Online Theft - ID Theft - Computer Hacking - FBI - And so much more...

[Innocent-Damned]

What is the name of your state? Massachusetts
If I have this in the wrong forum, please forgive me.

OK, to give you the full idea of what is going on, let me say that it may have all started when someone gave me a free domain & following my computer being hacked into for over 1yr.

A few years ago, when I was younger and knew so very little about using the Internet. Someone gave me a domain for free. I was young (17 - 18) and thought to myself, "Great I've got a free web site". Most young teens / young adults love the idea of getting something for nothing and I too was one of them. As it turned out though, the web site had been used for a program that gave out free serials and cracks for other programs (which is illegal). It turns out the previous owner may have upset a few people and continued to claim that the site was his... Even though it was mine & with my name, address in the "who is" info (which is public record). From time too time, I'd get threats and a bunch of script kiddies who would either try to hack my web site or e-mail me computer viruses. But I tried to pay no mind to it and deleted the e-mails and ignore things, as I know I had done no wrong.

Anyways, fast forward a few years latter (about 2yr latter). I've almost forgotten about the site, but now my computer is (was) being hacked into. I define hacked into as someone kept using my IP as a target. My ISP (Comcast) would do almost nothing about it and just would run me through the normal steps, as they would anyone else. I knew my computer was being hacked, as I would watch things get moved around, deleted, computer settings would change, and I even had a small chat with my "hacker" on my pc. I tried just about everything I could to rid myself of this "hacker" and god know I even hired an administrator to review my current setup and to see how I could make my system more secure. Turns out, even her computer was hacked into while she was on my connection. I tried so many things (more then I will get into detail about here).

Maybe I should have cut my connection off and changed ISP's. But sadly Comcast was & is the only cable ISP who has legal run in my city (can we say Monopoly?). Also I wasn't going to let some "punk" kid kick me off line. After all, I have the right to use my computer online, just as anyone.

Now (end of 2004, start of 2005) after fighting my ISP and trying to secure my computer, I finally got rid of the hacker. Though both I & Comcast could never find out who or where he/she was from. As he/she used enough "proxies" to hide his/her tracks. But the problem continues....

I started to get e-mails from people, saying I owe them money or goods. Like any user, I just deleted these and thought they where online scams. If you use e-mail, you seem them all the time. Suddenly you have an e-mail telling you that you've got fund in your name or some bill that you've over looked, or suddenly some bank needs your info. Odds are a lot of people get these & sadly too many people fall for them, but I have always known better & deleted such junk (scams).

So when I was getting these e-mails from people, saying I owed them money or they never got their goods. I just thought it was junk (a scam). A little while, I even got a few e-mails from what claimed to be "Paypal" saying I had got money from people and to view it, I could log into my account. I hadn't had a paypal account in over 2 - 3 years, so I thought it to be even more junk / scam mail.

The letter started to stop for a while, so this confirmed my way of thinking, that this was some ugly online scam. But then the e-mails started picking up, with people saying they wanted their stuff. It wasn't until someone sent me an e-mail with my current IP, e-mail address, and with a claim that I had defaced their web site, that I really started to notice something maybe wrong here. I also noticed that some of these letters even started to get person (had my first & last name).

Finally the big one... Someone sent me an e-mail with my full name, old address, phone number, and had claimed that I had sold stuff on a few online forums. They also said that unless I refunded their money or mailed their goods, that I was going to be facing people in court. There was a link in it, that directed me too an online forum and sure enough, there was a bunch of people who said they had bought stuff from someone online. I wasn't dumb enough to click the link in the e-mail, but I did find the info on Google (google.com).

With in the thread, was a link back to my old domain (the one I got for free) and my old contact info. There was over 100+ people claiming they where in touch with local police and some people claimed they where in contact with The FBI. Now, this was enough to scare the hell out of me and it still does. Because I was now getting e-mails from "Paypal" that there were complaints about me.

I didn't know what to do, so I e-mailed paypal and informed them that I do not have an account with them. They claimed I did and that I owed them for all the charge backs that took place under my account. Now as I did have one a few years back, but these people say this took place this past December / January. So it's safe to say, someone was using my ID (the hacker?)

Anyways, during this time, I no longer have my job & to be very truthful, I'm poor. Made less then 10,000 last year (to give you an idea how poor I am). I was just starting to working for a very good place & they paid me hourly and commission (enough to make a fair living). I thought that maybe my hard work in life had just paid off & after they made me manager; I was feeling very good. This was also the first time; I had ever used direct deposit. I'd always liked seeing the check in hand when I was younger, but the idea of it going right into the bank, seemed like a cool idea. I was sad to see my company fold under & I really did like that job. Guess you can say, being laid off didn't sit well with me. The company still owed me my holiday pay, so I knew I would be ok for a while.

So after seeing all these sudden complaints from people, saying I sold them stuff and with my domain & this other forum, now showing my name, old address, my old e-mail, my currently e-mail, my ip (cause I think the hacker used me as a proxy), my old phone number, and with paypal saying I had an account, I thought to look over my old bank account statements. I should have done this long time ago, but I've been one of those people who just check his balance, by only going to the ATM. I know a lot of other people who do this and maybe it's not the smart way of doing things, but it "was" (no longer) my way & always seemed to be good enough for me.

I had long closed my old account and moved everything into a new account, to avoid bank fees (before I knew about any of this). Moved the entire funds, into a local state savings bank. I've been using what I thought to be my last holiday pay & with commission pay, to start up a new company (so I haven't had a job outside of the house). Turns out that "some" of those missing funds (not even close to all), may indeed have ended up in my old bank account.

I'm down to about 200.00 left & it's clear that I did do no harm, directly. I "may" have tracked about 1,300 worth of fund that may have ended in my account and there are claims larger then that on the forum I visited. So I know I didn't get all that cash, but I'm willing to bet someone else (the hacker or the person doing the theft) did. At this moment there is no way I could pay back that 1,300 & I do not feel I should have to pay back the large amount people seem to be claiming. There maybe an FBI investigation & there are people from USA, Canada, and maybe even The UK, all claiming I scammed them (which I know I didn't).

So today I admit I'm scared, lost, confused, and have no clue what to do. Standing from the outside and looking in and suddenly hearing all this, it's enough to make me think even I look guilty (though I know for a fact, I'm not).

Please help. I lack the fund to get lawyer and I have no idea what I should do.

 

[seniorjudge]

Cut this in half.

Leave out all the editorial comments.

Ask three questions.

 

[meganproser]

Apparently, you read incoming mail, even when it comes from people you never heard of. Strangers were mailing you claiming you owed them money and even though you KNEW you’d been hacked, you did not feel it was necessary to investigate these emails?

It should have been clear to you that someone was using your pc to commit fraud. Had you called the police, they could have used your help to catch the hacker. Even more importantly, they would have known that YOU were not the one committing the fraud.

You have very little money but you didn’t NOTICE the extra thousand or so that was in your account?

You had better hope Comcast has a good record of your efforts to identify this “hacker”. That seems to be about the only evidence you are going to have to support your story.

I don’t believe your story. Had you not benefited from the profits of the scheme, it would be different, but as it is, I seriously doubt you are innocent.

 

[Innocent-Damned]

Apparently, you read incoming mail, even when it comes from people you never heard of. Strangers were mailing you claiming you owed them money and even though you KNEW you’d been hacked, you did not feel it was necessary to investigate these emails?

It should have been clear to you that someone was using your pc to commit fraud. Had you called the police, they could have used your help to catch the hacker. Even more importantly, they would have known that YOU were not the one committing the fraud.

You have very little money but you didn’t NOTICE the extra thousand or so that was in your account?

You had better hope Comcast has a good record of your efforts to identify this “hacker”. That seems to be about the only evidence you are going to have to support your story.

I don’t believe your story. Had you not benefited from the profits of the scheme, it would be different, but as it is, I seriously doubt you are innocent.

My last pay checks where of the sum of 1,500 or so on average. So when I ran to the ATM and noticed another 1,300 or so in the account. I thought it was my last holiday pay. Granted maybe I should have looked over my bank statement, but as I said... I normally was like other people I know, who just kept a quick track using ATM Balances. From what I understand though... There was much more then 1,300 scammed out of people & it was only that 1,300 that ended up in my account. Why? I don't know.

 

[meganproser]

If you really are innocent, maybe the police can follow the money trail far enough to exonerate you.

If you are really innocent, maybe you should go to the police. I know I wouldn’t want to wait till they came to me and THEN offer this explanation.

Good luck.

 

[seniorjudge]

"...So when I ran to the ATM and noticed another 1,300 or so in the account. I thought it was my last holiday pay...."

I believe you. This happens to me all the time.

 

[Innocent-Damned]

"...So when I ran to the ATM and noticed another 1,300 or so in the account. I thought it was my last holiday pay...."

I believe you. This happens to me all the time.

Sarcasm?

I admit that maybe I should have kept better records, but I normally have a good idea what comes in and what goes out. My normal pay checks where about 1,000 - 1,500 between 120 hours of work and commission. I know I'm not the only one who doesn't always check their bank statement all the time & maybe it's not the smartest thing to do. But who ever expects something like this to happen?

All I do know if my computer was hacked into on & off for over 1yr. Maybe even before I was aware of it. God knows what that hacker could have got watching me & tagging my connection / computer. There is so much we take for granted in todays world, such a paying bills online, online banking, shopping for gifts during the holidays, and more. Some of us even apply for jobs online (monster.com).

When I started getting e-mails from "Paypal", who said I was getting money and to log into my account to review it. I thought it was just the normal scams you hear about all the time. After I all, I knew I had no acccount with paypal and truth is there are a lot of those e-mails going around to people, who fall for it and click the link inside.... Only to get a virus or put their personal detail into a fake site. How was I to know they where real? As I said, I knew I had not open a paypal account.

I do have some proof that I was hacked into though. For those of you who are Comcast members, you are free to review their forum about it. I called them so many times and forward logs to them (Which I hope they still have).

http://forums.comcast.net/thread.jspa?threadID=32529

 

[Innocent-Damned]

Update: I've updated my ISP about the matter & also notified ifccfbi.gov of the matter. I then also placed a credit alert on my credit report. I latter plan on trying to contact The FBI and a few other places, more directly.

*Hopes I'm not making a very large mistake.*

 

[seniorjudge]

We wish you well and report back with results.

 

[Innocent-Damned]

UPDATE

Although I made a report to The FBI on 02-15-2005, the police came here today. At first I was happy to see them, as I thought they where here to investigate my report made. Sadly, there where here to investigate me, cause one or more of the people who got scammed, made a report before I did.

I fully cooperated with them & gave them all the info I could submit to them. But they do want me to stop by tomorrow at 7:00pm. to make a full report. Tonight I also contacted The Boston office for The FBI & plan to contact the local Springfield office tomorrow. I also gave them a link to the post I made on comcast, which alsolinks back here & I will continue to update as things move along.

I finally got a hold of Paypal & was able to make a report with them. The first time I tried to make a report, they would not let me, as I could not confirm the account. Not surprisingly, as I never did make it.

 

[Innocent-Damned]

update 02-18-2005

I made a report with the local police department (last night).

2 days ago the police came to my house. I thought they where there to follow up on a report I filed with the fbi (about my pc being hacked & id theft). Turns out they where there because of a report they got, about an online scam; that was going on in my name. This only further supports that my id was indeed stolen (most likely during the online hack).

Though many people did get scammed out of thousands of dollars, it would seem a small fraction of that ended up in my account (needless to say, that does not look good for me). I took it upon myself to freeze my own account, so no one else could have access to it and so no one could say I was spending it (or have plans to do so). The money that was not mine, I have every intension to return. I would like Comcast to please continue to work with the authorities. Myself & the many more people involved now, want to see the person who did this caught and I believe the logs I forwarded to Comcast, may help in doing so.

I also have every plan to update this thread with info. If only to show the price users may have to pay, if they do not try to keep their pc secure.

 

[meganproser]

Thank you for the update.

It is beyond me how anyone could KNOW that someone else has taken over their pc and allow it to go on for more than a day. What were you thinking?

I hope things get sorted out for you and yes, I think it's a good idea for you to make your experience as public as possible, for the benefit of others.

Good luck!

 

[Innocent-Damned]

Thank you for the update.

It is beyond me how anyone could KNOW that someone else has taken over their pc and allow it to go on for more than a day. What were you thinking?

I hope things get sorted out for you and yes, I think it's a good idea for you to make your experience as public as possible, for the benefit of others.

Good luck!

Believe me when I say, I did not allow it and I did not know it at first. I knew someone was trying to hack into my computer & I did everything I knew & could learn in a short time, to better secure my pc. I also informed my ISP (comcast) of the problem, but as I think I made clear... They really did not take me for my word and a lot of the time, I felt ignored.

The only reason I finally knew I had indeed been hacked, was the hacker made him/her self known. Had he/she not done so, I would have not known. The hacker did it in such away, you would have thought I had granted him/her remote access to my pc (which of course, I didn't). Once I knew I had been hacked into, I continued to wipe my pc clean (formating my pc) and re-secure it. I even bought routers, to better secure myself.

So by no means, did I allow this to continue. I just could not stop it from happening again & again. Even hired a tech admin and her laptop was hacked in about 1 hour.

 

[meganproser]

I understand. Amazing what these hackers can do isn't it?

Hey, have you ever considered that this might be someone you know?

 

[Innocent-Damned]

I understand. Amazing what these hackers can do isn't it?

Hey, have you ever considered that this might be someone you know?

I can't say I have not ruled it out. Despite the list of people, who It think would like to cause me harm (a few burn down bridges). I don't think I know anyone who would know how to do this.

I'm at a point myself, where even I am at a loss on how someone could do this. I'm reading & trying to learn how someone could do this (not so I could do this, but so I can secure my pc & maybe help other people I know, to keep this from happening to them).