About On-Line Safety*

Where to go for help if you need it:

1. KEEP EVERYTHING! Don't delete messages,

chat logs, etc. Place them in a separate folder on

your hard drive or diskette/zip disk, CD, DVD etc

and print out a hard copy

2. Call your local police, whether city, county or

province - ask for the Computer Crimes Unit or

someone who handles online incidents

3. Call the state police (or equivalent)

4. Call the FBI Computer Crimes unit in your area

(or equivalent) ONLY if you've received a direct

death threat or threat of physical harm

5. When speaking to law enforcement, be calm

and know your facts - who, what, when, where,

and, if possible, why. . .and keep it concise

6. If the above fails, try these online resources:

WHOA (Working to Halt Online Abuse)

www.haltabuse.org

WHOA-KTD (Kids/Teen Division)

Cyberangels

Use Cyber Street-Smarts

• Use a gender-neutral username/e-mail address

• Use a free e-mail account such as Hotmail

(www.hotmail.com) or YAHOO! (www.yahoo.com)

for newsgroups/mailing lists, chat rooms, IMs,

e-mails from strangers, message boards, filling out

forms and other online activities

• Don't give your primary e-mail address to anyone

you do not know or trust (see above)

• Instruct children to never give out their real name,

age, address or phone number over the net without

your permission

• Don't provide your credit card number or other

information as proof of age to access or subscribe

to a web site you're not familiar with

• Lurk on newsgroups, mailing lists and chat rooms

before "speaking" or posting messages

• When you do participate online, be careful -- only

type what you would say to someone's face

• Don't be so trusting online - don't reveal personal

things about yourself until you really and truly know

the other person

• Your first instinct may be to defend yourself -

DON'T - this is how most online harassment

situations begin

• Don't fall for phishing e-mails that claim your

account has been suspended or needs to be

updated - it's a scam!

• If it looks too good to be true -- it is

• For more online safety tips, go to

www.haltabuse.org/help

*Information used with permission from http://www.haltabusektd.org/