49 Times Women Brilliantly Shut Down Men’s Creepy Advances (New Pics)

It’s creepy when someone you barely (or do not even) know tries to make advances on you because they imagine that you’d be ‘perfect’ together. If their messaging is frequent, you might have a stalker on your hands.

According to SETDAB, one of the signs of stalking behavior is bombarding a person with texts.

Stalking through text messaging can be “brutal, emotional, and scary for the victim.” Just because the violence isn’t physical doesn’t make it less serious.

Stalking through text messaging includes behaviors like obsessive, inappropriate, and intimidating texting, as well as sending inappropriate pictures, and trying to get information about your activities or whereabouts.

It’s also a major red flag when someone continues to text you after you’ve made it crystal clear that you don’t want them to contact you.

Stalkers also tend to obsessively call their targets. To be clear, unwanted calls are a sign of stalking, not just clinginess or showing interest.

“Many stalkers have obsessive personality traits and fixate on their victim. They may not take no for an answer and they may even think their constant contact is a sign of love and commitment,” SETDAB says.

Other stalker-like behaviors include sending the victims unwanted ‘romantic’ gifts to manipulate them, trying to ruin their reputation online, criminal damage to their property, and invading their privacy.

They might try to monitor your activity using advanced technology in order to track your every move. For example, they might turn up at locations that you frequent, use spyware on your computer, bug your home, track your movements with mobile devices and GPS, or fit your car with a tracking device.

According to The Cyber Helpline, if you believe that you are being cyber-stalked, harassed, or bullied online, you should document every conversation. This way, you’ll have useful evidence to give to the police or social media platforms, even if the criminal deletes their posts or online profile.

If you feel immediately threatened, it’s vital that you contact the authorities. If you don’t feel immediate danger, you can (and should) still report the online harassment to the police.

In the meantime, you should try to improve your online security. “As the perpetrator collects more and more information about you it is common that they may try and gain access to your accounts such as social media and email. Having strong passwords and turning on two-factor authentication is key,” The Cyber Helpline states.

“It is also worth reviewing what personal information exists about you online and trying to remove as much as possible. For example, Google yourself and see if you can find your address, phone number, or places where you regularly spend time.”

It’s important to remember that being the victim of online violence is not your fault.

The moderators of the ‘Creepy PMs’ online group explain that it is a place for everyone to share the “strange and disturbing” messages they get from all over the internet. This can range from the “mildly off-putting” and “slightly weird” to “downright scary.”

The subreddit itself has been around for nearly a decade and a half. It was created in mid-2012 and continues to be popular to this day. Currently, the sub gets around 122k visitors (aka “creep-shamers”) every week.

The moderators running the online group point out that you should only post private messages and remove all identifying information, including everyone’s pictures and usernames.

However, on Wednesdays, you’re given more freedom: you can also post memes and messages from anonymous chat apps.

Meanwhile, all members of the ‘Creepy PMs’ community are reminded that they should not be unnecessarily rude to the people posting their conversation screenshots. What’s more, you shouldn’t go around criticizing the posters for the way that they handle their interactions with creepy individuals.

There should be no armchair psychology diagnoses, no victim blaming, and no defending creepy behavior.

And—this goes without saying—nobody should be creepy or flirty in the comments of the posts made on the subreddit.

What is the worst, creepiest, most disturbing private message that you’ve ever received on social media? How did you react to it?

How often do you receive unsolicited, flirtatious messages on the internet? Why do you think people behave this way, and what do you think it would take to get them to stop?

If you feel like sharing your experiences, you can do so in the comments at the bottom of this list.