Computer Crimes, Hacking What Rights Does A Victim Have Against A Cyber Predator?

S

Scene23

New Member
I have been dealing with cyber stalking and harassment from a relative that has stretched over for the last 4 years, 3 different computers and 1 cellphone. This individual I believe is to be mentally ill and possible suffering from a severe case of OCD & Bipolar. Because it is a family situation the case is a touchy one. But this person I speak of at this point I would like to be charged with a crime, possibly arrested and what have you.

She has been purposefully hacking into my personal computer and cellphone (contacts of mine have stated she had been prank calling them and she does not have physical contact with my phone) in which both I paid for and are under my name, with the intent of maliciously monitoring my PC without my permission. Somehow perhaps exploiting a port on my computer, a program of some sort that allows her to remote access in without my knowledge and as far as I am concerned has been doing things that would be considered "Identity Theft". Masquerading as my PC's administrator with the intent of invading my privacy.

What resources would be beneficiary to me to pursue a criminal case against this individual as far as my rights to get her in trouble or at least allow her to face the consequences of her actions by law. I am the point now after dealing with this harassment for 4 years to be exact and I am seeking retribution. Could she be jailed for something like this and for how long? Also in what way does the local police department have in terms of their resources they would be able to assist with me.

I am working diligently with a computer crime investigator and figuring out what exactly it is and how she is able to exploit my computer, my guess is she is doing it via a listening port on my PC but regardless of how I just want justice. So if anyone here that has experienced this sort of privacy invasion or has been cyber stalked is more than welcome to give me some insight on how you handle the situation.

Thank You.
 
The laws in this area remain far behind the perpetrators. I classify these types of acts along the line of identity theft. Identity theft could be prevented, but its fostered because government does nothing.

You're free to contact law enforcement, your county prosecutor or DA, and report what has occurred. Don't expect too much, if anything to be done. No one cares, there's too many other things that interest them, and too little money in their hands. I don't necessarily agree, but facts are facts.

If I were in your position, I'd procure new devices. Or, just stop using the current device, change your lifestyle. Yeah, it sucks, much of life sucks.

You've engaged a consultant, I suspect he or she is as talented as what law enforcement has, so if you can't stop her, they can't either. Buy a new device (new devices), minimize your human contacts, protect your castle, my king. Why? No one else cares, no one else can.
 
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How is this relative 'hacking' into your computer? Are you using a modem and router combination? Do you have the firewall on the PC turned on? Do you have all unused accounts disabled? Is your administrator account password protected?
 
boyzgrrl said:
How is this relative 'hacking' into your computer? Are you using a modem and router combination? Do you have the firewall on the PC turned on? Do you have all unused accounts disabled? Is your administrator account password protected?
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No we are on the same router when connected to the internet. I am using Windows Firewall at the moment and I am the administrator of my computer. My guess is perhaps an open port that I am not aware of. Assuming port 135 just a guess, it has to be something to were she can bypass my password and firewall just to gain remote access. Which is interesting because I have at least I think i do all remote administration, access, desktop turned off.
 
army judge said:
The laws in this area remain far behind the perpetrators. I classify these types of acts along the line of identity theft. Identity theft could be prevented, but its fostered because government does nothing.

You're free to contact law enforcement, your county prosecutor or DA, and report what has occurred. Don't expect too much, if anything to be done. No one cares, there's too many other things that interest them, and too little money in their hands. I don't necessarily agree, but facts are facts.

If I were in your position, I'd procure new devices. Or, just stop using the current device, change your lifestyle. Yeah, it sucks, much of life sucks.

You've engaged a consultant, I suspect he or she is as talented as what law enforcement has, so if you can't stop her, they can't either. Buy a new device (new devices), minimize your human contacts, protect your castle, my king. Why? No one else cares, no one else can.
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Your response seem to be a bit shaky and convoluted. Devices what are you referring to? It would be nice if you were being much clearer. To be clear we share a router in the same household. Remote access monitoring type scenario what is going on here.
 
Scene23 said:
Your response seem to be a bit shaky and convoluted. Devices what are you referring to? It would be nice if you were being much clearer. To be clear we share a router in the same household. Remote access monitoring type scenario what is going on here.
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You are FREE to ignore my FREE responses, just as I will do your unclear questions.
 
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It seems there is a very simple solution. Stop sharing the network. Get your own.
Your complaint of "hacking" will likely fall flat if this is a live-in relative who you have willingly shared network access with.
I'm willing to bet that since you are using the built-in (and incredibly lousy) Windows Firewall that your system is not very secure at all, especially from someone else on the network. That said, if it is happening as you say it is more likely a keylogger or some other form of spyware.
 
mightymoose said:
It seems there is a very simple solution. Stop sharing the network. Get your own.
Your complaint of "hacking" will likely fall flat if this is a live-in relative who you have willingly shared network access with.
I'm willing to bet that since you are using the built-in (and incredibly lousy) Windows Firewall that your system is not very secure at all, especially from someone else on the network. That said, if it is happening as you say it is more likely a keylogger or some other form of spyware.
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Thank you for the response, what you said to be very clear. I was told about the network as well being the problem.

I have a question though even though on the same network, it still accounts as illegal
for this person I speak of to remote into my PC without permission. That still accounts
to be a computer crime of some degree correct? And no I am not "willingly" sharing my computer resources with her.
 
Since you are sharing a network in the same household, I doubt you have much of a case. You can hold for other replies.
 
You are sharing a router. Anyone with the know-how can capture all traffic that comes and goes from that router, whether it originates from their own computer or another device. You appear to be willingly sharing network access. You also don't seem to be up to speed regarding firewalls and protecting your device. Again, I suggest you stop sharing network access and also consider having an expert install and configure adequate security. Windows Firewall is a joke.
Whether or not a crime has been committed is not clear. It depends on the wording of the laws in your state, and depends greatly upon what is done with the information that is received. Another significant factor is determining how access is made as there may not be any "hacking" at all.
A keylogger program could capture every button you press, every mouse click, and also capture screen images then upload them to another location completely without your knowledge. I'm not saying that is what you have, but it is a possibility, and a mire likely one than actually being "hacked".
 
Also just to add....
If you are a minor and this other person is a parent monitoring your activity then it is a non-issue. They are allowed to do that.
 
Let's talk about the law and what is practical.

1. You cannot pursue criminal charges. You'd need to report that to the police who will report it to the District Attorney and who will decide whether to pursue a case. Given the long list of priority cases, chances of you seeing a criminal prosecution is close to zero.

2. Civil lawsuit - why? It will take a long time, it will be expensive and chances are the defendant will be judgment proof and couldn't pay for damages which are probably not worth the lawsuit.

This leaves us with the practical solution. The only way to be sure that a keylogger or some other monitoring software hasn't been installed is to (a) check the computer with a "boot up" virus scan or (b) better yet, format the hard drive and reinstall everything from scratch to be 100% sure. If you use the Internet, get a VPN to ensure that you have a secure connection, if you wish. You can use something like OpenVPN for free along with hosting, if you have it, or you can conveniently pay literally just a few dollars a month and get a service. And remember, if this person has a list of your contacts on your cell phone, that's already a done deal. Change all your passwords for your email accounts, especially those that sync, to something secure and not related to you that can be guessed and use a special character, capital letter and number in your passwords - all of them.

What has been suggested to you is the most efficient way to get the job done. Unfortunately the law probably won't be of much practical use as you don't have any evidence yet, just speculation.
 
What harm have you suffered? Is she getting into your bank account and stealing money? The police just aren't going to be too concerned with the fact that a relative in your household is looking at things on your computer. You state that she's doing this with malicious intent. Such as?
 
txls said:
What harm have you suffered? Is she getting into your bank account and stealing money? The police just aren't going to be too concerned with the fact that a relative in your household is looking at things on your computer. You state that she's doing this with malicious intent. Such as?
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Invasion Of Privacy is a crime. Monitoring someone's computer without permission is a crime. Maliciously doing it constitutes just that. No disrespect but what part of that are you not getting. That is suffering.
 
mightymoose said:
You are sharing a router. Anyone with the know-how can capture all traffic that comes and goes from that router, whether it originates from their own computer or another device. You appear to be willingly sharing network access. You also don't seem to be up to speed regarding firewalls and protecting your device. Again, I suggest you stop sharing network access and also consider having an expert install and configure adequate security. Windows Firewall is a joke.
Whether or not a crime has been committed is not clear. It depends on the wording of the laws in your state, and depends greatly upon what is done with the information that is received. Another significant factor is determining how access is made as there may not be any "hacking" at all.
A keylogger program could capture every button you press, every mouse click, and also capture screen images then upload them to another location completely without your knowledge. I'm not saying that is what you have, but it is a possibility, and a mire likely one than actually being "hacked".
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Thanks for the response. No i am a grown up. This is my PC that I paid for, i am the administrator. Perhaps hacking isn't the appropriate term here, assuming that isn't what it is. Example another computer that was connected to the router this individual wasn't remote desktoping or any of that sort. She basically creepily was remoting in some how. I assume remote access through some time of means that does not require a password and practically gave herself away time and time again with the harassment on 3 separate computers. I agree Windows Firewall is a joke even though some beg to differ. Zone Alarm at one point seem to be working because it captured incoming ports from her computer's ip address to mine. So i too suspect a keylogger hidden within my programs on my PC i do not know. I have multiple times did a clean install and every time it seems like she finds another way back in.

Someone did suggest getting my own network separate from the router's network to prevent any access or thoughts of access. Not too sure about that. But because of the invasion of privacy i am just waying in my options at this point.
 
Scene23 said:
Invasion Of Privacy is a crime. Monitoring someone's computer without permission is a crime. Maliciously doing it constitutes just that. No disrespect but what part of that are you not getting. That is suffering.
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You're 100% right. The difficulty is in trying to put a dollar figure on it. The courts aren't usually too kind with regard to this kind of harm, especially if there isn't some overt act associated with it that might sway their opinion. The question is whether the amount potentially awarded is with the time and effort to prosecute.
 
1.When I said "what harm have you suffered", I meant monetarily. 2.You say malicious but you don't exactly say what she has done maliciously with whatever she has seen on your computer. 3. If this is causing you distress(suffering), that is a different issue and difficult to put a value on.
I think what several people have tried to tell you is that the police may not be too concerned that a relative in your house, sharing your network managed to look at stuff on your PC. Now if she has gotten into your bank accounts and taken money, or used your credit cards, for example, that's a higher level of concern.
 
Agree, it doesn't seem you suffered monetarily-you didn't say you did. If not, as noted by others, a court and/or law enforcement isn't going to be too concerned. Sorry.
 
Scene23 said:
Invasion Of Privacy is a crime. Monitoring someone's computer without permission is a crime. Maliciously doing it constitutes just that. No disrespect but what part of that are you not getting. That is suffering.
Click to expand...

Okay ... these things can be criminal acts. Now that we have that out of the way, what PROOF do you have that it is happening? Not speculation, guesswork, or a hunch, but PROOF!? If all you have is stuff that the other person has mentioned that you feel could only have been obtained via your personal computer data, that's not proof.

The police simply lack the resources (time, money, manpower) to investigate each and every crime reported to them. About the most you can realistically expect of them if there is no readily available proof is that they will take down your information, slap it into a report, and toss it into a case file where it will remain indefinitely and most likely without any follow-up save, maybe, a call to the alleged suspect and ask if he (or she) is hacking or illegally accessing your computer or other device. When this person fails to confess, the matter will likely be closed.

The police are NOT going to run out and hire an expensive forensic computer expert just to see if there might be proof that someone is monitoring your email or Facebook account. They just will not do that. You are certainly free to pay such an expert what could be $100+ per hour to try and find the "proof" you might need and then sue them for any actual damages or for "pain and suffering" ... but, I suspect that the attorney would cost far more than any award you might receive.
 
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