Your gut is a good early warning system. But gut feelings alone aren’t proof. So if someone behind you is making you nervous, there’s a quick way to test it without confronting anyone or looking like you’re panicking.
Change direction. Cross the street. Then do it again — and again. The UCCS Department of Public Safety recommends making multiple direction changes — if someone mirrors all of them, that’s not a coincidence. Random pedestrians don’t follow your exact path three times in a row. Someone with a reason to follow you will.
The goal isn’t to confront the person. It’s to confirm what you’re dealing with — and to let them know you’re aware. Keep your head up. Look around deliberately. Don’t stare at your phone. According to the UCCS Department of Public Safety, walking with confidence and making it obvious you’re paying attention actually matters — it signals that you can’t be surprised.
Once you suspect you’re being followed, get somewhere public and populated fast. A store, a library, a campus building, a restaurant — anywhere with other people. Don’t go home. Don’t lead them to where you live.
If this is happening repeatedly — same person showing up more than once, unwanted contact, messages, gifts, or them just appearing wherever you are — that’s stalking. SPARC (Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center) is clear that stalking behavior can escalate, moving from indirect contact like texts to showing up in person. It’s not something to wait out and hope stops on its own.
Trust yourself. Test it with direction changes. Get to safety. And if it keeps happening, tell someone who can actually help.