Stalking & Harassment Investigation Guide
When someone is stalking or harassing you, the two most useful things you can do are build a clear, dated record of what happened and report it to the people who can act on it. One thing has to be said plainly first: a screen name, a burner number, a throwaway email or a description of a stranger, on its own, cannot be traced to a real person by any lawful private route — not by us, and not by anyone selling that promise. The platform and the police can compel subscriber records that no private firm may obtain, so that is where an anonymous account or number goes. Our work is United States public-records research on a person you can already name and need a current address for, so a petition can be served. This guide covers how to keep a record that holds up, where to report, and where that narrower locate fits a protective-order, police-report, or civil case — never confronting or surveilling anyone yourself.
The Short Version
If you are in immediate danger, call 911 first — this page is about building the case, not handling an emergency. Then the honest part. If all you have is a screen name, an anonymous account, a spoofed or burner number, or a description, there is no lawful private route from that to a real name — no records firm can do it, and we will not take the request. Report the account to the platform and file a police report: the platform can suspend the account and preserve its records, and the police can subpoena the platform or the carrier for the subscriber behind it, which no private party may do. Keep a dated log and save every message meanwhile; that record is what a court acts on. We work on subjects in the United States only, and only where you can already name the person and need a current address so a protective-order petition, police report, or civil complaint can be served. We are not a consumer reporting agency, and nothing we search may be used for employment, tenant, credit or insurance decisions. We do not surveil or confront anyone — that is for you to avoid and for law enforcement to handle.
Watch: Building the Case Safely
How documentation and lawful identification work together.
Watch Overview
Start With Safety, Then Documentation
What to do before anyone investigates anything.
Before you think about identifying anyone, take care of the immediate things. If you feel you are in danger, contact local law enforcement or call 911 — a documented case is no substitute for getting to safety. Tell a few trusted people what is happening so you are not carrying it alone, and consider talking with a domestic-violence or victim-services advocate, who can walk you through local protective-order options at no cost. None of that requires you to investigate; it just puts the right people around you first.
Once you are safe, the most powerful habit you can build is a contemporaneous log. Keep a single running record with the date, time, place, and a plain description of each incident — the call, the text, the drive-by, the message from a new account. Save every voicemail, screenshot every message before it disappears, and back the file up somewhere the other person cannot reach. Note any witnesses and keep their names. This log is the spine of everything that follows: a protective-order petition, a police report, or a civil claim all rest on a clear timeline of who did what, when. The platform, the police, or your own knowledge names the person; your own careful records prove the pattern.
The Two Jobs of an Investigation
Documenting the conduct, and getting it in front of the people who can name and locate the person.
Document the Pattern
Build the dated timeline: a log of incidents, saved messages, voicemails, screenshots, and witness names. The law looks for a course of conduct, not a single bad day, so the record has to show repetition over time.
Name the Person, Then Locate
When the conduct hides behind an unknown number or an anonymous profile, the platform and the police are the ones who can put a name to it, through records a subpoena reaches and a private search does not. Where you already know who it is, records research searches for the current address a court and the police both need.
Hand It to the Right People
The finished package goes to your attorney, the court, or law enforcement. They decide on charges, a protective order, or a civil filing. The investigation supports their work; it does not replace it.
Most victims can do the first job themselves with discipline and a phone. The second is where people hit a wall — you cannot serve, sue, or charge a phone number or a screen name, and no private search turns one into a person. A report to the platform and to the police is what closes that gap; once the person is named, a records search for where they can be served is the difference between “someone keeps doing this” and “this specific person did this, and here is where to serve them.”
Why the Identity Stays Hidden
The usual reasons you can name the conduct but not the person.
Harassment today rarely arrives with a return address. Federal law treats a sustained pattern of conduct that puts a person in reasonable fear as criminal stalking under specific circumstances, and most states have their own stalking and harassment statutes with civil protective-order remedies on top. But none of those tools help until the person can be named — and a determined harasser works hard to stay anonymous, cycling burner numbers, throwaway email addresses, and fresh social accounts faster than you can block them.
That anonymity is what stalls otherwise strong cases. A judge cannot issue a protective order against “unknown,” and an officer cannot open a meaningful file on a screen name with no person attached. The conduct is documented, the fear is real, and still the case sits — not because the evidence is weak, but because the defendant has no name yet. Closing that gap is the platform’s and the police’s job — a subpoena to a carrier or platform is the only lawful route from an anonymous account to a name — and reporting promptly, with your log attached, is the single most useful thing you can add.
Forms the Harassment Often Takes
Different channels, and a different route for each.
Anonymous Messages
Texts, emails, or DMs from numbers and accounts you do not recognize. Report them to the platform and the police; a private search cannot name them.
Fake or Burner Profiles
Social-media accounts built to follow, monitor, or contact you, with no real name behind the handle. The platform’s abuse desk and a police report are the route.
Repeated Calls
Hang-ups, blocked-number calls, or spoofed caller IDs that ring at all hours. Your carrier can trace them for the police; nobody private can.
Showing Up in Person
Someone appearing where you live, work, or spend time. Report it to the police; if you know who it is, a records search can look for where to serve them.
A Name You Half-Know
You know who it is but cannot find a current address to put in a petition or hand to the police.
Old or Wrong Address
You have a name but the address on file is stale, so a petition cannot be served and the case never gets in front of a judge.
From a Name to an Address
How a locate works once you can name the person.
You Send the Name
The person’s full name, any old address, an approximate age, or a phone number in their name — real identifiers for a subject in the United States. A screen name or a description alone is not a starting point, and we say so.
We Research Lawfully
Those identifiers are searched against public records and licensed databases for a current address, cross-checked against known associates so the match is the right one.
We Note the Sources
Whatever the records show is cross-checked and the supporting sources noted, with an honest note where an address cannot be confirmed, so what you hand the court or police rests on records, not a guess.
Your Counsel Acts
You and your attorney use the package to petition for a protective order, file a police report, or serve a civil complaint. We document; the authorities act.
Where the Investigation Fits Each Path
Three legal routes, and what each one needs from you.
| Path | What It Does | What It Requires | Where Research Helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protective Order | A civil court order directing the person to stop contact and stay away from you. | A documented pattern of conduct and a named respondent who can be served. | Searching for the named respondent’s current address for service. |
| Police Report | Opens a criminal file that can lead to charges under stalking or harassment laws. | Evidence of a course of conduct and, ideally, an identified suspect. | Searching for a current address once a suspect is named; anonymous accounts go to a police subpoena. |
| Civil Case | A lawsuit for damages or an injunction against the responsible party. | A defendant who can be named, served, and held accountable. | Searching for a named defendant’s address so the case can proceed. |
Read down the right-hand column and the pattern is plain: every path needs a named, locatable person. Your log proves the conduct; the platform, the police, or your own knowledge names the person; the records search looks for where to serve them. Together they turn a frightening situation into a case a court can actually act on.
Lawful Research, Not Surveillance
What this kind of investigation is — and what it is not.
It matters how the identity is found. Legitimate work here means records research: searching a named person’s public records and licensed databases under permissible-purpose rules for a current address, the same lawful sourcing used in an online harasser investigation or when working to find an anonymous text sender.
That boundary protects the victim, not the harasser. Evidence gathered cleanly survives a courtroom; evidence gathered by breaking the law gets thrown out and can expose you to liability. The same logic applies to documentation: capturing public posts and messages sent to you is fine, while monitoring someone else’s private accounts is not. When questions of online behavior come up, our broader guidance on lawful, court-usable methods is laid out in our social media investigation guide. The whole point is to keep your case strong and keep you out of harm’s way.
Who We Help
We search records for a person you can name; you and your counsel act.
Harassment Victims
An address for a person you can name
Attorneys
A named, serveable respondent
Protective Orders
An address to put in the petition
Victim Advocates
A documented file to refer
Online Targets
Routed to the platform and police
Workplaces
A named threat located for service
Whatever the channel, the wall is the same: you cannot petition, charge, or sue a person you cannot name. Where the name is missing, the platform and the police close that gap; where you have it, we search public records through lawful skip tracing for a current address, with the sources noted so your filing rests on facts. When the harassment runs through a number you can already tie to a person, our work pairs naturally with a careful reverse phone lookup; when it precedes the need to file, it connects to locating the person to serve papers on. We do not surveil, confront, or contact the other party — that stays with you to avoid and with law enforcement to handle — and we work on subjects in the United States only.
Our Commitment
Where you can name the person, we search public records and licensed databases for a current address and note the sources, with an honest note where something cannot be confirmed, so a protective order, police report, or civil case can move. Where you cannot, we say so and point you to the platform and the police. Safe, lawful, victim-and-counsel-facing work since 2004.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you investigate the stalker, or help me document my case?
Both have a place, but not the same one. You build the dated record of incidents; anonymous numbers and accounts go to the platform and the police, who can compel the records that name a person; and where you can already name the person, we search records for a current address. Your attorney, the court, or the police then act on it. We do not surveil or contact the other party.
I am being harassed right now. What should I do first?
If you feel you are in danger, call 911 or contact local law enforcement before anything else. Once you are safe, start a contemporaneous log and save every message. A documented case is important, but it never comes before your immediate safety.
How do I document harassment so it holds up?
Keep one running log with the date, time, place, and a description of each incident, and save voicemails, screenshots, and emails before they disappear. Note any witnesses, and back the file up where the other person cannot reach it. Courts look for a course of conduct, so the timeline matters.
Can you identify someone behind an anonymous number or account?
No, and neither can any private firm lawfully. A screen name, a burner number, or a throwaway email does not appear in any public record or licensed database a private party may search. The platform can act on the account, and the police can subpoena the platform or the carrier for the subscriber behind it. Report it there, with your log.
Will the information help me get a protective order?
A court generally needs a named respondent who can be served, along with your documented pattern of conduct. Where you can name the respondent, we search records for a current address for service; your documentation supplies the pattern. Together they give a judge what is needed to consider a petition.
Is this legal, and will the evidence stand up?
Identifying a person through public records and licensed databases under permissible-purpose rules is lawful, and evidence gathered cleanly survives in court.
Can the person find out you looked them up?
Lawful records research does not notify the subject or contact them in any way. We work from public records and licensed databases and report only to you or your counsel, so the process does not tip off the person you are documenting.
What do you need from me to start?
The person’s full name, and ideally an old address, an approximate age, or a phone number in their name — and the subject must be in the United States. A screen name, a burner number, or a description alone is not enough to start a search, and we will say so rather than take the order.
Serve the Person You Can Name
If you can name the person, we search public records for a current address, with the sources noted, for a protective order, police report, or civil case — United States subjects only. If all you have is an account or a number, report it to the platform and the police; that is the route that reaches them. If you are in danger, call 911 first, then contact us with the name.
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