As Mike Tyson has famously said: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The same applies online - trolls, harassers, and other generally unsavory people talk mad smack until you stand up for yourself and spook them in some way.
A person shared how they managed to do just this and scare off a particularly despicable online teenage troll by doing some detective work online, finding where they’re from, and even threatening to inform their mom about their little “hobby”.
More info: Reddit
Sometimes the best way to deal with a troll is not to block them, but rather find out who they are and threaten to expose them to mommy
Image credits: Claudio Schwarz (not the actual photo)
A guy took it to petty revenge to share how he dealt with a trolling teen that he patiently put up with for 19 days
Image credits: u/1448746
Image credits: cottonbro sudio (not the actual photo)
He managed to fool the boy into revealing his general area and managed to find out his full name, which he used to find the kid's mom's Facebook
Image credits: u/1448746
After threatening to inform his mom of what the teen does online, the troll turned tail, started to apologize and blocked his victim
This story is a true masterclass of petty revenge. According to the original poster (OP), charmingly named 1448746, the detective part only took him about 15 minutes. This illustrates a couple of things: people should really keep their personal information more private and you’d think that a serial troll would be a bit smarter than to leave identifying info for everyone to see.
But my guess is that teenage racists that spend their free time trolling people most likely aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed.
The whole thing is also a real show of saintly patience. The OP first waited for 19 days, calmly ignoring the daily abuse he would receive in private messages. The simple solution to the problem would have been to block the troll, but I understand OP’s disdain to do so, as the harasser would frequently take being blocked as a sign of victory.
The poster then goaded the troll into giving him his number and finding out his location from the area code. The troll had also shared his PayPal code, so OP tried sending him some money to find out what his name was.
PayPal actually requires users to use their real name, verified with ID, so that’s why this move actually worked.
Having the kid’s approximate location and his full name, it was only a simple 1+1 process of finding him on Facebook, as he had even used the family dog’s picture on his trolling and personal accounts.
I can only imagine how good it felt to finally put someone like that in their place, especially by threatening to spill the beans to his mommy.
The petty revenge community cheered the poster on, but said that it would have been much more satisfying and righteous to actually go through with it, because it’s likely that the troll won’t change his ways from this one incident. They probably will create a new, more secretive account, and continue business as usual.
Image credits: KAL VISUALS (not the actual photo)
Trolling comes in many different forms. You can find trolls on pretty much any platform, from the biggest social media network to the lowly and now almost defunct forum.
And even the most tight-knit communities have incidents where a troll will hop in, leave a blazing trail across the chats, like a kind of awful comet, all the way until their timely banning.
According to GFCGlobal, there are certain signs of trolls about. One key sign is that they unceasingly attack something that you’ve expressed interest or fondness in. If you notice a kind of systematic bashing of the things you love, it’s likely that you’re being trolled.
Similarly to the kid in OP’s situation, trolls will also be very persistent. They will only stop after you ban them or blow up at them, because that’s also part of the fun for them. And sometimes banning will be just the start, as they will attempt to find you again to upset you even more.
But there are certain ways to defeat them without doing the detective legwork similarly to OP.
A classic online saying is “don’t feed the trolls.” It’s become a well-known statement for a good reason - it really works. Don’t react to them, don’t fight back, simply disengage and give them a wide berth.
You can also call them out for spreading lies or being generally deceitful, which may stop them dead in their tracks. You could also make them the laughing stock of the community, which could have a repellent effect on them.
Finally, remember that their goal is to upset you, so the best thing you can do is to just stay calm and rational.
The original post collected 5.6k upvotes, with a 93% upvote ratio, and almost 400 comments to boot. People in the comments appreciated the story and hoped that this scare would be enough to have them change their ways. Another camp was adamant that OP should have sent everything to the guy’s mom, keeping in mind the possibility that online trolls are unlikely to change without a big push.
Share your stories and thoughts in the comments down below!
The comments appreciated the vengeance, but some were worried that this scare wouldn't be enough for the kid to realize what he's doing
Image credits: Sora Shimazaki (not the actual photo)
