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Summary: Once you've hacked into someone else's account you've not only done something morally wrong - you're at risk of being found out. A friend told me that my boyfriend was on Match.com. After discovering that he was, it was quite easy for me to guess his password and check the emails he sent/received. I didn't send or receive anything in his account or change any of his settings. I simply read them, copied and forwarded them to myself. After asking him about it and his denying it, I then confronted him with the emails (though I said someone else accessed them and sent them to me). So here's the question....Part 1: How much trouble can you get in for figuring out someone's password and accessing their email on say Match.com? Part 2: Is it possible to tell who accessed the account? If he reports the "break-in" to Match, will they be able to discover that it was me who accessed his account? I normally avoid these types of questions, because in all honestly they're not about technology or computers - they're about relationships and ethics. And I'm no Dear Abby or Dr. Phil. The problem is that I get several of these types of requests every day. Seriously. And it's just wrong on so many levels. • So let me start by answering the questions asked:
I've said it before: Hacking into someone else's account without their permission is wrong. In my opinion, if you do so, you deserve to get into a lot of trouble. (And yes, if they didn't tell you the password, successfully "guessing" it is still "hacking" into their account.) It's a breach of trust, and it's unethical. I'm no lawyer, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out that it was illegal as well. So yes, you can get into a lot of trouble with your boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse, you can get booted from the service you hacked into, and in the worst case scenario I'm guessing you could even face legal action. Can the service track you down? Quite possibly. Match.com, HotMail and other on-line services are, as you might expect, reluctant to do it, but it's possible they can. I would expect it to require a court order, but when served with one, these services would be required to provide whatever records were available. "No matter what that other person did, or what you think
they did, hacking into someone else's account is wrong."
Here's a hypothetical scenario: you hack into your boyfriends email account, and he finds out about it. He then gets the police involved who then charge you with harassment. As part of the court proceedings, the records of the email provider are subpoenaed, and show that his account was accessed from some IP address. That IP address is tracked down to an ISP - your ISP. The records of that ISP are then also subpoenaed by the court, and they find that that IP address at that time lead to your home. Each step there is possible. Likely? Perhaps not, but still possible. It all depends on the laws, the courts and the service providers you're dealing with. Online harassment is definitely getting more attention from the courts, and in my opinion what you've done falls squarely into that category. The people that write to me attempt to justify their actions by the wrongs committed by the person who's account they've hacked, or are trying to hack. "He's cheating on me, and that makes it OK for me to hack into his account to confirm it" is simply wrong. It's not OK. No matter what that other person did, or what you think they did, hacking into someone else's account is wrong. You may not trust him ... but if you're looking into hacking into his account, he shouldn't trust you. If it's that important, if really you don't trust them - then hire a private investigator to find out - legally. Or move on to someone you do trust. Related:
• Recent Comments
i am in the early stages of a divorce and my wife's attorney submitted hard copy of my personal email account. in other words, she hacked into my email. we have been legally seperated since 10/06 and the email she produced today (6/7/07)was dated april '07. can she do this? if not, is this a civil or criminal issue? if you can not help, do you know of a good resource? Posted by: niles schwartz at June 7, 2007 12:23 PM-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I'mm not a lawyer, and that's exactly who you should be speaking to. Since Leo iD8DBQFGaIyWCMEe9B/8oqERAq9lAJ9TLDgIh4g1+z1qfxKIvRTZQ5PevgCfdMRC Hello, Take care and good luck, D Posted by: Donna at October 16, 2007 08:02 AMOh, and based on Rodney's previous comment about looking for attention? Bullshit. It's about finding security in a relationship that is falling apart, and trying to rectify a problem that is not yours but eventually becomes yours. Why the hell do you think that people pay top dollar for private investigators to determine if a spouse or partner is cheating? Perhaps you are fortunate that you've never been cheated on. In that case, you must experience it some time--the fear, the anxiety, the grief, the shame. It's a feeling you'll never forget, guaranteed. Put yourself in another's shoes before you judge. Or perhaps, you're a cheater yourself and you are justifying the outcome? Posted by: Donna at October 16, 2007 08:08 AMI agree with Donna, if you suspect your partner of going behind your back in any shape or form and destroying your soul basically, why the hell shouldn't you try and confirm your suspictions. In those circumstances, legallity can kiss my arse, I'll hack, find out and depending on the outcome I will always confront in relation to what I will find. BTW I have always been upfront about my hacking capabilities to boyfriends and they get warned plus I will always ask first if they're hiding something. I found out my ex husband had slept with a number of men this way - go figure! Posted by: Ilahna at December 2, 2007 03:26 PMI agree with Donna and Ilahna completely. Especially if you are married. You really aren't legally allowed any secrets when you are married. During a divorce you can serve discovery if you feel that your spouse is keeping things secret and you can subpoena bank accounts, email accounts, anything. So the whole official response to the initial question was complete BS and I agree - it must have been posted by a cheater. I feel bad the person was even worried about getting in trouble for guessing her man's password. I call that genius! :-) Posted by: Hollie at February 19, 2008 03:50 PMis there a something on my computer that tells me someone has access to my e-mail? Posted by: sharon at February 20, 2008 04:25 PMI believe my daughter knows my password to my email account. I was upset and expressing my upset to a friend. who my daughter doesn't know. my daughter seems angry at me so I think she snooped into my email I would like to know if I can find out if and when she did. Can I do this myself? Posted by: Gloria Robinson at June 17, 2008 05:14 AMMy mother has an email account. But it appears that information and settings keep being changed on her: emails deleted. What can she do to regain all of this lost information? Stop someone who is doing this? Or find out who is doing this? She would like her privacy back. Posted by: Maureen at July 15, 2008 12:51 PMFolks get a grip. If you spouce, boyfriend or girl friend is cheating on you. You have every right to know. When you take a step back and figure they could give you a deadly disease. Do what ever it takes to find out and put an end to your relationship. There are stealthy programs to help with this. Very good ones as well. I know I used it and found all i needed to know in just 1 evening. Forget the expensive private investigator. These programs are cheaper and get the job done better. Posted by: Joe Lia at July 22, 2008 03:34 AMPost a comment on "Can my boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse tell that I've hacked into their account?":
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