DEAR HARRIETTE: There is a creepy guy who follows me on social media. I have known him since before there even was this way of communicating, but I haven’t spoken to him in years. Then out of nowhere he started commenting on my posts. After that, he began to send me long, mostly nonsensical emails. I’m not quite sure what to do. He writes to me as if my postings on social media were written directly to him. He expects me to answer him and is very insistent. But I swear I haven’t talked to him in years, and we were never close anyway. How can I get him to back off? -- Stalker
DEAR STALKER: Putting yourself out there in the public has its risks, including being vulnerable to the overtures of strangers or people you do not know well. The good news is you can control it -- a bit, anyway. You can block this person from accessing you. That will stop you from receiving his overtures. If he attempts to reach out to you in person, contact the police.