trollpolice.com

Webmaster Tools

This page is being updated. I have a lot of tools and tips to share in battling the everlasting Troll. So make sure you check back often to see what’s been added. 

Below are some tools and information about how you can identify and track trolls from your Web site. Remember, do not engage the troll on any other Web site but your own. If you want to contact the admins at other sites to report the abuse that your own community endure, do it. As Webmasters, we can’t think of a better email or PM to get. Yeah, it will piss of the troll/stalker… but too bad.

If you own a forum board, or host your own site, as a Webmaster you have several immediate tools at your disposal. The information here is not the nitty-gritty technical jargon, for some serious tracking and IP information, follow the links at the bottom of the page. However, for some quick how-tos, read on.

Forum boards. vBulletin, which is the forum board I use most often logs every users IP. The IP they register with, and any other IP they might logon with and post. This is your first bit of information that you can use to see if members have multiple accounts or if a banned member re-registers at your site. Most forum boards have an IP search feature in the admin panel that will pull all the users associated with an IP address.

Usually, if they are not that smart, they will register again and again not realizing you know their IPs. Eventually they will catch on and attempt to use other computers, such as a public library. Not knowing that you are usually able to map them to an ISP in their actual city. If they use a library in that city, it’s pretty obvious what is going on.

Read the help documentation of the software you are using at your Web site. There should be a IP section that will show you how to lookup and search IPs.

Running IPs. I use both software on my machine and Geobytes to quickly locate an IP. You will find out more advanced information about IPs and tracking them in the two links I provided below. However, here is the Geobytes website: http://www.geobytes.com/IpLocator.htm. You can find out what ISP or server the IP belongs to here: www.whois.net.

Web Server Logs. If you are hosting your own site, you can see the IPs that log on daily, where they go to on your site and where they came from. This by far is one of the easiest ways to track a known troll. Usually you are able to tell right off the bat by the pages they view on your Web site. If you find they are tracking all over threads they’ve posted in, or by what profiles they view are associated with the troll, you can assume it’s one more piece of evidence that supports the troll has returned.

Writing style. As a writer, writing style is a dead give away. Trolls and stalkers are usually not paying close attention to words they commonly misspelled or their grammar habits. Why? Cause they do not know they cant spell or that their grammar is bad. So they do not see the common mistakes that stick out to you like a soar thumb. Again, just one more piece of evidence.

Subject matter. Depending on the troll, they usually stick to the same subject matter. But I have found this behavior most related to a cyber-stalker. Trolls typically just want to start trouble and looking for attention. Where as a cyber-stalker is there for a particular person(s). So they will usually post in sections of a board they know their victim will be most active. They also post about subjects that interest their victim the most and often create a fake persona to reflect the desired interest of the victim. This is to promote an exchange of dialog.

Shyness. For the most part a troll or cyber-stalker that has been at the board before is not very shy. They are familiar with the members and the admins, so they usually do not have any apprehensions. They will feel comfortable posting and chatting right off the bat where as new members take their time to get more involved in discussion. If a new member logs on and jumps right into chat and engages members as if they knew them, I would take a closer look at the new member.

Can they hide their IP? Yes, some can mask their IPs using a proxy server or if a user uses an ISP that uses a proxy server, it’s next to impossible to identify the person. However, everything mentioned above is to help you “piece” together enough evidence to identify a troll or a stalker.

If you find that each situation is different and you’ll discover little ways of tracking and identifying a troll. If all of the simple tips given here suggest you have a troll or a stalker lurking yet you’re still not sure, watch. Watch and wait. They WILL make a mistake eventually. Even if they are masking their IP or using a proxy ISP, they will eventually slip. You can also follow the more in-depth resources below:

http://www.searchlores.org/ (advanced)

http://chantalstainedglass.50megs.com/trollhunt.html (identifying a troll)