HELP, Death threat by guest!

[nero1]

Forum URL: taylor.boards.net

Hi guys, some moron has made a clear death threat as a "guest", is it possible for staff to provide me the ip-adress used by the "guest"?

Can I respond, or even move the post, or do I leave it there like it is, so you can confirm and take legal action?
Before you (staff) remove it, I do want it too, so I can forward it to the person(s) who are threatened!

I know it's probably just a pathetic sick creep, but it's posted on a public forum!

[Kami]

You should be able to see the ip address of the guest post by clicking the drop-down cog on the right hand side of the post.

I'll let the staff answer to the rest of this!

[Michael]

As Kami mentioned you can get the IP address for yourself.

You should report this to the appropriate authorities.

[nero1]

Thanks Kami

The ip-address used by the "guest" is:

*

[Michael]

Please do not post the IP here.

[nero1]

Aug 12, 2019 11:57:02 GMT -8 Michael said:

As Kami mentioned you can get the IP address for yourself.

You should report this to the appropriate authorities.

Hi Michael Stone, isn't this also something for proboards legal team? I mean it's posted on a proboards forum!

[Kami]

I don't think we're allowed to post IP addresses publicly. But as Michael said, you should report it to the proper authorities so they can take over. I'm sure TSwift and her team would want to know from the authorities if it's a credible threat.

[nero1]

Aug 12, 2019 11:59:34 GMT -8 Kami said:

I don't think we're allowed to post IP addresses publicly. But as Michael said, you should report it to the proper authorities so they can take over. I'm sure TSwift and her team would want to know from the authorities if it's a credible threat.

I already contacted TN, not sure if they read DM's, contacting the "proper" authorities for a "global" threat isn't that easy! 
the ip-address is listed as Austrian.

[Michael]

Aug 12, 2019 12:08:39 GMT -8 nero1 said:

Aug 12, 2019 11:59:34 GMT -8 Kami said:

I don't think we're allowed to post IP addresses publicly. But as Michael said, you should report it to the proper authorities so they can take over. I'm sure TSwift and her team would want to know from the authorities if it's a credible threat.

I already contacted TN, not sure if they read DM's, contacting the "proper" authorities for a "global" threat isn't that easy! 
the ip-address is listed as Austrian.

I think you've fulfilled your responsibility. Celebrities get threatened, you made your best effort to inform them of this threat. With the information you have (an IP address and an anonymous screen name) there isn't much else to be done. I'm sure the security teams hired will be able to gather further information if necessary.

You may also want to report this to your local cyber crime division.

[nero1]

Aug 12, 2019 12:15:57 GMT -8 Michael said:

Aug 12, 2019 12:08:39 GMT -8 nero1 said:

I already contacted TN, not sure if they read DM's, contacting the "proper" authorities for a "global" threat isn't that easy! 
the ip-address is listed as Austrian.

I think you've fulfilled your responsibility. Celebrities get threatened, you made your best effort to inform them of this threat. With the information you have (an IP address and an anonymous screen name) there isn't much else to be done. I'm sure the security teams hired will be able to gather further information if necessary.

You may also want to report this to your local cyber crime division.

I contacted the Austrian CCU of Europol (the ip was Austrian):
www.europol.europa.eu/report-a-crime/report-cybercrime-online

Celebs get threatened, yes... but that doesn't mean that it isn't illegal, even in the US... 

[Retread]

Aug 12, 2019 11:35:24 GMT -8 nero1 said:

Can I respond, or even move the post, or do I leave it there like it is

I recommend not replying. Attention is what that person wants. Why give it to them?

Moving an offending thread or post to a board where guests and members can't view or access is generally a good idea. The IP will remain intact and your members and guest won't be troubled by reading it.

You might also ban by IP to prevent them from easily returning. They would need to use a different IP to post again.

[nero1]

Aug 12, 2019 12:41:17 GMT -8 Retread said:

Aug 12, 2019 11:35:24 GMT -8 nero1 said:

Can I respond, or even move the post, or do I leave it there like it is

I recommend not replying. Attention is what that person wants. Why give it to them?

Moving an offending thread or post to a board where guests and members can't view or access is generally a good idea. The IP will remain intact and your members and guest won't be troubled by reading it.

You might also ban by IP to prevent them from easily returning. They would need to use a different IP to post again.

That's a problem, I have reported the thread/post to Europol, if I move it now, they won't be able to see it.

[Kami]

If you put it on a private board only you can access, you can let them know you can grant access to an authorised representative after verifying their credentials and can either a) move it back when they're ready to view or b) invite the rep to the forum using their work email via the admin panel and give them a special member group with access to the private board so they can see the content.

[nero1]

Aug 12, 2019 13:39:53 GMT -8 Kami said:

If you put it on a private board only you can access, you can let them know you can grant access to an authorised representative after verifying their credentials and can either a) move it back when they're ready to view or b) invite the rep to the forum using their work email via the admin panel and give them a special member group with access to the private board so they can see the content.

Got a mail back from

Federal Ministry of the Interior

Austria General Directorate for Public Security

Criminal Intelligence Service Austria

I'll move the post, to my "bad" section, I did my best to report it, strange how hard it is to report something illegal.

[Kami]

Unfortunately in these cases, the service provider (in this instance, ProBoards) cannot take action on something outside its jurisdiction. Their TOS governs how people behave on their service, so at best all they can do is issue in IP ban across the service for the last known IP of this guest user.

However, as with the forum-level IP ban, this comes with caveats as an IP ban is by no means inherently permanent with many ways to change an IP either intentionally or unintentionally. Since you are the forum owner, you're in the best position to make the report to the correct authorities since you are the person in charge of the forum.

It is frustrating how difficult it is to report these things, but companies like PB don't have the resources to devote to tracking down people who make threats of this nature. Yes, they have a legal team, but those legalities have to do with the business and not criminal actions such as this.