Today was a triumphant day for me. A fellow Etsian messaged me to let me know that our former stalker was finally "down". Her site domain was for sale. We had been cyber-bullied by Nora Laguna for a few years (yes, years) and this is a small final victory.
For a while, I hid my online identity so that she could not find me so easily. Until I could get her blocked everywhere, she harassed me on Facebook, Twitter, Etsy, and anywhere my real name or business name popped up. Of course I was not the only one she was bullying, so I was contacted by others and banded together to take her down.
She didn't go down without a fight. We used her own tactics right back at her, attacking on Facebook, Twitter, and other means. One group devoted a web page on TheDirty.com (now defunct). I personally had her removed from eBay and formed another group on Etsy to have both of her shops closed. Props to eBay and Etsy for handling it so well!
Why was she doing this? She was one of the old school online scammers, a la the "bait-and-switch". She posted photos of items and unsuspecting buyers would buy them. It was usually beautiful vintage clothing that would never arrive, or arrive nowhere near the stated condition. I had purchased a $200 lot of vintage clothing that was described as, and included photos of, 75+ pieces of vintage clothing. The box I received had about 20 pieces of vintage clothing, in questionable condition, and the rest were just random thrift store items and possibly her ex-boyfriends' clothing.
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| Kitty didn't mind the clothes. |
When I filed a complaint with eBay and PayPal, the harassment began. She had my name, address, phone number, and email address, and so was easily able to find my business and Facebook and any social media. She posted threats and all sorts of lies and profanities. It is nightmarish when you are going through it. I had to set up Google alerts and even considered hiring a hacker to take her offline. I can't explain the relief I felt when I was contacted by others going through the same thing. Then we only had each other. Now there are organizations (
stopcyberbullying.org) and (www.bullyonline.org).
Just recently, as in January 1st, 2015, I felt safe enough to post a new website, and even link to all of my social media on this site. She may rear her ugly head again, but this time I am prepared. You may now legally prosecute someone for cyber-bullying. This wasn't the case in 2009 when this all went down. So much has changed in such a short time. This post is mostly cathartic, but also to make sure her story is kept alive and she does not get to fade quietly away.
"Living well is the best revenge." - George Herbert
