Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Technological Perversion: Stalkers now using apps to track victims

1/14/2015
by Daisy Barrera


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Many times stalking victims fail to recognize what's really happening to them.
Melissa Hernandez, the primary prevention coordinator for Brownsville Friendship of Women, said victims downplay the stalking because usually it's a romantic partner or former romantic partner committing the crime.
"Many of them think it's because (the stalker) loves them or because they're infatuated by that person and they don't know the crime that (the stalkers) are committing," Hernandez said. "We want the community to know it's something very serious because the stalker can hurt the victim and many times have also killed the victim.”
January is Stalking Awareness Month and Hernandez wants people to know that these days, stalking comes in many forms, such as "following the person, it can be through social media, it can be in-person, sending friends or family…”
One high-tech form of stalking quickly growing in popularity in the Valley is spy software apps.
For as little as two dollars, stalkers can purchase spyware to install on someone's phone, without ever physically touching the phone.
"They can go online and they can put that program into the victim's phone and keep track of where she's going, what she is doing, who is she going with or any other activity she has throughout the day," Hernandez said. 
However, there are ways of picking up on clues that a phone may be hacked.
“If it's taking too long to upload and download; if you feel like your phone is becoming too slow or if you're just having problems; or it shuts down completely -- many of those apps do damage the phone," she explained.
Hernandez adds if someone discovers one of these apps on their phone, they should immediately report it to police and visit a service provider to have the application removed.

For More Information on how to recognize Stalking and put a stop to it visit:


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