This type of information gets asked about in a lot of threads. Rather than have it scattered all about, I thought it would be good to have it all in one place.
The problem is that a nice customer can turn into a Creeper and blow up your phone, email, facebook, etc. Or he figures out your home address and starts calling/visiting you there. There are some steps you can take now that will make it much easier to deal with that mess if it ever happens.
The fundamental step is to create a wall between your online and work persona. Even if you are totally open about your work in real life, you never know which customer will become a Creeper. The better you can keep the two walled off, the easier it will be to deal with any problems.
-- Make up a real person name (first and last) for your work persona. I'll call this your AKA name. It should be something normal and believable (e.g. Wendy Barker). Use this name for interacting with customers and when creating online accounts.
-- Never give out your real email. Create a work email with the AKA name. I recommend gmail since you can forward the emails to your real email account. This way you don't have to log in to check for emails. WARNING: if you forward emails, make sure you reply to the email by logging into your AKA account, not your real account. If you reply from your real email account, you may reveal your real email.
-- Never give out your real cellphone #. Get a google voice account. This will allow you to forward calls and texts to your work phone. Even if you have a work phone, get google voice. WARNING: do not call/text customers back directly from your phone or else they may get your real number. Use google voice to dial the call. Log into google voice to text customers. This way the customer only knows your google voice number. Consider getting a prepaid phone and use it for all your business calls.
-- Create a facebook account with your AKA name and email. Never give your customers your real fb account. Be careful the info you post to the AKA account doesn't reveal too much about your real self. Do not have any friends in common between your real and AKA fb accounts. A Creeper will look through all the friends lists to find more info. If you have a friend on both your real and AKA fb, he may find the real you. Occasionally look at the AKA profile from your real profile and see if facebook says you have any friends in common.
-- Never link to pictures/videos from an account in your real name. There may be risks in giving links to media in facebook/photobucket/etc. When giving links to photos/videos, only do so from a work account. If you link to something out of your real account, the URL may reveal information that the Creeper can use to figure out the account name. It doesn't mean they can break in, but they may be able to figure out the account name. Only give out links to accounts which have been setup with your AKA name.
--Be careful using ChipIn/PayPal. ChipIn will reveal your PayPal email address. Your PayPal email address will reveal your name associated with the account. Anyone making a donation will see your real name and primary PayPal email. [Anyone know how to get around this? I have not found a way to hide your identity on paypal]
-- Use the AKA name in wishlists. Many websites allow you to setup wishlists. Be sure the name the customer sees is not a real name. Use your AKA name or "Resident" and specify your real name as c/o in the first address line. For example, your Amazon wishlist address might look like this:
Do not have the visible name be a real name of someone you know (e.g. your sister). A Creeper will take that info and google it or search facebook looking for her. Even if he knows it's not you, he will look through her facebook friends to find you.
Taking these steps will make it much harder for the Creeper to find the real you and will be much easier to block him completely if he becomes a problem.
The problem is that a nice customer can turn into a Creeper and blow up your phone, email, facebook, etc. Or he figures out your home address and starts calling/visiting you there. There are some steps you can take now that will make it much easier to deal with that mess if it ever happens.
The fundamental step is to create a wall between your online and work persona. Even if you are totally open about your work in real life, you never know which customer will become a Creeper. The better you can keep the two walled off, the easier it will be to deal with any problems.
-- Make up a real person name (first and last) for your work persona. I'll call this your AKA name. It should be something normal and believable (e.g. Wendy Barker). Use this name for interacting with customers and when creating online accounts.
-- Never give out your real email. Create a work email with the AKA name. I recommend gmail since you can forward the emails to your real email account. This way you don't have to log in to check for emails. WARNING: if you forward emails, make sure you reply to the email by logging into your AKA account, not your real account. If you reply from your real email account, you may reveal your real email.
-- Never give out your real cellphone #. Get a google voice account. This will allow you to forward calls and texts to your work phone. Even if you have a work phone, get google voice. WARNING: do not call/text customers back directly from your phone or else they may get your real number. Use google voice to dial the call. Log into google voice to text customers. This way the customer only knows your google voice number. Consider getting a prepaid phone and use it for all your business calls.
-- Create a facebook account with your AKA name and email. Never give your customers your real fb account. Be careful the info you post to the AKA account doesn't reveal too much about your real self. Do not have any friends in common between your real and AKA fb accounts. A Creeper will look through all the friends lists to find more info. If you have a friend on both your real and AKA fb, he may find the real you. Occasionally look at the AKA profile from your real profile and see if facebook says you have any friends in common.
-- Never link to pictures/videos from an account in your real name. There may be risks in giving links to media in facebook/photobucket/etc. When giving links to photos/videos, only do so from a work account. If you link to something out of your real account, the URL may reveal information that the Creeper can use to figure out the account name. It doesn't mean they can break in, but they may be able to figure out the account name. Only give out links to accounts which have been setup with your AKA name.
--Be careful using ChipIn/PayPal. ChipIn will reveal your PayPal email address. Your PayPal email address will reveal your name associated with the account. Anyone making a donation will see your real name and primary PayPal email. [Anyone know how to get around this? I have not found a way to hide your identity on paypal]
-- Use the AKA name in wishlists. Many websites allow you to setup wishlists. Be sure the name the customer sees is not a real name. Use your AKA name or "Resident" and specify your real name as c/o in the first address line. For example, your Amazon wishlist address might look like this:
or
This way the customer will only see "Resident, Fullton, TX". Obviously, this reveals the city. If that is a risk, have the gifts sent to a trusted person in another city, but still have your AKA name as the Full Name.
Do not have the visible name be a real name of someone you know (e.g. your sister). A Creeper will take that info and google it or search facebook looking for her. Even if he knows it's not you, he will look through her facebook friends to find you.
Taking these steps will make it much harder for the Creeper to find the real you and will be much easier to block him completely if he becomes a problem.
