The Rise of Cyberstalking in 2025: What Everyone Needs to Know Right Now
Cyberstalking is no longer the rare horror story parents bring up to scare kids off the internet. In 2025 it has become one of the most common forms of harassment, especially for teenagers and young adults. The statistics are no longer surprising; they are expected.
A major 2025 study from University College London found reported cyberstalking in England and Wales increased 70 % in under a decade. In the United States, the Cyberbullying Research Center reports that 58 % of teens and young adults have experienced severe online harassment at least once in their lives.Almost half of victims never report it because they believe repeated threats, doxxing, and location tracking are “wrong but not a crime.”
This fall alone, two federal cases showed how fast things can get dangerous. On November 14:Marek Cherkaoui, 21, arrested in New Jersey. Authorities allegedly found body armor, zip ties, and bomb-making manuals. He is accused of belonging to the extremist “764” network and coercing a 13-year-old girl into self-harm on livestream for months. On November 13: Christopher Dadig charged in Pittsburgh with stalking multiple women he met at gyms, sending threats to their families and posting violent rants online.
These are the headline cases, but the everyday version is quieter and far more widespread: someone screenshots a bedroom TikTok, zooms in on a street sign visible through the window, buys the address from a data-broker site for $10, and starts sending anonymous deliveries or showing up nearby.
How it usually starts: A tag on Instagram, a TikTok that accidentally shows a school logo, house number, or other identifying item.
Prevention guidelines:
Don’t accept follow requests from an account with no posts.
Don’t use the same username across Snapchat, Discord, and Venmo
Turn off all location services for photos and stories
Remove personal info from data-broker sites
Use a different username or nickname on every platform.
Make accounts private and stop approving followers you don’t know in real life.
Screenshot every threatening or repeated message with the timestamp visible.
Report to the platform and, if it escalates, to local police or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Cyberstalking in 2025 is not an “if.” For many teens and young women, it is a “when.” The tools to stay safer already exist; most people just haven’t been taught to use them yet.
The internet isn’t going anywhere. The habits have to change instead.