Community Warning: Serial Stalker Targeting VN Makers

[sake-bento]

It's come to our attention that an individual has been cyberstalking and harassing multiple members of the visual novel community, often targeting VN creators. We've confirmed he's targeted one writer and one artist at least (along with their friends). He's also made references to having issues with other creators, but we have not confirmed if he's made contact with them.

Known usernames: FuyuWinter, Fuyukawa Kokoro, Tenshi1
He's used various names during interaction, but his PayPal initials are D. M.

Please do not attempt to contact this person. Any contact may result in encouraging his behavior or making things worse for his current target(s).

This person introduces himself as a fan or a commissioner and offers an extreme level of commitment with phrases like "You're the most pure, perfect person." He will offer money (like a monthly salary) or lavish gifts. He will also state that the target is his ONLY friend in the whole world and talk about how "everyone else" broke his heart.

After this, he asks for reciprocation for his favors, often in the form of sexual contact or exclusivity (e.g. "Quit your job so you can spend more time with me.") This will be augmented with very specific descriptions of his fantasies with the target. Often he will make excuses for his behavior (known excuses: he was drunk - which he later confessed was a lie, medication, and head trauma), but continue to behave in this manner anyway. At his peak, he will send several messages each day.

If the target denies him his requests or cuts off communication, he immediately moves on to violent swearing and threats. Often he will threaten self-harm or suicide. If this doesn't work, he'll threaten to defame or publicly tell others not to hire said commissioner. When this doesn't work, he expands to harassing members of the target's social circle, often with sexual advances, or manipulative attempts to make the target seem like a bad person.

This person is a serial stalker, and has targeted more than one member of the visual novel community. It is very likely he will try again. If you find yourself engaged with this person, cut off communication immediately, and report him to the proper authorities.

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Tips for handling a cyber stalker:

-Save all communication you receive and keep a record of their actions. If you have to take legal action, you will want clear records of what happened. On this forum, saving private messages can help us verify what occurred.

-Remove all personal or identifying information from the internet. This really shouldn't be online in the first place, but if it is, scrub all data like the city you live in, your school/workplace, and your phone number. Remember to check old accounts and usernames. (e.g. If you had a MySpace account, make sure you didn't leave identifying information there.)

-Report the user's harassment on any sites you use. Facebook, dA, forums, etc. usually have rules against harassment. Once you have proof of harassment, report this person immediately. On this forum, please send a private message to the administrators by choosing "User control panel", "Private messages", Selecting "Administrators", click "Add [To]", and sending the message.

-Tell your friends about it and ask them to be on the lookout.

-Cut off all communication entirely. Stalkers do not understand "no" or "don't contact me" or even angry outbursts. As long as they receive SOME kind of response, they consider it a victory. They will often make threats (things like self-harm or threats of violence) to manipulate you into responding, but once you do, you confirm that that behavior works, and it will be repeated in the future.

-Change your email address, Skype username, or any other form of communication you used.

-If you feel like you are in danger, contact the police. Be sure that you have all the interactions you collected so you can show why you feel endangered.

[Tempus]

I've encountered this person before. Their full name is [elided] — here's the PayPal details I have for them:

[elided]

When they commissioned me they presented themselves as a female. During the course of the commission (which I pretty quickly cancelled) they tried to emotionally manipulate me, offered large advance payments ($2000 after I'd only completed one piece), and finally tried to threaten me by "going public". Their emotional manipulation tactic, in addition to what sake posted, also involved telling me they were terminally ill, had no friends, their parents were abusive and had locked them up (with an internet connection, apparently -- this is when I realised they were full of shit), and described in great detail all the various medical conditions and operations they'd apparently endured. They also had their "friend" (wait, I thought they didn't have any friends?) contact me to try to make me continue the commission.

Just thought I'd add these details since it appears they behave a little differently depending on the target's gender. I'm male, if it's not already apparent by the way. Their tactic with me mostly involved trying to evoke pity.

At his peak, he will send several messages each day.

I signed on Skype one day and had about 100 unread messages from them. I blocked and deleted them, but kept the records. In fact, I kept records of every single correspondence with them in case I ever needed to defend myself. I refuse to hide my identity or change accounts because of them. It was easy to just block them in this case.

[ Please don't post full details like that. While these warnings are incredibly important, I don't think it's necessary to post the person's home address publicly - I don't think it's necessary to solve the problem, and I don't want to have to look at what privacy laws would be involved. ]

[PyTom]

I've cut this thread down substantially, and locked it, as I think after the second post, the signal-to-noise ratio dropped precipitously.