Basement Bob is stalking me - how should I deal with this unwanted affection?

As a woman I take my safety on the net very seriously - you have to in this day and age because there are some very worrying people about. I have recently been contacted by Basement Bob and 'hooked up' as a contact on Yahoo answers without me giving any consent. I have never given any encouragement to this person and feel that he is now showing an unwanted display of affection and may be stalking me?

I would like to hear the opinions of women only as I'm sure you understand what this is all about, a thing that only women can understand. Is there anything I can do about this to avoid him as i'm quite concerned for my safety?

Sounds kinda scary. Has he been sending you weird emails or has he just hooked you up as a contact?

If I was you I would firstly send him a message making it crystal clear his advances are unwanted and you will not tolerate any further contact. Next I would block his account to prevent him from contacting you on Yahoo answers.

If this does not solve the problem then I would advise reporting him to the police. I had a similar problem myself some time ago and its pretty scary as you feel really vulnerable. Think I will block his account as well just to be on the safe side, you never can be too sure.

If you valued your safety on the net seriously, like me, you would hide your profile, and your answers. I don't let anyone see what questions I have answered, so no one can "follow " me around. it's easy to do, and I don't get nutters stalking me.!!!!

I see you are a new member. I can't remember how I did it, but you can hide all your details, and also what questions you have answered, so people cannot follow you around. Before you answer anymore questions, go into your profile, and work out how to hide all. Good luck.
I have always found Basement Bob very helpful, and unthreatening, but that's my opinion. Also, by naming people, you could find yourself with a violation from Yahoo, as this is a no go area, and not a good thing to do.

I too have been the victim of "stalking" of this nature.

In my case (without naming names) it was someone who claimed to be a London taxi driver and was clearly jealous that his knowledge of London was exceeded by mine, a mere female.

Any complaints made to Yahoo about such behaviour are generally and repeatedly ignored. I know of other women who, having made complaints to Yahoo about both Yahoo Answers and Yahoo Groups, have shared my experiences. This worries me because Yahoo Answers is a potentially great source of information for young people. Yet, just how far is this "stalking" behaviour from grooming. Perverts can easily hide behind a cloak of anonymity on the web, exposing their true identity only when their target has been snared.

Yahoo could easily ban the individuals concerned and close down all their accounts. But, they do not do so - does profit take precedence over web safety?

I agree with Fiona on this one.

I have also heard about problems with Basement Bob - I hope I never meet him.

I am new to this site and this scares me.

Is this common?

If it is, why do the authorities not stop it?

Sarah and Alice B are the same person using multiple accounts to cheat to the best answer, don't believe anything they write.

They have been reported many times over racist comments etc.

As was said below - Sarah and Alice B are the same person (and goodness knows how many more accounts it has)
It posts stupid questions (Normally based around the gun crime in Manchester)
Just ignore it.

I think this Basement Bob chap could be one of those gay/pedo's from Manchester that we hear so much about on this site. Quite worrying really.