, the only thing I can think of is to file a security JIRA (which are totally private) with the details of what and whom.  I wouldn't expect an answer from LL but someone on the Security Team just might take a look at the account.

That's at least what I would do if I had exhausted every thing else I knew.  I don't know any better idea.

One last note, what Viewer are you using?  Are you absolutely certain you downloaded it from an Official Page?  We've all been assuming you are using a Kosher viewer.  Their are some unaproved Viewers that will open you up to this problem.

[Shelby Silverspar]

i find it really hard to believe that if this was really possible, it couldn't be kept a secret, not for long anyway. Not in SL.

branigon, do you have RLV enabled?

 

[Perrie Juran]

---

Shelby Silverspar wrote:

i find it really hard to believe that if this was

really

possible, it couldn't be kept a secret, not for long anyway. Not in SL.

branigon, do you have RLV enabled?

 

---

I thought about that also.  Somehow also I got the idea that they said they were wearing NO attachments.  My bad.  They only said no HUDs or A/O.

I should have asked earlier.

[Kenbro Utu]

---

branigon wrote:

I said to this person " oh youre tracking me are you well ok where am I know then ?" said that after I tp'd to a random sim and they still found me

---

There used to be an exploit where location information could be gleaned from an IM session, that was 2008, and surely that hole has been closed by now.  The fact that the OP noted they were in IM with the stalker reminded me of this exploit.  

[KarenMichelle Lane]

---

Kenbro Utu wrote:

---

branigon wrote:

I said to this person " oh you're tracking me are you well OK where am I know then ?" said that after I tp'd to a random sim and they still found me

---

There used to be an exploit where

location information

could be gleaned from an IM session, that was 2008, and surely that hole has been closed by now.  The fact that the OP noted they were in IM with the stalker reminded me of this exploit.  

---

Thus the reminder you 1st Mute/Block the individual who is annoying you. This exploit is long plugged but why are you even seeing this annoying person?

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Perrie Juran wrote:

---

Freya Mokusei wrote:

I haven't seen these two suggestions:-

1. Remove ALL attachments, everything that isn't a clothing layer (including hair, shoes, mesh), teleport around maybe for a couple of days. If you notice any change in your persuers behaviour, it might still be the most common method of being followed (scripts in attachments).
2. Disable Voice and Media in your viewer. Don't click hyperlinks in-world. There's a high potential for exploits in both systems.

@Perrie, I don't know about other posters to this forum, but I am deliberately vague when it comes to exploits and other security issues. I have no reason to give people who harass and terrorise further ammunition. As you know the final definer of such things is LL, I leave communication of such issues to them.

---

Really replying to both you and Maddy together.

I just stated my general observations on what has been posted in the Forums.

I'm not saying it can't be done.

To the OP I will say, if you have truly ruled out everything else, if this person is still able to track you while your avatar is buck naked, the only thing I can think of is to file a security JIRA (which are totally private) with the details of what and whom.  I wouldn't expect an answer from LL but someone on the Security Team just might take a look at the account.

That's at least what I would do if I had exhausted every thing else I knew.  I don't know any better idea.

One last note, what Viewer are you using?  Are you absolutely certain you downloaded it from an Official Page?  We've all been assuming you are using a Kosher viewer.  Their are some unaproved Viewers that will open you up to this problem.

---

I agree with you about the improbability, but not the impossibility, of the purported tracking via some unknown loophole. Aliens needn't tell us how they kidnap us to probe our innards because they don't do it. The military needn't tell us how they use ELF waves to molify the otherwise inquiring minds of hapless citizens because they don't do it.

Similarly, I needn't disclose how it is that I coordinate my minions to police the forum and this shadowy follower needn't reveal how s/he tunnels through SL's servers to track the OP's every movement using mechanisms known to no other.

Sometimes nefariousness is effortless.

Credit where credit is due? Pfft!

Can you blame me for being nefarious?

Of course you can!

;-)

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Perrie Juran wrote:

---

Shelby Silverspar wrote:

i find it really hard to believe that if this was

really

possible, it couldn't be kept a secret, not for long anyway. Not in SL.

branigon, do you have RLV enabled?

 

---

I thought about that also.  Somehow also I got the idea that they said they were wearing NO attachments.  My bad.  They only said no HUDs or A/O.

I should have asked earlier.

---

It was easy to miss. I roamed through the thread and got the chronology wrong, thinking the OP'd continued to respond after it was suggested to remove everything. If the OP has done as advised, I expect the tracking has come to an end. It's sometimes difficult to remember how naive we once were. And to remember that we still are.

;-)

[Dillon Levenque]

---

Madelaine McMasters wrote:

I agree with you about the improbability, but not the impossibility, of the purported tracking via some unknown loophole. Aliens needn't tell us how they kidnap us to probe our innards because they don't do it. The military needn't tell us how they use ELF waves to molify the otherwise inquiring minds of hapless citizens because they don't do it.

Similarly, I needn't disclose how it is that I coordinate my minions to police the forum

and this shadowy follower needn't reveal how s/he tunnels through SL's servers to track the OP's every movement using mechanisms known to no other.

Sometimes nefariousness is effortless.

Credit where credit is due? Pfft!

Can you blame me for being nefarious?

Of course you can!

;-)

---

 

Oh fine, just blurt it out! Who needs secrecy when you're so nefarious? Tra la la.

You have no idea how much work we do behind the scenes to mask your obvious meddling. I just typed that as 'maddling', btw. I'm coining words.

Snugs and I will have more to say about this, you can be sure.

 

ETA bolding, or boldly go, or oh nm