my email was hacked

[ndegan64]

My ex logged into my email address. I don't have proof really except that there was emails read and he knew my password before. Can I go to the police with this? What can they do? Would it go to court and would i have to get a lawyer? Or does there have to be some crime involved? I live in the state of IL.

 

[irish223]

Apparently, he knows your password still.

No crime was committed and the police can do nothing. It was your responsibility to change the password so he couldn't access your email account. He didn't hack your email, he simply accessed it using the password you presumably gave to him.

 

[CdwJava]

Can you report this to the police? Sure.

Is it a crime, possibly.

Is it something the police are going to spend any amount of time on? Not at all. With no loss or harm, it will not be worth the investment of resources.

Change your password and move on from here.

 

[irish223]

Is it a crime, possibly.

This is possibly a crime? How?

 

[CdwJava]

It depends on state law, but the unauthorized access of someone else's account can be a crime. Having a password does not give one the right to come and go as they please. If I give my neighbor a key to use for emergences, that does not give them the right to come and go when they want to. The same applies here.

I have not researched the issue with regards to IL state law, but it is technically illegal in most states I am aware of, though it is rarely if ever pursued simply because it is hardly worth the effort.

And without proof, there is really nothing the police are going to do about it. They are NOT going to seek subpoenas and/or search warrants to try and track this down. They just won't.

And there is this:

(720 ILCS 5/16D‑3) (from Ch. 38, par. 16D‑3)
Sec. 16D‑3. Computer Tampering.
(a) A person commits the offense of computer tampering when he knowingly and without the authorization of a computer's owner, as defined in Section 15‑2 of this Code, or in excess of the authority granted to him:
(1) Accesses or causes to be accessed a computer or
any part thereof, a computer network, or a program or data;

Seems to be a crime.

 

[irish223]

It depends on state law, but the unauthorized access of someone else's account can be a crime. Having a password does not give one the right to come and go as they please. If I give my neighbor a key to use for emergences, that does not give them the right to come and go when they want to. The same applies here.

I have not researched the issue with regards to IL state law, but it is technically illegal in most states I am aware of, though it is rarely if ever pursued simply because it is hardly worth the effort.

And without proof, there is really nothing the police are going to do about it. They are NOT going to seek subpoenas and/or search warrants to try and track this down. They just won't.

And there is this:

(720 ILCS 5/16D‑3) (from Ch. 38, par. 16D‑3)
Sec. 16D‑3. Computer Tampering.
(a) A person commits the offense of computer tampering when he knowingly and without the authorization of a computer's owner, as defined in Section 15‑2 of this Code, or in excess of the authority granted to him:
(1) Accesses or causes to be accessed a computer or
any part thereof, a computer network, or a program or data;

Seems to be a crime.

Well, I learned something new today, and it's also something I may be able to use (I hope!). Thanks!

 

[CdwJava]

Well, I learned something new today, and it's also something I may be able to use (I hope!). Thanks!

I'm the local computer crimes investigator for my agency (which is not saying much because they have not given me any resources) and since getting this gig I have learned that a lot of what we might consider to be stupid and immature acts are, in reality, crimes.

However, resources being what they are, the odds of something like this being investigated or prosecuted in most any state would be next to nil. It can take a lot of leg work - and a confession - to prove these cases. Even the federal and state agencies with the know-how and resources have a financial loss threshold before they will even look at a case. No loss, no look.

 

[BenBrent]

if a marketers' negligence when selling leads to clients causes your email address to fall into the hands of con-artists, can I have an attorney request documents from the marketer to give a comprehensive list of everyone he's sold leads to, including first name, last name, phone number and IP addresses of the marketer's clients if he has a members area where his clients can log into their accounts to view statements?

My purpose for having this done is so I can blow the whistle on negligent marketers who sell leads to con artists and I want solid proof that the marketer who does this who's mailinglist I was on before I unsubscribed was actually selling my email address to con-artisits.

I understand that I don't have financial gain by doing this, but someone needs to blow the whistle on negligent a<>holes who sell leads to con-artists without doing a background check on his clients!

 

[senal]

Change your password.