Here's how a stalker can track you through an image sent over WhatsApp

Online stalking is a reality which not many netizens in India are aware about. This is mainly because people do not take their online privacy seriously. Stalking is a serious crime and is a punishable offence. However, due to lack of awareness, people easily fall prey to stalkers and have little clue about how to deal with them. The constant harassment, emotional blackmail and disturbing threats can be a nightmare for the victims.

A stalker mostly plans his/her actions in advance and follows the script. While you might be giving out information about yourself on social media platforms and feel that it is not risky, your stalker might collect these minor information to use them as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to haunt you.

Even if you are not active on social media, a stalker can guess your exact location by just sending you a multimedia file like an image or GIF on WhatsApp. The bait can be anything that you may find interesting and eventually click on it.

Here's how it works

You will receive a WhatsApp message (or SMS) from an unknown sender. The message will have an unsuspecting shortened link (will mostly look like a Google link) and the sender will lure you to click by saying-- the latest image of a celebrity or click this to know about the latest government scam. On clicking the link, the victim will be shown a funny image or any random news clipping, which is totally harmless. In most occasions, you will either delete the message or will not bother at all. But what you will not realise is that you will have given away your exact location to the stalker by just clicking on the link.

Here's what happens in the background

Your stalker creates a masked link of a multimedia file. The innocent link is actually created using an IP logger client. There are countless IP logger websites which pops out through a simple Google search. Now, the stalker will send this link to you over WhatsApp or SMS and grab your attention by composing an inquisitive message around the link--like any typical clickbait. The moment you click on it, your IP address gets logged and the staker gets to know about it. Then the stalker will simply have to use an IP tracker service to pinpoint your exact location. This location information could come handy if the stalker intends to harm you or harass you over calls.

The only relief is that there are few IP loggers and trackers that can give out exact locations. And it takes a bit of research to find the right tool. Having said that, any tracker can easily locate you around a district of a state and even the nearest telecom tower. The stalker can then visit that area and eventually get your exact location of your house or other place that you visit by simply following you.

So, before you click on any link sent by an unknown contact do think about this possibility. To be sure about what you click, you can use services like 'Getlinkinfo.com' or other to unmask the original link and whether it's an IP logger or not.