I think I'm in trouble.

LegacyUser

Hey folks. Im a regular poster on boards.ie, I reckon a lot of users would recognise my name (or perhaps thats wishful thinking ) but I want to go anonymous for this because due to the nature of the problem, I would fear for my safety if I used my usual log in name. Theres a lot of information I cant give, even my gender, or city I live in, but you'll understand once you read on (if you do, that is).

I was in town a couple of weeks ago and I was approached by a man holding a clipboard - seemed like your usual 'chugger' as I believe you lot call them here (charity mugger, for the likes of Oxfam, Goal etc). As I wasnt in a hurry, I decided Id talk to him for a little bit to be polite. He came up to me and said 'Hey can I talk to you for a bit?' and I said 'Ah sure why not!' being as friendly as I could. He went on to tell me he was doing a survey and would like me to fill up a quick form just for research purposes. I started to fill it out, and had filled in the name, age and e-mail address part when he mentioned 'Do you have time to do a free personality test? It would only take a few minutes..'. I immediately stopped writing and asked him if he was from Scientology, as I had heard about this before and he said Yes. I then said 'no offence, thats not something I want to get involved in'. He tried to convince me but once he realised he was getting nowhere he quickly snatched the clipboard back off of me and walked away. I thought that was it, why wouldnt I?

Well, in the past couple of months Ive been researching a lot about Scientology and had started my own private journal on my findings. Ive been in town a few times since, and seen him around, one time he even came up to me and said 'Hey John, how are you keeping!' but I just kept walking and ignored him. Lately however, Ive been getting letters to my student accomodation from this man I met asking do I want to take him up on that personality test offer, asking if I can meet him somewhere or asking me to attend group sessions etc. Ive received 2 letters in the past fortnight. Im a bit worried as to how they got my address, but today my room-mate says a man rang our doorbell and was looking for me. I was in class at the time but when I asked her to describe him, it matches his description - even the exact same hoody they were wearing.

Now maybe Im being overly paranoid, but I only gave my name, age and e-mail address. How have they gotten my resedential address? And why did they go to the bother of tracking me down to send letters when they could have used the e-mail address I gave them? Like I said, Im probably being paranoid but during my research into them Ive come across some bad accounts of people being harassed and Im just concerned for my safety. I wish I never even stopped and talked to him now.

Should I go to the local guards? Or should I just bide my time and hope it stops? Id appreciate as much help as I could get here, or even legal advice if theres a law being broken here?

Thanks in advance.

Concerned

Lola123

Keep a record of how often they are contacting you. Send them an email/letter (something which you can keep a record of sending) asking them not to contact you again. If it persists, contact the gardai.
As for how they got ur address...no idea.... unless you mentioned what college you were in? Maybe they found out that way?

That_Guy

Definitely go to the guards. He's harassing you. As for how he obtained your address is a mystery unless of course you used a student e mail account provided by your college.
Sounds a bit strange to me though. Maybe even talk to someone in your college or maybe the landlord or whoever it is who is in charge of the student accomodation.

Vorsprung

^Yea defo.

Get in touch with the Guards.

WindSock

Go and meet him and take a friend or two for back up. Then explain to him you said no already and to take his psycho cult elsewhere. If he still doesn't stop then threaten to get the law involved.

Miss Fluff

Did you mention where you attend college? Erm, regardless of that, these people are in fact COMPLETE nut-jobs, yet what he is doing to my knowledge would not constitute as harassment at this juncture. In what way are you concerned for your safety? To me it sounds like he is being over-persistent and being a complete pain in the arse but does he actually pose as a threat? What else did his letters say?

Lil' Smiler

Weird....




..Maybe he fancies you!



As to how he can have gotten your address... I dunno, that's a weird one.
You wouldn't have it on your bebo/myspace etc?

seamus

Go to the Gardai. Scientology doesn't enjoy any special protection here in Ireland so if you can get them into trouble and maybe get a hefty fine imposed, all the better.

beans

+1 for Garda involvement.

Perhaps you should find out where this chap is based, where he's working from. His name, details about him, as much as possible to give the Gardaí. If he does contact you again, then getting this info shouldn't be difficult.

Keep the letters, all correspondence. If there's a return address, send them a response demanding they cease and desist. This will all help down the line. Doesn't seem like they've broken any laws, but at least with this done you'll be in a better position if you need to take this further down the line.

Do keep the forum updated, very curious to see how it all plays out. Best o' luck.

Kaldorn

why are you worried.did he threaten you,my advice is, go back to where you first met him and give him an earfull,ask him how he got your address and tell him you want no further correspondance,and if that doesnt work tell him you have BIG friends,that should make him stop...

SheroN

Reverse stalk him. Out stalk the stalker.

r3nu4l

Here's what to do. Next time you see him, tell him that you recognise that he's eager to get you involved in Scientology. Ask him for his name and contact details, casually ask if he has a business card. Pass any information he gives you to the Gardaí.

Give a full description and tell them where in town you usually see this guy...the local gardaí on the beat (do gardaí still walk the beat? ) should recognise him from the description and be able to have a word with him...

Good luck!

Lawless_Samurai

SheroN wrote: »

Reverse stalk him. Out stalk the stalker.

+1 on that idea!

GhostInTheRuins

To be fair, you don't actually know if it was him that turned up at your door, so maybe all that happened is he put your name on a mailing list for their junk letters. Or were they personally written letters?

baztard

I'd let time take care of this one. Give him no response at all and no indication of interest (good or bad) on your part. He'll eventually get tired of trying to contact you and move on. He's looking for a reaction from you, so don't give him one. As for getting the gardai involved, they'd just laugh at you, and rightly so. Two letters and a call to your door (of which there is no proof it was actually him) doesn't constitute harrasment.

mysterymeme123

straight to the gardai and then to the press. scare the lil ****e

dade

i know the freaks use to be based on Abbey street in Dublin, across the road from the side entrance to easons.

i remember going to a chiropractor of dorset street too thought nothing of my first visit or two then i started to read the posters around the place and the names of the books on the shelves, most of them where from the Hubbard guy that came up with the nonsense. i had signed up for 6 sessions with the guy but never returned after i had only completed 4, I ran a bloody mile. 2years on and they where still phoning and writing to make appointments for me to continue my treatment.

if you didn't provide your postal address then he may have broken some law by following you and getting it.

fasty

SheroN wrote: »

Reverse stalk him. Out stalk the stalker.

You'd be wasting your time trying that on a scientologist.

beans

As for the Gardaí laughing or wasting their time, this is why I suggested returning correspondence and demanding them to stop, and getting info on the guy in question. Get something concrete to bring to them.

It's harassment if they ignore your request to get lost, the Gardaí can't just laugh it off. That said, chances are ignoring this guy would be enough. I'm just saying, get the evidence in case it's not.

Scientology is not a benign organisation, it's got a long history of intimidation, harassment of opponents etc. Best cover yourself.

gandalf

TBH I don't think the Gardai will do anything. If there is a return address on the notes he has left send a letter by registered mail telling them to stop and keep a full record of the mail.

You also broke the golden rule, NEVER talk to a chugger!

biko

You're hardly in trouble. Even though these feckers may be persistent, once you told him off in no uncertain terms they'll back off.
No need for the guards though, unless you just want to nip in to your local station and ask what they think. Others may have been approached too and they might want to build some case of sorts.

milkerman

OP The Gardai wont be interested in this, but DONT WORRY.

Take this opportunity to have some fun, eg get yourself a copy of "the Sacred Heart Messenger' or similar and give it to him to read. Alternatively just tell him to fcuk off with himself, perhaps using one of the Midlands variations that can be very colourful and almost lyrical.

Pity the poor bastard, afterall he is devoting his life to a theory that compares poorly against a lesser known episode of Star Trek.
AND NEVER TALK TO CHUGGERS!

incorkfornow

He got your information from your email address, he could have cross referenced it with networking sites and forums, some of which will have your address i assume.

As for what to do, i'd advise him not to contact you again, or the gardai will be involved etc etc...
yup...

jackdaw

my father had a similar experience in London
here is his reply

Well, I had a similar experience in London about 40 years ago
Myself and my friend Louis saw this sign in a window saying come in and have our personalities tested
We were at a loose end and went in
We were immediately seperated and I was taken into a room with this guy who started asking me all sorts of questions including my name and address which I innocently gave him (never give your name and address to anybody you don't know and trust)
Well, to cut a long story short I had to buy a book of this Scientology ****er and I'm not afraid to say it
All scientology people are ****ERS
****ERS AND EVIL TO BOOT
I eventually got out with this stupid little book and met Louis outside who told me he had the exact same experience
I kept getting letters from them for years
Yes, your read it right - years
eventually they gave up
I'd tell this guy to just ignore them, but if they continually harass him by coming to his door, then go to the copys
cops
**** SCIENTOLOGY AND THIS SICK NOTION OF A RELIGION
They are nothing but assholes but will kill
so be careful of them

Teg Veece

I was in the San Fran for the summer two years ago with about 10 friends. During the first few weeks we all roamed the city looking for jobs (it's not as easy as you'd think!).
One of my friends, Shane, ended up speaking to some scientologist not realising who they were. They arranged an interview for him for a "job" a few days later and gave him a 4 page questionaire to fill out and to hand in at the interview.

The questionaire itself started out straightforward enough, like any other form you had to fill out when applying for a job; name, age, address, previous employers etc. but the questions soon got more and more unusual.
It started asking about passport numbers, mother's maiden name, your level of access in the military and (my favourite) details of any previous brainwashing experiences. I kid you not!
At first I thought it was a p*ss take or something. People really couldn't be stupid enough to fill this kind of stuff out but I guess it must work.

Anyway, obviously Shane didn't attend the subsequent interview but I was with him at the time when the interview was scheduled to take place. Sure enough he receives a phonecall from a private number (he had given them his mobile number previously). Not wanting to answer it, Shane handed the phone to me and I was more than happy to hear what they had to say.

The lady on the other end sounded quite polite at first wondering where Shane was. I just told her that I (pretending to be Shane) had gotten another job elsewhere and so won't be needing any work off her but thanked her for her time. She quickly turned bitter and demanded to know where I had found my new job. I was tempted to just hang up there and then but I figured they'd just ring back until they got an answer so I made up some story about getting a job with the Old Navy retail store in San Fran to get her off Shane's back.
Her reply was a bit unsettling actually: "Well I shop there quite a lot so I'm sure I'll be seeing you around." And with that she hung up.


My advice to the OP is to keep a record of all correspondence. You can be sure that they're doing the exact same thing with you. Don't bother trying to threaten them, it'll just be used against you later. If things start getting any more serious, go to the Gardai.

LegacyUser

Thanks for the replies folks. I know i may be over reacting, its just while researching these guys Ive found them to be quite dangerous if they dont get what they want - just research their whole 'Fair Game' policy. Ive kept all the correspondence so far - and yes they are all hand written. Im going to see if they keep it up - if they do, Im going to get a few friends and go to one of these meetings they are trying to organise and let them know in my own way that I dont want anything to do with them.

Victor

Violence is not a solution. If you fear for your personal safety, leave and talk to the Garda.

LegacyUser

Sorry Victor, I didnt mean to imply that I would use violence, I just meant that I was gonna be strict with them - I dont want to keep hearing from these guys for years like other people have.

Victor

MaybeParanoid? wrote: »

Sorry Victor, I didnt mean to imply that I would use violence, I just meant that I was gonna be strict with them - I dont want to keep hearing from these guys for years like other people have.

General warning, for a few ears.

ivorygal

OP, sorry to hear about your experience. You'd never think something like this would happen by just stopping to speak to someone on the street!

You're not being paranoid - until you know all the facts of the situation it's best to be careful. Do you know any Garda, maybe a relative or friend, or a relative of a friend....just to get some legal advice.

I'm sure Gardai have experience of people complaining about Scientologists - if other scientologists are behaving the same way as this guy. Maybe a phone call to the Gardai near the Scientology HQ might not do any harm and just ask them for advice.

seraphimvc

checked wikipedia.it seems stalking and wasting time on people are the technique they are very good at...keep chasing for ages...like a poster above can confirm that:cool:

just try to ignore and block them(your guard) ,since this such a randomly unlucky event but nothing you should be scared of/bothered.good luck ,mate.thanks for saying this out,some of us will be aware of from now on.

Rb

OP wrote:

I dont want to keep hearing from these guys for years like other people have.

Well you're going to! Think you're the first person who took the "strict" line with them?
Get the guys name and go speak on Joe Duffy/Adrian Kennedy/ Sun Newspaper etc about it.

These guys are absolute freaks and it's a pity a more brutal way of dealing with them in the states wasn't enforced.

Overheal

Ireland does not recognize scientology as a religion at this time, if thats any help... *shrug*

anyway from what I've read on wikipedia (the E-meter, for instance) these guys are whackjobs and I dont mind saying it.

FAIR GAME policy doesnt apply in this case: Fair Game applies to people suppressing Scientology: he's not avoiding it, hes trying to remain neutral.

But OP have a read of that policy: if you do anything to offend them (they would see police action as suppressive imo) than according to their code of ethics... you would no longer apply in their code of ethics. You, your home, your property, etc. would be open to assault in their own code. so yes, they're dangerous, and its no wonder they arent recognized.

tough spot. if I had to hear from them again though (if it were me) I would tell him that I dont want to supress your beliefs, however I seek disconnection. Please dont contact me again.

However on a much darker note: if you really think you and your friends can outmuscle this scientologist group, go for it. It can be an awful can of worms if it goes wrong though.

Nerin

i'd love to hear joe duffy take em on!
OP thats terrible that theyve frightened you so much,but thats there thing,youre either brainwashed and think they can do whatever they want,or a target of fair game. its bull,they really should not be allowed get away with this.
Xenu.net is a great site i came across,operation clambake is their attempts to show people the truth about scientology. they even had the south park episode that got pulled,up for download from the site. awesome.
http://www.xenu.net/archive/OTIII-scholar/letsnuke.jpg

binhead

Overheal wrote: »

tough spot. if I had to hear from them again though (if it were me) I would tell him that I dont want to supress your beliefs, however I seek disconnection. Please dont contact me again.

.

I second this, They're crackers man, My own reaction would be to go Scarface on his ass but that would be a bad idea. Scientologist's are dangerous AND they have Tom Cruise on their side. Creepy.

Do what the above dude said and be firm.

Jigsaw

Violence should be avoided if at all possible. However it is a last resort, and sometimes people have to resort to last resorts.

If it gets ridiculous then don't hesitate in using violence. Maybe I'll get banned but the no advocating violence rule is piss. Sometimes it is the only answer and if I get banned on account of that, really the joke's on the mods tbh for being fools . I don't really care.

spiritcrusher

I don;t understand why you think you're in trouble, No way have you done anything wrong. Completely up to you how to sort it. Either you (plus one or two close friends) explain to this guy to leave you alone calmly (maybe not so calmly, depends) or else get the guards invloved. Don't let these people bother you anyway.

Feelgood

Sorry to go off the beaten track here though has anyone heard about
the BBC guys that did the documentary on Scienctology?. Apparently
they managed to get interviews with Tom Cruise and John Travolta but
strangely after 2 days JT and TC backed out...

Then all of a sudden the documentary guys where being followed everywhere
and chased and having stuff thrown at them and all sorts!. Absolute nutters dude, I would report it if it continues.

BBC Documentary
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6650545.stm

Anyone that wants an insight into Scientology should really watch the following episode of South Park....
http://www.southparkzone.com/episodes/912/Trapped-in-the-Closet.html

Personally I think its great, I'm a Level 7, Can bend spoons with my mind....

hairyfairy00

The author Andrew Morton is apparently in the process of publishing a book about Scienctology, he has had to move out his home in London because he is getting death threats from them! He is supposed to have a hell of a lot of info on them and Tom Cruise and they threatening him and his family since they found out about it.
http://beat.bodoglife.com/entertainment/tom-cruise-unleashes-scientology-hounds-on-andrew-morton-45656.html

Feelgood

They really are bonkers....brain washed....Scientology is nearly as mental as
dare I say it....Catholicism

Overheal

Thats article is frightening. How does sh1t like this happen?

Andy-Pandy

Tell him your an under cover agent from the planet Zigwab, and that him sending you this crap is risking your cover.

MMM

i think a lot of people are missing the key fact of whats unsettling the OP. All he gave was his name age and email address, yet this chap managed to track down his address. I don't know about everyone else but i never post my address to the web so to get that detail takes a bit of underhanded activity