Is there any way to prove that multiple avatars are the same person?

[Robbie Couturier]

My friend and I are being harassed by multiple avatars but only had evidence on one. Is there any way to prove that multiple avatars to be the same person.

[Callum Meriman]

Robbie, I look at the original post you made 4 years ago, and I see you are still being harassed. The guy must be super unhinged.

4 years is a long time for a protracted harrasment campaign, even the most persistant griefer should have gotten bored some time during 2015. Not to victimblame, but it's likely a fact that because they are still going you are somehow reacting to them. Any reaction, no matter how small, is what feeds them.

Now it's time to starve them.

Other's above have told you how to block and mute this person as he comes in - but I will add some extra advice.

First and foremost - and this is super important - no reactions, no matter how small. Not a word, not an IM, don't even cam them. Ignore all IMs they make. Try your absolute hardest not to be baited into responding ever again. Even one response can undo months of good work towards your task of boring them to tears.

Secondly, if you are in a region where you have estate manager's rights, add them to the region ban list. As soon as any alt that you have already banned tries to teleport into the region, the simulator will grab their computer signature and lock out all alt's automatically. This seems to last only for a while, so it's not a perfect solution.

Thirdly and I've not looked, but just in case, go over your profile remove any references to this persistent troll. Any naming and shaming will only spur them on. Also don't spread his name via friends as one of those could be feeding pleasure back to him.

Consider putting your home inside privacy lines, and creating an access group for friends. This will stop him any more then being in the region + IMs.

 

As you lodge ARs please mention calmly that this has been happening for 4 years. Do a seperate AR for each alt that comes in, include the date and time, file it under harrasment. You will need to do this for a while, the Lab should eventually build up a solid history of this.

 

Good luck, hopefully you can starve this persistant person to the point they let you go.

[Rolig Loon]

Nope.  You can make guesses, but there's absolutely no way to be sure. Not only that, but if you find out someone's RL identity and tell someone, you are violating the TOS and risk being banned from SL. (See Community Standards, Disclosure). 

[Syo Emerald]

No, you can never be 100% sure hows behind which avatar. And don't let anybody tell you anything different, even IP adresses do not tell you much, as they may be flexible for some or just randomly come from the same vague region.

And in your case, knowing or not knowing for sure if its the same person won't make any difference in your situation, as it wouldn't stop the harassment for you in any way. Just file an AR for each avatar that harasses you and block/mute each one.

[Robbie Couturier]

I have personal information on a person that has 400+ ALT's and that person has been harassing me and my SL wife. I am not allowed to say anything about this person's RL information, but having proof that the ALT's exist, Linden Lab should have that same information, yet they do nothing about them. Linden Lab needs to crack down on ALT's , especially ones that harass people. If I can get the persons RL information, then Linden Lab should have no problem getting the ALT's information and linking them together and deleting them. As far as me muting them and blocking them, I do but they still harass, push, shove, and tell everyone around a bunch of lies about us. Oh Well guess it will be and endless battle of total harassment from 400 + ALT's.

[Lindal Kidd]

On 12/18/2014 at 4:18 PM, Syo Emerald said:

..Just file an AR for each avatar that harasses you and block/mute each one.

Robbie, Just do this, and keep doing it each time someone harasses you.  LL will know who it is.

[Robbie Couturier]

I did block and mute, however like I said they have over 400+ ALT's and they will bring one in and hit and push me or my wife Helen, and then leave before we can block and mute that one.

[Lindal Kidd]

You can block and mute anyone, even if they are not physically present.  Your local chat will have recorded their name when they came into chat range and when they left chat range.  Use Search to find their name and open their Profile.  There is a Block button in the Profile window.

Next, add them to your parcel ban list, in About Land/Access.

Then write up an AR on that avatar and submit it.  Reference your original AR, to make it easier for LL to make the connection between the latest bully and the original.

You can also create a group, containing just you, and your wife.  Then you can set your land access to group only, which might cut down a bit on the invasions.

[Madelaine McMasters]

On 10/22/2018 at 11:16 AM, Robbie Couturier said:

Linden Lab needs to crack down on ALT's , especially ones that harass people.

I imagine (I have no data) that a significant fraction of the SL population has alts. Some of those alts are created for very good reasons. Residents are allowed to have up to five of them. It makes no sense to suggest that LL crack down on allowed activity. There is already a mechanism for reporting harassment. As you noted, LL is fully capable of determining whether multiple alts likely belong to the same RL person. If you feel like you're being ignored by LL, I don't see how knowing what they know will help. They already know it.

The recording of more than 400 alts would, I think, require an inordinate investment in time and energy on your part. If I were the type to enjoy poking people, I'd look for those who're willing to invest inordinate amounts of time and energy responding to my pokes. And that would make you an attractive target. I suggest, as have others, that you make yourself less attractive to such harassment. Mute/block/ban/ignore and move on. Report any further abuse when it happens. It's pretty rare for people to expend energy when they get no feedback.

[Pamela Galli]

Remember, forumites, sometimes what people really want is justice.

[Robbie Couturier]

I am running Firestorm and I don't have people listed in chat when they arrive or when they leave I have looked for that setting everywhere and can not find it ?

 

[Gabriele Graves]

30 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Residents are allowed to have up to five of them.

I was recently asked about this and re-read the most recent TOS and the Community Standards to quote, however I could no longer find this.

[Gabriele Graves]

On 10/23/2018 at 5:16 AM, Robbie Couturier said:

I have personal information on a person that has 400+ ALT's and that person has been harassing me and my SL wife. I am not allowed to say anything about this person's RL information, but having proof that the ALT's exist, Linden Lab should have that same information, yet they do nothing about them. Linden Lab needs to crack down on ALT's , especially ones that harass people. If I can get the persons RL information, then Linden Lab should have no problem getting the ALT's information and linking them together and deleting them. As far as me muting them and blocking them, I do but they still harass, push, shove, and tell everyone around a bunch of lies about us. Oh Well guess it will be and endless battle of total harassment from 400 + ALT's.

It is very unlikey that if a person has that many alts for griefing that they registered them with correct RL information.

[Love Zhaoying]

On 12/18/2014 at 1:51 PM, Robbie Couturier said:

Is there any way to prove that multiple avatars to be the same person.

No.

[Parhelion Palou]

1 hour ago, Robbie Couturier said:

I am running Firestorm and I don't have people listed in chat when they arrive or when they leave I have looked for that setting everywhere and can not find it ?

 

Bring up the Radar window, then click on the button that has a stack of horizontal lines. Click on Report To and select either Nearby Chat or Notification Toasts. Select what you want reported ... you can choose any of enter/leave region, enter/leave draw distance, enter/leave chat range.

[Chic Aeon]

1 hour ago, Gabriele Graves said:

I was recently asked about this and re-read the most recent TOS and the Community Standards to quote, however I could no longer find this.

Long ago and far away that was the rule. Longer ago and further away you PAID to have your alts (I think it was 9.95 or something like that) and were alowed five "legal" alts.

Then later The Lab came out and said as long as your alts played nicely with others they were fine --- if you had an ARMY there might be questions. Lots of folks here on the forums are very up front about their "armies", many made to take advantage of group land. The Lab knows all this and I haven't heard of any issues with having a bunch of alts "for a purpose". It isn't an problem  currently and likely won't be UNLESS those alts are made as greifers or for some other nefarious reason. 

[LittleMe Jewell]

2 hours ago, Robbie Couturier said:

I am running Firestorm and I don't have people listed in chat when they arrive or when they leave I have looked for that setting everywhere and can not find it ?

 

Preferences / Chat tab / Radar tab - click whichever boxes you wish.

[Rolig Loon]

13 hours ago, Gabriele Graves said:

14 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Residents are allowed to have up to five of them.

I was recently asked about this and re-read the most recent TOS and the Community Standards to quote, however I could no longer find this.

You're looking in the wrong place.  It's not in the TOS but in the many smaller policies that are included by reference ( like issues such as Mainland advertizing, for example) .  Take a look at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Alt_Account_FAQ , where you will find

Cost

Your first basic account is free, and so are a few alternate accounts. However, if you create an army of alts, Linden Lab may charge a small fee of US$9.95 for the creation of each additional basic account as a way to recoup some of the cost. This is explained further in section 1 of the Second Life Billing Policies, linked to from our Terms of Service. Note that in the billing policies, "Access Account" means basic account and a "Subscription Account" means a premium account.

Restrictions

Currently, you can create:

• Up to five accounts per household.
• No more than two accounts in a single 24-hour period.

Notice, however that the page was last updated in 2012. As people have noted in many threads over the past couple of years, the policy is  apparently being enforced lightly.  For a while, that may have been because schools, libraries, and other organizations were regularly registering large classes of new residents at a time, so the policy was more trouble than it was worth. That's not happening as often as it once did, but the policy still seems to be enforced selectively. I suspect, though, that LL would take notice if they discover someone with a malicious army of alts.  After all, "Linden Lab has various means of detecting illegitimate accounts and enforcing necessary limits to prevent fraud and other disruptive uses of Second Life and LindeX services. For security reasons, Linden Lab does not reveal exactly how fraud detection processes operate.".