Copyright (c) 2010 Ed Opperman

According to the safety organization known as WHOA or Working to Halt Online Abuse, the number of individuals confronted by a cyber stalker has steadily increased over the last few years. In 2009 statistics reported that there was a 7% increase in female victims from the previous year. Originally cyber stalking offenders were largely male however there was also an increase in the number of female aggressors making the gap between male and female cyber stalkers only 10% in difference with males still slightly in the lead.

One of the biggest reasons that a cyber stalker is able to gain so much power over their victims is fear. This is especially true in the case of female victims. Many women are so afraid of being labeled as a victim that they simply don't report cases of online abuse. For this reason it is believed by many professionals that the actual numbers of cyber stalking victims is actually much higher than what statistics show. This is why organizations such as WHOA are trying to educate as many individuals as possible about the importance of reporting cases of cyber stalking. After all, how can anything be done to stop these predators if no one knows about them.

Although many people are unaware of it, there are steps which can be taken to identify and stop a cyber stalker. There are a variety of internet investigations that can get all kinds of information about alleged stalkers. One of the most popular of these investigations is a reverse email look-up. This particular method can uncover key pieces of information about a person who is suspected of stalking. Some of this information includes the person's name, address and phone number, place of employment, internet service provider and browser; websites visited and even specific location. Reverse email traces can take anywhere between a day and two weeks to perform, depending on the case. They generally come with a no hit no fee policy, which means if no information is recovered no fee is charged.

Anyone who feels that they are being harassed by a potential cyber stalker should turn to a professional investigator experienced in reverse email look-ups. This will help monumentally in identifying the person as well as making it possible to take other action to stop this highly rising form of abuse. No one should ever have to accept being a victim out of fear or for any other reason.