Delete or block any friends or family members of the abuser who may allow them to stalk your profile through their accounts.

Change your privacy settings on all social media profiles to ensure that only those you choose and trust can see your updates, photos and location.

Limit who you accept as a ‘friend’ or ‘follower’ on your profiles.Social media could also be used as a method to send harassing or threatening messages or post inappropriate content. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter could potentially reveal your whereabouts if you have not adjusted your privacy settings. You can use sites like (to see if the email has been used to create spam) and (to search the IP address of the incoming email or website) which will help determine if an individual or organisation is from where they say they are.Report such emails to the police and provide them with copies for evidence gathering purposes. Block the sender and/or consider creating a new email address. If you are being harassed via email, do not reply.If possible, avoid using other devices to login to your email address.Be wary that sometimes, even hovering over the link to read the pop-up information, can deliver malware to your device, so ensure the link looks valid and relates to the rest of the information in the email. Don’t open links from senders you do not recognise in case they contain malware, and always run anti-virus software on all your devices.Indications of this are emails being marked ‘read’ before you read them, emails being sent that you did not write, or emails confirming a new password request. Change your password regularly, particularly if you become concerned it has been compromised.Avoid using family members or pets names, favourite locations or anniversary dates choose something random like Hotwaterbottle!920. Choose a strong password with multiple characters, capital letters and numbers.You can increase your safety online by doing the following: If your email account is compromised this will put all of your other accounts and data at risk.

Your email account is likely to be at the centre of everything you do online, including visiting other websites and logging into social media accounts.

Turn off safe browsing