Net Crimes & Misdemeanors

I have a reporter looking to interview a victim of cyberstalking and have some documentation such as restraining orders issued by the courts. He needs to be able to verify the cyberstalking in some way. If you or someone you know fits this, contact me at netcrimes@netcrimes.net Jayne Hitchcock author of Net Crimes & Misdemeanors

NAME: MONTY BREED: SHIBA INU (LOOKS LIKE A FOX OR SMALL AKITA) DESCRIPTION: 2 YEAR OLD INTACT MALE. VIBRANT REDDISH/ORANGE COLOR WITH WHITE MARKINGS. 28 LBS., & 16 1/4" AT THE SHOULDER. LAST SEEN: 3/13/08 AT 3:30 PM AT VETERAN’S PARK, MILK STREET, METHUEN, MA IN ‘THE LOOP’ AREA, BEHIND BURGER KING & PARLEX. MONTY IS WEARING A ROLLED BROWN LEATHER COLLAR WITH RABIES AND AVID MICROCHIP TAGS. HE IS A REAL SWEET BOY BOTH WITH PEOPLE AND OTHER DOGS. NO AGGRESSION ISSUES. MONTY WAS JUST RELOCATED AND IS MOST LIKELY VERY SCARED AND SKITTISH. IF FOUND PLEASE BE AWARE THAT OFF LEAD SHIBAS ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY TO STAY WITH YOU. (SO IF FOUND PLEASE KEEP IN AN ENLCOSED AREA OR ON LEASH.) IF MONTY DOES NOT COME UP TO YOU READILY PLEASE DO NOT CHASE (POSSIBLY SCARING HIM AWAY OR INTO A TRAFFIC SITUATION.) REPORT THE DATE, TIME AND LOCATION OF THE SIGHTING IMMEDIATELY. CONTACT: RUTH OR JOE ALT CONTACT: CHARLEEN / CAPE COD SHIBAS

A week ago Tuesday I was the guest speaker at a local Lion's Club meeting in York, Maine. Several chapters attended, including York, Kittery, Eliot and Massabesic. There were about 45 people there and we had a nice pork dinner at Norma's Restaurant on Route 1. My friend, Howard Koeppel, had roped me into this. He's an older guy I met while doing my running to the beach and back. This was one of those things where we started by waving to each other, then short conversations, then he asked Chris for a favor and a friendship was born. He's a nifty guy who buys out estates/properties and sells antiques in his spare time. He's well known in town, which is not a bad thing! Howard wasn't sure how the members would take my talk, so I kept it pretty simple. I spoke about how I got involved in cyber crimes and described my own cyberstalking experience , then talked about my book, Net Crimes & Misdemeanors , and what it covers. Then I took questions. The majority of th...

Saturday morning, February 16th. Packed and ready to go. I took the first leg of the drive to Scranton, PA. Bandit got half a pill to keep him quiet, but he still yowled almost the whole way. Chris and I were about to pull our own heads off, ha ha. Got to the Econo Lodge and since it was President's Day weekend, we ended up with a smoking room with two double beds. The room reeked of smoke and the bathroom was filthy. Yuck. I ended up sleeping with Guin on one bed - she was so restless. Bandit passed out. I guess it was too much yowling for him. The next morning, we grabbed coffee at Dunkin Donuts and Chris drove the rest of the way to Virginia. It was mainly highway on 84 (we avoided 95 because of the horrendous traffic around the DC area) and when we got closer to Ashland, the highways became more rural. It was a pretty ride and it was exciting as the temperature kept climbing the more south we went. Every state we drove through, we'd stop to use the restroom, let the dogs do...

It's that time of year for paying your taxes and getting refunds, but beware - the scam artists are out there on the web. The IRS will never, ever contact you via email about anything to do with your taxes. So, if you get an email claiming to be from the IRS, delete it or report it for free to Spamcop . Just remember, it's not a scam *until* you fall for it. Until then, it's just spam! The following was excerpted from the book Net Crimes & Misdemeanors 2nd edition What To Do ... … if you took the bait and gave away your financial information:* · Report it to the card issuer as quickly as possible: Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with such emergencies. · Cancel your account and open a new one. · Review your billing statements carefully after the loss: If they show any unauthorized charges, send a letter to the card issuer describing each questionable charge. · Credit Card Loss or Fraudulent Charges (FCB...

Yesterday was difficult. I had one bass guitar left of my late husband's to sell and one of his friends found someone who wanted it. So I met Bill for lunch yesterday to get the payment. The guitar sold for a lot less than what it cost and a bit less than what I was asking, but beggars can't be choosers, eh? It was nice to see Bill again and he's always fun to talk with. Over the weekend I got an email from one of my late husband's instructors from the Marines, then yesterday morning from a high school friend of his. They had just found out he was dead. It just brings it all back. On the way home, I stopped off again at the cemetery (I was there a week ago and try to go as often as I can). I have noticed the last few times that when there is snow on the ground, I'm the only one leaving footprints to the gravestone. That makes me sad. I talked to my late husband and to "dad" and then left for home. The one bright spot yesterday was when I had my hair done t...

The end of December I'd bought two bottles of Timberwood Merlot wine. I opened one in early January, sipped it through dinner and when the last was poured into my glass I noticed something odd at the bottom of the glass: What the ????? I went in the kitchen, Chris trailing behind. I poured what was in the bottom of the glass onto a paper towel and we both stared at it: Broken glass fused by the wine? Gems? I tentatively picked up one and licked it. Chris kind of freaked - what if it was glass and cut my tongue? It didn't. It also didn't taste like anything at all. Very weird. In the years I've been drinking wine (oh shut up), I have never, ever experienced anything like this. So I checked the bottle - nothing else in the bottom of it, rinsed it out, put the crystals in a baggie (I kept two for myself), took photos and then researched which winery this came from. All the label had on it was Ripon, California and the only match to Timberwood was EJ Gallo Wineries. So I se...

Video Professor created a 3-CD tutorial based on my Net Crimes book. View several interviews with me below (click the play button to watch the first one, then go from there)!

Last week I flew to St. Louis for the 2008 DoD CyberCrime Conference . It was a quickie trip - I flew in Tuesday and both my United flights were one time or early! Since I had carry-on bags only, it was a breeze between flights and the shuttle to the hotel was ready to go within 10 minutes of my arrival at the St. Louis airport. I got to the hotel and was told that a box was waiting for me. I knew it was going to be the Video Professor tutorial based on my book, the 2nd edition of Net Crimes & Misdemeanors . I asked them to have someone bring it up to the room. I went to freshen up and wait for the box, talked to Chris (who I missed like crazy already) and waited some more while I unpacked. I finally got sick of waiting and went down to the conference to register, pick up some shirts I'd pre-ordered (one for Chris, two for me) and headed for the speaker room. There I met Katie, new with Technology Forums, the folks who book me for the federal/military conferences. Then my budd...

Does NO ONE think when they come up with product or company names that they KNOW will be sold to the English-speaking public? First, I saw a coupon for this in the Sunday paper supplement section: I am no pothead, but marijuana was the first thing that came to mind. Instead of smoking it, I can drink it - yeehaw!!! For those interested in this, just go to the Joint Juice web site. And no, it's not pot. Then I found this today: Yes, you read right - TATA. It's a new, inexpensive car from India car company TATA Motors . I guess they're abreast of the competition. Or they could go tits up. Now add your own:

Spare Battery Tips New rules for bringing spare batteries on planes with you: Pack spare batteries in carry-on baggage. In the passenger compartment, flight crews can better monitor safety conditions to prevent an incident, and can access fire extinguishers, if an incident does happen. Keep spare batteries in the original retail packaging, to prevent unintentional activation or short-circuiting. For loose batteries, place tape across the battery's contacts to isolate terminals. Isolating terminals prevents short-circuiting. If original packaging is not available, effectively insulate battery terminals by isolating spare batteries from contact with other batteries and metal. Place each battery in its own protective case, plastic bag, or package. Do not permit a loose battery to come in contact with metal objects, such as coins, keys, or jewelry. Only charge batteries which you are sure are rechargeable! Non-rechargeable batteries are not designed for re-charging, and become hazards...

I swear, it's never going to stop snowing this winter, LOL! Chris has been snow blowing and shoveling like a madman. He's also been doing a lot of work on the Jeep - removing the old white paint to prime it and paint it red (not a bright red, a darker red - it's a nice color). The top and trim will be black. He's taking photos of the work he's doing to keep track of it, which I'll post soon. We're staying home tonight after visiting a bartending friend at the local VFW this afternoon. A fire in the fireplace, watch a movie, scratch Bandit and Guin's bellies and ears and just relax and be together. It's nice. Like I wrote before, my engagement ring is hard to describe - the two photos at the end of this don't do it complete justice, but you'll get the drift. The center stone is a dark green emerald; the top band is nine emeralds going from a dark green to a very light green; the bottom band is five diamonds. I plan on getting a plain gold ban...

(read the previous post to see what's going on) Not as nasty as I thought he would be, but refusing to reread the article I was interviewed for and realizing that the quotes he attributed to me were indeed wrong means he's still a dumbass. And the cutesy name for WHOA? Duh, buddy, look it up - it's Working to Halt Online Abuse = WHOA. Plus lumping me in with what the Fox reporter wrote claiming I was blaming the gaming industry, which I did not. . .oh WTF. What an idiot. Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:14:56 -0800 From: Neal Feldman To: JAH Subject: Re: Incorrect quote used in your recent commentary Where did I not 'use the right quotes'? I quoted what the article said. If you have an issue there I suggest you talk to Fox Newstainment. As for the 'so-called' Fox Newstainment has a track record regarding who they call 'experts' that is even lower than abysmal... and since all they did was call you an 'expert' I used the 'consider the source...

Grr. It happened again. A stupid reporter from a small paper in Oregon decided to take a quote out of his ass and attribute it to me. Good lord. Here's the "commentary" this idiot wrote: Logic Fleeting in Online Gaming Safety Debate This is what he wrote about me: One of their so-called 'experts', alleged cyber-stalking victim Jayne Hitchcock, president of Working to Halt Online Abuse (WHOA), makes the claim that games are at fault because they "can foster more vulnerability than there might be on other virtual meeting spaces such as dating and social networking sites". Hogwash! The games always warn you to be aware of unscrupulous folks and to protect yourself accordingly... especially they warn you to NEVER give out account information, credit card information or any other personal information unless you are sure about who you are dealing with, and even then to do so warily. But they can only hold your hand and protect you from your own stupidity so mu...

The segment I videotaped for America's Most Wanted finally aired last night. I was on for a split second on screen, although my voice was in the rest of the segment. I went to the AMW web site to see if they added the tips I'd talked about and instead of me as the expert, they listed another online safety organization, then mine as an afterthought at the very end. This other organization is run by a person who has not liked me from day one when I refused to merge my group into theirs. So they refuse to appear in any media interviews with me (I have emails from reporters stating this, so it IS a fact) and insist on being the only cyber crime expert. I'm surprised they let AMW even mention my group on the web site. Grr. I just hope people who do online dating will take the info and tips I talked about to heart. The tips I talked about are on my blog at Fox Maine . There is also a chapter about online dating in my latest book, the second edition of Net Crimes & Misdemeanor...

I was interviewed by many media outlets for the Myspace suicide story mentioned in an earlier post here. Fox News, Associated Press, local radio and newspaper, even the Dr. Phil Show called about possibly doing a show about it, but postponed it. What gets me is just about every major media outlet misquoted or quoted me out of context. The AP Story quoted me as stating that the law passed in Dardenne Prairie outlawing cyberstalking was meaningless (this is the city where the girl lived). It is. But the reporter didn't add just WHY I stated it was meaningless, so I looked like a mean person who didn't give a damn about the girl who died. Oy. The reason the law is meaningless is because the law can only be used if BOTH the victim and harasser are located in Dardenne Prairie, or just the harasser (a victim, if they have to pursue charges or sue their harasser, must do so where the harasser lives, not where they live. . .unless the police want to extradite the harasser, which rarel...

The segment I was interviewed for on America's Most Wanted was pushed back to either December 22 or the 29th. I can't get a better answer than that. Since it is a filler and not time-sensitive, I have to expect delays like this. So just tune in to Fox on Saturday those dates to see if the online dating segment is in the previews of what's going to be on the show. They don't list on their web site what is going to be on their upcoming shows. Let's hope it airs before the end of the year! Also, Video Professor's launch has been delayed until the first week of January.

I moderate a YahooGroup for my organization, WHOA, and this is the reply I sent yesterday: Re: Kudos to Dardenne Prairie Mo for a new law making online harassment a crime there. It's not a kudo. It's a band aid. And it wouldn't have helped in this case at all. Cyberstalking and online harassment are not "cruel messages", as was sent to this girl, number one. Number two, the law only applies for that one town, so that means a case can only occur if the victim and harasser live in Dardenne Prairie. The town did this to appease the girl's parents. What happened to her was horrible, don't get me wrong, but what needs to change is the accountability of sites such as Myspace, not creating laws that will do nothing like this one. Myspace, Yahoo, Hotmail, Facebook, etc need to have some sort of safeguard so that fake profiles can NOT be opened up and used to demean, harass, or be forged in someone else's names. That is the answer. I was on a radio show this ...

I just wanted to let you know that I was interviewed as an expert for a segment about online dating for America's Most Wanted. It was supposed to air tomorrow night, but has been moved to December 8th on Fox TV at 9 pm (after "COPS"). This is because it is not a time-sensitive story and is more of a "filler" for AMW. There isn't anything on their site yet that I can see, but keep an eye out on there for info about the show just prior and after my segment airs. They are going to add more video of me on the web site later on, as the camera guy spent close to two hours interviewing me and I know they'll use less than five minutes of it on the show.

I'm a member of Sisters In Crime (both national and New England) and have gotten to meet a lot of my favorite mystery authors. When I read in the local paper that Tess Gerritsen was going to be giving a talk at our local library this past Saturday night, I figured I'd see if she could join Chris and I for drinks afterward. Chris is a HUGE fan of hers (and this is no lie - he's read just about every book of hers), so he was excited. I emailed Tess and got a prompt reply that she and her husband, Jacob, would love to come to our house afterwards for drinks. Chris couldn't contain himself - he was actually nervous. We went to the library for her lecture at 7 pm. She talked about her latest book, The Bone Garden , which is a bit of a departure from her Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles series. It goes back and forth between the late 1800s and present day, but of course there is a murder to be solved. She talked about the research she conducted for writing the late 1800s par...