Need help understanding if a specific persons tracks me on-line

Please help me understand if a specific persons tracks me on-line.

There is a girl that likes me and is very persistent. She doesn't have my email or my phone number. We are friends on a Russian social network vk.com. I have noticed on a few occasions that she posts same songs or otherwise reflects on media that I consume. Some of it could be explained by very close attention to my profile (like when I add a track to a bunch of hundreds of others), but some can not. Most recently she posted two songs I listened to on Youtube. I do not have an account, I didn't comment on these songs, I didn't like them etc - there was no way anyone could have found out. And these are little-known Italian songs of the 60-ies, can't be a coincidence.
I checked my PC with Dr. Web and Advanced System Care, which found no security flaws.
With that in mind, where should I start in order to understand if I am being spied on?
Thank you in advance.

OK, so, you're telling the world of AntiOnline, that you're 100% sure that just because someone posted songs you like, they are stalking you? And you've totally ruled out the chance that they may just like the music too?

WTF!?

I'm totally confused.... You said that basically, they seem to enjoy the same music you do.... Doesn't that sort of come with the chance that they too, might find the same stuff you like, no matter how unknown it is?

I'll try and reply to this a little closer;

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Originally Posted by ggn

There is a girl that likes me and is very persistent. She doesn't have my email or my phone number.

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OK, so she has no way of contacting you. OK so far.

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We are friends on a Russian social network vk.com.

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OK, I don't know about everyone else, but for me, I'm rarely friends with people unless we share common interests. Music is one of them.

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I have noticed on a few occasions that she posts same songs or otherwise reflects on media that I consume.

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Consume? Do you have an MP3 cooker?

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Some of it could be explained by very close attention to my profile (like when I add a track to a bunch of hundreds of others), but some can not.

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So instead of thinking they just might be into the same music as you are, you're going ahead with assuming that they "must be paying very close attention to your profile" ???? Are you seriously that interesting?

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Most recently she posted two songs I listened to on Youtube. I do not have an account, I didn't comment on these songs, I didn't like them etc - there was no way anyone could have found out.

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Then it stands to reason that either they have complete control of your Computer and can see everything you do (Like, for example, they have a telescope mounted in a way that it looks at your screen....) OR.... And I'm just tossing out ideas here; They like the same song....

Now, how can we make this assumption? Well, more than YOU have to like a song for a band to get a record deal in Italy 50 years ago. So, there's a CHANCE that someone else liked it too, and therefore, someone else, like this girl, just might be one of those people.

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And these are little-known Italian songs of the 60-ies, can't be a coincidence.

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Are you sure? At least a board room full of Music executives had to like the song for it to get released. There isn't even a SMALL chance that she just happens to like that song too?

You said yourself that she seems to share the same taste in music as you do, so why wouldn't she eventually find this stuff and link to it for others?

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I checked my PC with Dr. Web and Advanced System Care, which found no security flaws.
With that in mind, where should I start in order to understand if I am being spied on?
Thank you in advance.

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I'd suggest a Psychiatrist. Maybe Doctor Ruth; She might be able to make you see that any girl into ****ing 60's Italian music that YOU like, might be single. And if they're that damn interested in you, go hit that man!

The way you think you're being spied on is kinda creepy. I mean, don't get me wrong; It's GOOD to be vigilant and all that, and be cautious of things around you, that's great, and security mindedness does come with a sort of paranoia.

But assuming a girl is stalking you online because they like the same music.... Maybe you SHOULD give her your number. Hit it.

Thanks for a detailed reply, gore)
Would make for a nice humourous book. I did deliberate before posting these thoughts - it's not that I came out with them out of the blue.
One small note before I go on: "media consumption" is a professional term as in a phrase "How Media Consumption Has Changed Since ...".
The facts I wrote are just those that concern the Internet side of things. She has been following me a few times in real life too, but this is a computer security forum. It's been going on for about a year: a smallest change in my profile (like adding a new favourite quote - that does not appear in friends' news) prompted questions from her - and you have to really monitor one's profile to notice such small details.
If you add a song (or merely search for it - I don't remeber) - that's not in the friends' news section too - and the next day she posts it;
If you once in 6 months you go to find a video of that Italian singer, listen to a couple of songs, one of which is random and you don't even like it - and the next day she posts exactly these two videos;
If she posts a note on the lyrics of a song you recently added (not in the friends' news section as well) and listened to just the night before;
If she tells you she knows you're dating someone, whereas you don't discuss it on the social network at all (perhaps personally with friends only, and there are no common friends);
you can start to have ideas.
N.B. She does copy my music and other predilections which are open to the public, and I have no problem with it, but I have a feeling she could have crossed the line inquiring into my likes.
Finally, I was fine and I could believe it was all coincidence until that Youtube thing happened - if you consider facts, there is a very small chance of that happening.
Thank you for advice. What I need to know though is if there are programmes that could get on my computer unbeknownst to me that might be giving her that information.

Yea, I'm pretty entertaining; If you read through any of my other posts, I generally can make people laugh at will. And btw; Before taking what I said wrongly, you may want to note that quite a few things you just said, were NOT in your initial post, and would have changed the way I replied greatly, as you never said she follows you in real life. But, for what it's worth, it'll be easier to hit it if she's near by :) lol.

On a serious note; I'm from Michigan, and we have some CRAZY Woman here. I can't count the number of times a friend of mine has said "Dude... My GF is ****ing nuts!" and then relayed a story to me that they woke up and the girl was standing over them, in the middle of the night, with a knife in her hands, saying "I could kill you right now and you wouldn't even know it"....

And yes, that's a true story; It happened to my best friend. He actually woke up in the middle of the night one day, to his then GF standing over him with a KNIFE and she actually said that ****.

So yea, I'm VERY familiar with crazy stalker girls.

And in your case, had you actually pointed out the details you just posted in the second post, I'd have known it was a little more than just liking the same music.

See, AntiOnline, as a whole, in general, will get a lot of posts where someone asks a question, such as the one you did, where they will say they have a problem or issue, and, then, not really give enough detail, so it's hard to answer without saying "Well, I need to know this this and this and that before I can answer" which is something most of us senior long time members have said at least 200 times.

See, your post had some detail, but, you kinda left out that whole part where she follows you around in REAL LIFE.... And it would have been pertinent to know that she was doing the other things you didn't mention until your reply.

Now that we know she's ****ing nuts, we can continue :)

#1. Crazy girls are awesome in bed, and if she's following you around, you definitely have a shot, so hit that!

#2 It's entirely possible that something is installed unbeknown to you; In fact it's fairly easy. Ask yourself this though' How good is she with a Computer? Even though any idiot can download and blast someone with a DDoS attack, NOT every idiot can actually manage to get a Key Logger or something similar into a Machine without at least trying.

Also, you did mention the scan you did that came up clean, and I'd like to ask a few things myself now:

Do you have Anti Virus installed? If so, which one? Have you ever tried another? For example, I've used two and three different Anti Virus products at the same time before when I was testing things out.

Do you have anything for Spyware? I know that these days' Basically EVERY Anti Virus company, now makes a Spyware and Malware scanner too, and even root kit scanners, but it wasn't always the case, so I'll ask if you have one anyway.

For example; I have exactly ONE Machine with Windows on it, and on that machine, I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, and I have AVG Anti Virus (The Free one) and Spybot S&D, and I update them, and scan with them, all the time.

I don't allow auto updates; mostly because it's an annoying pain in the ass, but I do update my stuff myself, by hand, every day.

If you don't have any Anti Virus, I'd suggest you get yourself AVG Free. Install it, update it, and scan again.

Also, grab Spybot Search and Destroy! Update it, close any Web Browsers you have open, and then run "Immunize" and then, run a scan.

Also, which Web Browser do you use? Internet Explorer, I'm told, is getting better, I just don't care; I personally only use Opera and Seamonkey on Windows. I don't like Firefox. Foxes are fast and Fire implies speed so fast it sparks, which Firefox is neither.

I don't like Firefox or Internet Explorer at all. This is personal taste though, so don't take this as advice. I would however, recommend you grab Opera. Opera is fast, and has QUITE a few ways to protect you. You can learn about it on the web so I won't type out another novel worth of text about it.

Also, do you install Windows updates? Are you fully patched? This is important too.

Some people like to think Security is simply a program, but it's not; It's a Process.

Once your machine is fully patched, and you keep that up, and you have Spyware and Malware scanners like Spybot, and you have an Anti Virus Product, and you keep all of this stuff updated, and you scan all the time, THEN you can worry less.

If you have a fully patched machine, and you have Anti Virus you keep up to date, and you have Spybot, and you keep IT up to date, and you run the Immunize thing every time you update, and you're careful online, then, I'd say you're probably OK.

This still could just be a coincidence, though. I feel I should point that out. I don't know what Operating System you're running, so I'm kind of guessing at some of this.

Some people use Windows, some Mac OS X, and some Unix based. I personally have Windows 7 as I said, and then Linux and BSD. I use multiple versions of both Linux and BSD.

Thank you gore,
no offence taken. I know it sounded weird, I just didn't feel like giving too many details unrelated to Internet-security per se, so as to stick to the point of the forum.
I'll try things you suggested as soon as I can.
I use Windows XP SP3, use a Windows Brandmauer, update with Windows-suggested updates, use Opera, run free Dr.Web anti-viruses periodically. Also very rarely I run Advanced SystemCare utility. And just today ran a CCLeaner.
My intention is not only to get rid of possible spyware, but to also understand if she is doing that. But if I end up with just a safer PC that's going to be good too.
Good luck with Michigan ladies)

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Originally Posted by ggn

Thank you gore,
no offence taken. I know it sounded weird, I just didn't feel like giving too many details unrelated to Internet-security per se, so as to stick to the point of the forum.

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Well, staying on topic is good, but in the case of your post, it was perfectly fine to give any kind of detail possible, as it changes things a lot. So don't worry a whole lot about that. I'm a Moderator, I can help guide you lol.

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I'll try things you suggested as soon as I can.
I use Windows XP SP3, use a Windows Brandmauer, update with Windows-suggested updates, use Opera, run free Dr.Web anti-viruses periodically. Also very rarely I run Advanced SystemCare utility. And just today ran a CCLeaner.
My intention is not only to get rid of possible spyware, but to also understand if she is doing that. But if I end up with just a safer PC that's going to be good too.

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Windows XP is alright, and a lot of people seem to be sticking to it, but I'd also suggest to you that you should at least look into upgrading to Windows 7. Windows 7 is probably the best version of Windows ever made.

And coming from me, though you don't know me well, that's REALLY saying something because I don't like Windows a whole lot. Windows 2000 was pretty good, and ran well, but then, Windows ME came out, and then XP, and they just turned everyone's Computers into little blue screened resource intensive whores lol.

But yea, Windows 7, is much better; It's got the ability to run apps as Admin, and finally, they ripped off the Unix "su" and "sudo" style of running apps. Which, it's about ****ing time to say the least. They rip off a lot of crap, and they finally aimed for a good one lol.

Windows 7 will allow you to run a machine in a much better way, as you can run apps that HAVE to run as admin, as admin, without being logged in as such, and I like that. It's like with Unix, where you log in as a normal user, and then use su or sudo to run things as the system admin. That's how an OS should work!

You also have a very much more enhanced set of tools.

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Good luck with Michigan ladies)

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Well, I'm Married heh. I don't think about that stuff anymore; I Married a Quebecois Girl ! My Wife is amazing; She knows Assembler, Perl, more about Hardware than I do, more about Solaris than I do, and She LOVES VI and Hates Gentoo Linux. So we had to get Married lol. Oh, and, She also likes basically the same music I do, and the same Horror Movies I do.

Basically, a Female version of me with a little French Accent. She also LOVES BOFH :) I lucked out.

Are you sure it's not a work collegue? neighbour? or even an ex?

how do you connect to the internet? via ethernet or wireless? is your router configured accordingly ie: wireless password is something non-guessable?

what operating system are you using? firewall / Anti-virrii updated and infact running?

most site's these days have those facebook "Like" buttons are you clicking those?

once again are you sure it's not someone in your household not playing silly buggers?

Thanks for reply:)

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Originally Posted by HYBR|D

Are you sure it's not a work collegue? neighbour? or even an ex?
No - she is not supposed to know even my tel number, address etc. I didn't give it to her. But you never know what people can retrieve these days.
http://rt.com/news/privacy-data-social-network-515/

how do you connect to the internet? via ethernet or wireless? is your router configured accordingly ie: wireless password is something non-guessable?

It is a cable. Definately not wireless. Something plugged into the back of my PC.
The password is not easily guessable.

what operating system are you using? firewall / Anti-virrii updated and infact running?

Windows XP. Windows Brandmauer. IObit Malware fighter (forgot to mention it to gore), but I'm not sure if it is on always or I have to start it manually. Run Dr Web periodically, as well as Advanced SystemCare 4.

most site's these days have those facebook "Like" buttons are you clicking those?
No - I did not! I'm not even registered there!

once again are you sure it's not someone in your household not playing silly buggers?
No, other people are not into computers. Even I am a mere user.

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P.S. Strangely I stopped receiving emails about replies to this thread.

You will only receive a single email notification until you log in and revisit the thread.

Considering where you are located, perhaps the lady in question works for the government and actually is stalking you via your ISP. It has been known to happen. That said, are you using the same ISP each time a questionable "event" occurs?

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Originally Posted by ua549

You will only receive a single email notification until you log in and revisit the thread.

Considering where you are located, perhaps the lady in question works for the government and actually is stalking you via your ISP. It has been known to happen. That said, are you using the same ISP each time a questionable "event" occurs?

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Dear ua549,
yes, it's the same ISP.
As for the country, it is not as bad as many in the West think. Not any person working "in the Gov't" may invade your privacy for the mere virtue of holding a governmental office.
The lady in question was a school teacher, I'm not sure if she is still. She isn't into computers, but with accessibility of knowledge and IT-savy people you don't have to know these things yourself.
Yes, this is a weaker point in my hypothesis, but considering her persistence she could overcome the lack of knowledge in this domain.

Wait when did someone bring up a Country? The only thing I saw personally was that they belong to a site about something with Russian. Belonging to a web site about Russia doesn't really mean anything; I know of lots of people who live in England and are Italia-philes; They Love Italy, Love Italian cooking, and more, but they don't live there, and aren't of Italian descent either.

As for "What the West thinks about Russia"... I don't think that's a fair thing to say; I was born, raised, and taught here in the US, and I've lived in Michigan from my Birth. I've never been to another American State in my entire Life, but I did live in Canada (Quebec) for about a year, before moving back to Michigan where I learned how ****ed up and stupid our Immigration System works, but Canada to most Michigan born and raised people, is nothing but another state.

You'd have to look long and hard to find a Michigan East Coast, or Michigan Northern Coast person, who hasn't been to Canada 200 times, and knows a lot of Canadians.

There's even jokes about Michigan; Like "You know you're from Michigan whe half the Coins in your pocket are from Canada" and so on.

Canada feeds our economy more than any State does, and most of us here, have gone to Canada for everything from Shopping, to just going to eat at Taco Bell where they have Fries Supreme that we don't have here in the US.

We also go and buy Codeine over the counter, to bring back with us, since the laws on Pain Killers in the US are far worse than any Hitler ever did.

Being of German Heritage, and knowing that my Mom was a first generation American Born in my family, I can say that with confidence. My Family was part of the German Resistance in WW2 because we hated Hitler even when it was a death sentence to speak up against him. That's one of the reasons my family left Germany. der Vaterland was in turmoil at the time and my family did NOT like the Nazis, and refused to obey them.

They left Germany, and my Grandpa joined the US side to fight them. I'm proud of that. And I'm damn proud of my German Heritage. When people think of Germany, they instantly think of Nazis. Yet we make the best Cars on Earth. No one "strives" to buy a ****ing Chevy, they strive to buy a Mercedes, or Porsche (Which by the way, for you idiots, it's pronounced "Porshuh" NOT "Porsh"!) and BMWs.

We also were the first country to separate Morphine from Opium to make Pain Killers more available. Before this, you just ate or smoked Opium for Pain. We also were the first to synthesize Oxycodone, Hydrocodone Bitartrate, Hydromorphone, and basically every GOOD Pain Killer on the Market today. But no one thinks of that stuff, they just see Blond Haired Nazis with Blue Eyes.

As for what the perceptions of Russia are... I do not appreciate being categorized as a typical idiot American who knows nothing of culture or countries outside my own. I know damn well the Russian Government cannot, and does not, just invade privacy. Russia has a rich Heritage of structures and Buildings that are not only Beautiful, but also has some of the finest Churches I've ever seen. And who else is going to stand up to make Vodka better than them?

Have you ever tried to choke down ****ing American made Vodka? UGH! It's almost as bad as our "Chocolate" which I put in quotation marks purely to insult anyone who may know someone who's a Chocolatier, or anyone from here, who is one. It's disgusting!

If I ever rise to power; I'm going to import laws from Europe for Chocolate, Candy, and Alcohol. We would no longer be allowed to call what we has as Chocolate, Chocolate. It would be called "Chocolate flavored Candy" since it's mostly wax anyway. And don't get me started on Champaign ! Champaign is exactly like Cognac; It's ONLY allowed to be called as such, if it's made the exact way, from the exact region of France. Nothing else!

Anyway, now that my rant is done, and I've made my point about assumptions on people from "The west" ;) heh.

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Originally Posted by gore

If you don't have any Anti Virus, I'd suggest you get yourself AVG Free. Install it, update it, and scan again.

Also, grab Spybot Search and Destroy! Update it, close any Web Browsers you have open, and then run "Immunize" and then, run a scan.

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OK,
so I ran updated AVG and Spybot S&D, immunized the system. Unlike DrWeb regular checks, they found several problems, but none look attributable to the lady in question. I copy reports I received (there is a part in Russian, but it doesn't prevent you from getting an overall impression):

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Заражения
Файл Заражение
C:\Program Files\Ahead\Nero\Keygen.exe Троянский конь Generic22.BEUN
D:\Archives\cleankh.exe Троянский конь Agent2.BYLH

Шпионское ПО
Файл Заражение
D:\Archives\KazaaDAP223b.exe Рекламное ПО Generic4.BKUQ
D:\Archives\KazaaDAP223b.exe:\ns_00004 Рекламное ПО Generic4.BKUQ

Предупреждения
Файл Заражение
C:\Documents and Settings\igor-nb\Cookies\[email protected][2].txt Найдено Tracking cookie.Webtrends
C:\Documents and Settings\igor-nb\Cookies\[email protected][2].txt:\m.webtrends.com.b4ca7df0 Найдено Tracking cookie.Webtrends
D:\Archives\hhpcex11.exe Поврежденный исполняемый файл

Сведения
Файл Сведения
G:\Photo & Video & Voice\Photo\Samara\Distr\Поиск данных !!!\Copernicdesktopsearch\copernicdesktopsearch24.exe Файл подписан с помощью поврежденной цифровой подписи, выданной Copernic Technologies Inc..
G:\Photo & Video & Voice\Photo\Samara\Distr\Поиск данных !!!\Copernicdesktopsearch\copernicdesktopsearch25.exe Файл подписан с помощью поврежденной цифровой подписи, выданной Copernic Technologies Inc..
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--- Search result list ---
SafeguardProtect.Veevo: [SBI $46DBECA6] Settings (Registry key, nothing done)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Veevo

Microsoft.WindowsSecurityCenter.AntiVirusOverride: [SBI $3604910C] Settings (Registry change, nothing done)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\AntiVirusOverride

Microsoft.WindowsSecurityCenter.FirewallOverride: [SBI $0C94D702] Settings (Registry change, nothing done)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\FirewallOverride


--- Spybot - Search & Destroy version: 1.6.2 (build: 20090126) ---

I think I could have modified Antivirus and Firewall settings. Veevo seems a media platform, not sure what harm it was doing.
I'll try to get Kaspersky and run it too.

Now because the only way I connect with this lady, except on rare occasions in real life, is the social network, I've been thinking - could there be a programme that could get active while I'm in that network, or it is installed on my account without my knowing (I have not installed applications myself). Are there such programmes. If there are Immunize probably helps.