The University of New Mexico has reported that stalking incidents are on the rise despite the campus being empty during most of the past year due to COVID-19.

KRQE reported a 33% increase on UNM campuses, with most initiating through technology like social media networks.

“We use the term stalking in a casual sense to just talk about following people on social media,” said Aine McCarthy of the UNM Women’s Resource Center (WRC). “This is not what we’re talking about.”

Last year there were a dozen stalking incidents reported, according to UNM Chief Compliance Officer Francie Cordova. This includes stalking spouses, partners and exes. There were also reports of people making fake profiles to harass victims in Zoom classes. This has led the university to ramp up security in their IT department. The WRC is also looking for mechanics to assist in helping to look for tracking devices put on victims’ vehicles. In serious cases of stalking, the WRC will also assist victims with individualized safety plans.

More and more people are going back to a “normal” lifestyle and UNM officials fear that this could lead to the WRC office being busier with stalking reports.

According to McCarthy, the WRC has received reports of stalking that start with someone seeing a picture of the victim on a social media or dating app and then using reverse image search to find out information. This includes things like where they go to school or a place of employment. 

“By the time we’re seeing these issues, it’s a matter of physical safety,” McCarthy said to KRQE. “The online aspect is just a way for people to get information to access someone’s physical location and invade their privacy.”