How To Stop Someone From Doxing On Twitter
You may be shocked at how simple it is for someone to get information on you. If you spend a lot of time on message boards and forums, it could be simpler.
Perhaps you remark that you are visiting Europe for the first time. A hacker has discovered that you do not reside on that continent. You may write another post claiming that you’ve never been to Asia. This same hacker can now tell you that you don’t reside on that continent.
Perhaps you’ve complained about your county’s excessive property taxes on the internet. A troll can now determine which county you reside in.
Consider your internet behavior to be a breadcrumb trail. Trolls and those who are determined may follow that trail until they know where you live, your age, gender, and race. With this information, they may gradually ascertain you identify.
Sniffing packets
However, this isn’t the only means for individuals to break your online anonymity. Experienced hackers may also use technology to elicit information about your identity. They may resort to a technique known as packet sniffing.
A Doxer intercepts your internet traffic in this technique, seeking for everything from your passwords, credit card numbers, and bank account information to old email messages.
Doxes do this by connecting to an internet network, breaching its security measures, and then capturing data moving in and out of the network.
IP tracking
Another terrifying ruse? IP loggers may also be used by Doxer. IP loggers include a code in an email message that victims cannot see. When victims read these emails, the malware captures their IP addresses and transmits them to the IP logger. This provides a Doxer with instant information about you.
Cell phone reverse lookup
What information may hackers get about you if they know your mobile phone number? A lot, owing to sites like White pages. These reverse phone search services allow you to enter a mobile phone number— or any telephone number— to find out who owns the number.
However, such a service might reveal more than simply your name. A search on Whitepages.com may also reveal your current and former addresses. Hackers may also utilize a reverse phone lookup to dig up your criminal and traffic histories, financial data, and assets you own or have owned.
Sites like White pages demand a fee to offer information other than the city and state connected with a mobile phone number. Those willing to pay may, however, get a wealth of personal information about you by just providing your mobile phone number. So, be cautious with this number: Don’t post it on social media, forums, or message boards.
Stalking on social media
Many doxers examine social media profiles for personal information about their targets. People not only voluntarily disclose personal information on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram — such as trips, new jobs, and moves — but they also supply a plethora of vital details about themselves when joining up for these sites, information that dedicated doxers may discover. That is why it is critical to safeguard your personal information on social media.
Take, for example, Facebook. When you join up for the site, you may enter information ranging from your date of birth to your high school and college. When joining up for social networking networks, use caution: Please do not fill out these fields. Leave them empty.
Also, avoid being too descriptive about what you’re doing or where you’ve been while posting on social media platforms. Make your social media accounts private so that only certain individuals may see your updates.
Examining government documents
You may be shocked at how much information individuals can learn about you through public sources. Your birth certificate includes your birthdate, the location and hospital where you were born, the names of your parents, and even the name of the physician who attended the birth.
When you get a driver’s license, your local department of motor vehicles stores personal information about you, such as your name, Social Security number, weight, height, and traffic offenses.
Your marriage certificate is normally submitted with the county clerk’s office in your area. The public may see information such as your spouse’s name, the county where your marriage certificate was submitted, and the date of your marriage.
If you bought a house, the county assessor’s and recorder’s offices will keep records of the transaction. The location of the house, the date of the sale, a description of the property, and the estimated worth of the home are all included in these files.
Court documents and arrest records are likewise open to the public and may be accessed by anybody.
Phishing
Scammers use phishing emails to obtain your personal information. They’ll often send you an email that seems to be from your credit card company, bank, or another service provider. The email may instruct you to click on a link in order to keep your account from being closed down. It might also suggest that your bank or credit card company has observed odd activity on your account. The email may then direct you to a URL where you may observe the questionable behavior.
When you click, you’ll be sent to a new page. This page will request your personal information, including your complete name, Social Security number, and account number. If you fill out this form and then click “Submit?” You’ll be submitting your personal information to a fraudster, who will subsequently dox you.
WHOIS
Do you own a domain name on the internet? If this is the case, anybody may do a WHOIS search on your domain to learn basic information about you. Your name and contact details will be included in a WHOIS record.
Immediately after your username
Do you use the same login across many websites? A doxer may follow your username throughout the Internet, discovering your postings on online forums, message boards, and Reddit subreddits.
This individual may then utilize this information to learn about your likes and dislikes, as well as your favorite websites, and share them with others. And what if you’d written something humiliating on a message board or forum? This might come back to bite you.
Brokers of information
Those who are prepared to pay may use data brokers to find out information about you. To learn more about you, data brokers scan public records, your web search history, your social media activity, and the purchases you make via loyalty records.
Is doxing a crime?
You are aware that doxing may have a significant impact on the lives of targeted. Is the practice, however, illegal? That is conditional.
Doxing is not criminal if the information revealed is public knowledge. Arrest records, marriage certificates, serious traffic offenses, and divorce records are all included. If someone distributes these data, even without your permission, they are not breaking the law.
If someone publishes information that isn’t in the public record, such as your bank account details, credit card numbers, or birth certificate, it’s considered doxing. Doxers are breaking the law when they get access to this information and disseminate it.
Doxing, on the other hand, is always immoral, even if the offenders are merely dealing in publicly accessible material.
What can I do to prevent being doxed?
While there is no way to ensure that you will never be doxed, there are several precautions you may take. The trick is to be cautious about what you publish on social media and message boards. Here are some pointers to consider:
- Don’t overshare: Don’t share too much on social media, internet forums, or message boards. Sharing personal information might easily provide doxers with too much material to work with.
- Modify your privacy settings: Make your social media postings private so that only a few individuals may see them.
- Don’t give out personal information: When joining up for social networking networks, don’t give out personal information like your date of birth, hometown, high school, or employment.
- Use a VPN: Enrolling in a virtual private network, or VPN, may help protect your personal information from doxers. Your true IP address will be masked when you connect to the internet after initially connecting into a VPN. This means that hackers will be unable to mine this address for information about your location or other identifiable characteristics.
- Use distinct usernames on various social networking platforms: If you use many social networking platforms, avoid using the same login on each. Use a different username on Facebook than you use on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Why? People will be able to monitor your social media past more easily if they simply have to follow one username throughout the Internet.
- Be wary of phishing emails: Phishing schemes may be used by doxers to fool you into providing your home address, Social Security number, or even passwords. Be careful of any communication that seems to be from a bank or credit card business and seeks personal information. This information will never be requested via email from a financial institution.
- Strong passwords are essential: Use strong passwords on sites such as your online bank account, credit card portals, and work dashboard to keep snoops away from your most sensitive information. Strong passwords may also prevent spies from accessing your social networking sites, stopping them from modifying your personal information, stealing your account details, or publishing messages in your name. Passwords with a combination of lowercase and uppercase characters, numbers, and symbols are the most secure.
- Certain details should never be shared: Make a promise to never publish sensitive information online, such as your Social Security number, home address, driver’s license number, or information about bank accounts or credit card details. Remember that hackers may read email messages, so don’t include any personal information in yours.
- Use several email addresses: You may increase your privacy by using various email accounts for different sorts of communication. For example, you may set up a single account that you solely use to sign up for streaming services, music sites, forums, message boards, and other services.
You may then use a different email address in your working life. Use this email address to network with colleagues in your field, connect with coworkers, and submit reports to your managers.
Finally, for intimate contact with friends and family, utilize a third email account. Don’t give out this email address to anybody who isn’t in your immediate family or circle of friends.
What should I do if I’ve been doxed?
What are your options if you’ve been doxed? There are several precautions you may take to mitigate the impact.
Please report it: Notify the platforms where your personal information has been posted about the assault.
Involve law enforcement: If a doxer threatens you personally, call your local police station.
Keep track of what happened: Take screenshots or download the sites where your information is displayed. This may assist law enforcement or other authorities investigating the doxing.
Protect your financial accounts: If doxers have released your bank account or credit card data, notify your financial institutions immediately. Your credit card company will almost certainly cancel your card and give you a new one. You must also update the passwords for your online banking and credit card accounts.
Final Words
Set your social media accounts’ privacy settings to the most private choices to keep snoops and doxers at bay.
