CYBER-related stalking crimes have more than doubled during lockdown - with offenders often using smart tech to prey on their victims, police warn.

North Yorkshire Police said that while the Covid restrictions may have curtailed the physical activities of stalkers, it had resulted in them turning to digital methods to cause their victims fear.

The force is speaking out at the start of National Stalking Awareness Week, during which agencies across the country join together to raise awareness of stalking and its effects.

Agencies such as the Suzy Lamplugh Trust – which runs the National Stalking Helpline – have reported an increase in the number of victims being stalked through new smart home technology.

Items such as digital doorbells and voice assisted devices have seen an increase in popularity.

Experts warn that stalkers have identified such devices as another route they can take to attempt to control and intimidate their victim.

Inspector Clare Crossan, who leads the North Yorkshire Police Stalking Support Team, said: “While lockdown may have curtailed a stalker’s physical movements, sadly it doesn’t seem to have stopped their fixated obsession to make their victims lives a living hell. All it’s done is made them move to more invasive, digital ways of evoking fear.

“Over lockdown the number of reports we have received from stalking victims, telling us that their privacy has been invaded and their feeling of safety threatened by offenders accessing the tech in their home, has more than doubled.

“Victims have spoken about their smart doorbells being accessed and their movements in and out of the home being monitored, with stalkers knowing whether they have left their property on foot or in a vehicle or being aware of any private details, such as deliveries or visitors to their property.

“Similarly, victims have described how offenders have accessed their smart speaker devices, or ‘dropped-in’ to their voice controlled assistant devices – some of which allow a person remote control over lighting and heating in their home.

"Lights have been turned on and off and heating turned up or down, all of which lead a victim to feeling a real sense of helplessness and fear inside their own home, that there is no safe space even inside your own four walls. And with lockdown conditions thrown in, it exacerbates the feeling that there is no escape.”

In the year April 2019-March 2020, 202 reports of stalking with a cyber connection were reported to North Yorkshire Police. In the same period for 2020-2021, 427 reports were received – an increase of 225.

Insp Crossan added: “It’s vital that if an individual has suspicions that they are being stalked, they tell the police as soon as possible on 101 or on 999 in an emergency. It’s understood that on average a victim may live with this kind of intimidation for months, experiencing up to one hundred stalking incidents before reporting it to the police. So please don’t live with this behaviour.

“Stalking is a crime and there are steps we can take to make it stop.

“Please also give some thought to your digital footprint and the devices around you, which may allow someone access to your home or private life.”

On Wednesday, April 21, the force will launch a short video across its social media channels and website, giving advice on how to best protect your online profile and smart home devices.

For more information on stalking and the campaign, visit www.northyorkshire.police.uk/stalking or follow the forces Facebook and Twitter account. You can also follow the national campaign by search for the hashtag #unmaskingstalking on social media.

If you are being stalked you can report it to North Yorkshire Police on 101 or in an emergency dial 999. If you do not want to speak to police there is help and support still available – visit www.northyorkshire.police.uk/stalking for more information.