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.
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So let me start by answering the questions asked:
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A lot.
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Possibly.
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.
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:
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Ask Leo! - How do I hack into someone's account?
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Ask Leo! - Are free email services worth it?
Article C2787 - September 13, 2006
My email address was hacked into by my bosses girlfriend I was looking for a place for myself and had some house appointments in my in box. She accused him of going to move in with me. She is a complete psycho I have no interest at all in my boss as I am attracted to the opposite sex. Not only this she has invaded my privacy by going into the work account and reading personal emails from my solicitor to me. She is continually harassing me and she said to my face” that she is watching me” when I confronted her because she was continually making up lies and telling my boss then he would call me in for a verbal warning for something I didn’t do. Some people think to highly of themselves invading peoples lives is wrong the amount of stress I have had in the past 6 months is unbelievable. Apart from her constant interference I really love my job and the pay is great. Please give me some advice
Posted by: Kathy at February 25, 2009 7:20 PMKathy... Report it!!! The laws are gray when it comes to bf/gf h/w if hacked computer if live in same house with shared access to computer. Expectation of privacy is... not yet defined. However, work computers and work emails are definately off limits and it is highly illegal to hack work stations or email.
Posted by: Larry at February 26, 2009 6:51 PMThis is ridiculous. How would you feel if someone hacked into your account? True people say we have the right to know blah blah blah. But by hacking into emails and facebook account even mere guessing the password correctly, it crossed the line and is against the law. It's called abuse of technology. It's equivalent to opening someone else's mail. Nevertheless, in spite of the excuses about having the right to know, hacking is AGAINST THE LAW and don't be surprised if the law doesn't take the side of the hacker.
Posted by: Jamie at March 9, 2009 9:47 AMLet's say because your loved one is in Iraq, you are so paranoid that you somehow hacked into the US military database to see where he or she is. Now how would the government respond to this digital trespass?
Yes, this is wrong that anyone hack into someone's personal privacy. Now!! i am thinking why god help human being to think for hacking.
Posted by: good thinker at April 26, 2009 4:49 AMI would have to agree....MY LIFE is in my partners hands! If one was to even think about hacking into an email address then there is obviously a lack of trust anyways! lets say....the so called "hacker" had already confronted their mate and they have a very bad feeling that the confrontation was not truthful? Does the hacker just say..."Okie Dokie"? I dont think so, I firmly believe that person has every right to know the TRUTH by whatever means necessary! To a certain extent though! Of course, you can not tie the person up and beat them til they break! But to look into your wifes email or say a cell phone? Perfectly OK! Like I said, there would have to have been a certain amount of NON-TRUST to begin with, So if the hacker didnt find anything during the "hack". Then that trust level should come up a bit and that person could breathe a lil sigh of relief! BUT, 9 times out of 10, IF you think/believe your spouse is cheating? HE/SHE PROBABLY IS! The law would NEVER hold up for looking at your mates password protected cell phone NOR would it ever hold up for looking at your spouses personal emails!
Posted by: BKP at April 28, 2009 7:44 PMI would say....It all depends on the relationship between the said couple. IF the relationship was within, lets say 1 year. The NO, they should NEVER look at a persons PRIVACY! BUT, on the other hand, IF the relationship was around 5+ years or longer, and a very committed relationship? I say HELL YES! That person has EVERY right possible to know who their partner is "possibly" sleeping around with! I say a 5+ yr or longer relationship, that is "supposed to be a committed and trusting relationship, then there should NOT be anything to hide! PERIOD! If there is something to hide then it is for a reason that cannot be good for the relationship! If the relationship was open, committed AND honest, then there is simply NOTHING that you wouldn't want your mate to see that would be affecting the relationship! UNLESS...there IS infidelity! Its called CHEATING because the person doesn't want to get caught....AND IT IS WRONG IN EVERY WAY! It outweighs looking at an EMAIL by TONS!
Posted by: Long Dong at April 28, 2009 8:03 PMYes it's illegal and unethical. Legally it's a Federal Crime. You could be sued, and/or the person you hacked can report you to authorities and you would be arrested on grand theft as per the privacy act. The site can track you via ip address which is tracked by them the second your on the site, they do not need a court order to do it and it's very easy for them since you used a user name that they can look up and see when you logged in. They can also alert the authorities who intern will track you ip address and arrest you. Most likely the site will make the user change his/her password or possibly delete the account. If that's all that happens, count your self lucky and don't do it again. Hacking is wrong, but the only people who are capable of it and not get caught are computer savy (techs and teens) people. You have to know how to not leave a trail, like set up gost computers which will bounce your ip to several different places (cities or countries).
Posted by: matt at April 30, 2009 8:31 AMI don't agree with hacking into anyones e-mail accounts (or hacking into somebody's privacy), but I keep wondering, why are these people using passwords so easy that someone can access their e-mails by just guessing what the password is?
Make yourself a system for creating passwords (e.g. every password contains some letters you choose and some numbers - which you will use for every password, then 3rd and 5th letter in the address of the site you're registering at and 4th and 7th letter of you're user name).
Nobody can guess it and if you remember those random numbers and letters you will never forget your password - no matter how many sites you register at.
Posted by: chmacka at September 15, 2009 10:43 AMYou should have "DONE UNTO HIM BEFORE HE HAD A CHANCE TO DO UNTO YOU". Had you done so, you wouldn't have any reason to turn into a sneaky "HACKER". All's fair "IN LOVE and WAR" baby.
Posted by: BAHMAN at September 15, 2009 11:36 AMwhat if lets say you use like a service like Skydeck which is free and downloaded app on her phone to see if shes cheating by seeing her text and she is the account holder on cell phone service and have been living seprated for 4 months but still married and not legal seprated and are still involved in relationship together.Could you still get in trouble for that?
Posted by: nammy at October 28, 2009 9:44 PM