Someone Hacked into Email and Cancelled Cruise

[Suzieanna]

It sounds like a case for Judge Judy!

 

If my travel buddys ex cancelled my vacation right out under me like this

I think the cops would be involved :mad: it would be ME they would be looking for though.

[Big_G]

You're both assuming she never changed it. That may not be the case. Email accounts get hacked by complete strangers all the time.

 

Based on the given information that it was the ex spouse, I think it's a safe bet this was not a stranger hacking but a case of the ex spouse either knowing the password or going on a computer where the password was saved.

 

You missed the point. Focus on you're both assuming and not strangers. Sorry if the latter threw you off.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Big_G

[JuliaNicker]

Most calls to RC are recorded

 

Not all, but "Most"

Edited November 24, 2015 by JuliaNicker

[Twibes]

While I don't know if this would fall under any criminal statutes, even if it did, no LE agency is going to mess with it. At most, there could be some sort of civil litigation possible, but even that would be a hassle. Let the divorce atty know and go from there. Lesson learned, and all ended well thankfully.

 

I would strongly disagree. I spent half of my career in Digital Investigations, Computer Forensics, and Cyber Crimes. I can tell you that at least in my state, all computer crimes fall under the classification of Felony be it: Unlawful Access of a Computer or Electronic Device, Etc.

 

That being said, the moment you return from vacation (If you choose to read this) I would highly, highly, suggest you contact the local police agency and start the process with a report. If they have the man power and the training for this, it would take but an hour to process the paperwork necessary to continue an investigation. After receiving search warrants for your Email account access logs, followed by a search warrant on the subscriber of the IP address that accessed your account (That they'll surely find if you're correct) you'll then see proof on paper that it was illegally accessed. As previous posters and another LEO stated, this is exactly what we're here for. Don't wait to file this, there is no guarantee on how long they hold these access logs.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Twibes

[Aquahound]

LOL. There are always so many Holiday Inn Express customers on the Internet :D

 

I hope the OP has better luck with law enforcement than many people. I had a credit card number compromised a few years ago. Someone got my number and bought a camera over the phone and had it shipped to St. Louis, Missouri. The crook also changed my address with American Express. I was livid. I laid into Amex for changing my personal info without proper verification (and promptly added extra layers of security to that account). I found out from the camera store exactly where the camera was shipped, and called the local police in St. Louis. They couldn't have cared less, even though it should have been easy enough to watch the house to see who came to retrieve the package which hadn't been delivered yet. :mad: I reported it to my local police department too, and they also could not have cared less, and as far as I know they didn't do thing one about it.

 

So sorry that happened to you. I can promise you that if I took that report, I never would have given you the impression I didn't care. :(

 

The problem with cases like yours is, once your credit card reimburses you, they become the victim. Banks almost never pursue charges for amounts less than 5 figures.

[mollyeilis]

I don't think Royal's personnel helped you because they were afraid you would sue. They did what they could to save your vacation out of genuine concern for you and your friends. They didn't need to do anything, your cruise was cancelled. You owe the individuals who helped you a sincere expression of your gratitude for their efforts to help someone in need.

 

I definitely agree.

 

 

 

So sorry this happened but you weren't technically hacked. Ex had the correct password and used it. Moral of story (not to scold you at all): change your passwords if you find yourself in a divorce.

 

Agreed.

 

 

Absolutely. If he called and cancelled, and acted as one of them without their permission, it would be identity theft. Just emailing from the wife's account, if it's her personal email address, would be ID theft. Also, the way theft statutes read, he could be charged with attempted grand larceny considering his actions almost deprived the party of all their cruise expenses. There's several other lesser statutes that could apply, like disorderly conduct, mischief, etc.

 

I say forget the lawyer. Report this to the police so a detective can subpoena all the records.

 

Good info!

 

There are all sorts of good reasons to *report* it. If the police department can't/won't take it further, that's their call. But the people whose info the ex stole SHOULD report it, definitely. (police and of course divorce attorney)

[mollyeilis]

Exactly what I said and was shot down.

 

No one shot you down at all. Only one person responded to your comment, and they were empathetic to the situation with the OP, saying it was getting easier to do this. No one said anything negative about your post at all.

 

 

I hope the OP has better luck with law enforcement than many people. I had a credit card number compromised a few years ago. Someone got my number and bought a camera over the phone and had it shipped to St. Louis, Missouri. The crook also changed my address with American Express. I was livid. I laid into Amex for changing my personal info without proper verification (and promptly added extra layers of security to that account). I found out from the camera store exactly where the camera was shipped, and called the local police in St. Louis. They couldn't have cared less, even though it should have been easy enough to watch the house to see who came to retrieve the package which hadn't been delivered yet. :mad: I reported it to my local police department too, and they also could not have cared less, and as far as I know they didn't do thing one about it.

 

You weren't the victim. AmEx was. AmEx might have pursued it, but you would never know and it wouldn't be your business. They made you whole. You were out nothing. You weren't the victim. Yes you felt like it, but you weren't.

 

I'm really glad that YOU didn't go charging off to watch the address. You knew you were dealing with a criminal already; scary to think of putting yourself into harm's way.

 

Dealing with AmEx about changing the address (are you sure they changed it WITH AmEx?) is the end of your part of the story. Did you get that resolved to your satisfaction.

 

 

You're both assuming she never changed it. That may not be the case. Email accounts get hacked by complete strangers all the time.

 

The OP wrote:

 

"three months ago she had to change her email password and during settlement meetings his lawyer mentioned a cruise and she had no idea how he knew"...

 

Either way, the lawyer ALREADY knew about it, so the ex knew about it. It was AFTER this that the OP's friend changed the email. It's pretty darned coincidental that a stranger hacked into the email, got the Royal and Delta info from it, and cancelled those things. I mean, come on. Occam's Razor tells us that it's certainly the ex, using the info s/he had from the email before the OP's friend changed it.

[Big_G]

 

The OP wrote:

 

"three months ago she had to change her email password and during settlement meetings his lawyer mentioned a cruise and she had no idea how he knew"...

 

Either way, the lawyer ALREADY knew about it, so the ex knew about it. It was AFTER this that the OP's friend changed the email. It's pretty darned coincidental that a stranger hacked into the email, got the Royal and Delta info from it, and cancelled those things. I mean, come on. Occam's Razor tells us that it's certainly the ex, using the info s/he had from the email before the OP's friend changed it.

 

My only point was that he may have still hacked into her email account not that he didn't make the cancellations. It's good advice but no where does it say they shared accounts or she hadn't changed her password before.

[Who Cares?]

Accountable for what? Was there a loss?

 

Accountable for violation federal hacking laws (which is what this is). IP addresses can be traced, voice recognition on phone calls, etc.... Don't know if anyone wants to go through the hassle of investigating this but if proven, the guy could be in a boatload of trouble (pun intended).

[Cruzin-K]

So sorry that happened to you. I can promise you that if I took that report, I never would have given you the impression I didn't care. :(

 

The problem with cases like yours is, once your credit card reimburses you, they become the victim. Banks almost never pursue charges for amounts less than 5 figures.

 

Well, it was five figures if you include the pennies :D

 

I suppose the credit card theft was minor compared to the other ID theft you and I are potential victims of, lol (OPM/Chinese Gov't?) :eek:

 

 

You weren't the victim. AmEx was. AmEx might have pursued it, but you would never know and it wouldn't be your business. They made you whole. You were out nothing. You weren't the victim. Yes you felt like it, but you weren't.

 

I'm really glad that YOU didn't go charging off to watch the address. You knew you were dealing with a criminal already; scary to think of putting yourself into harm's way.

 

Dealing with AmEx about changing the address (are you sure they changed it WITH AmEx?) is the end of your part of the story. Did you get that resolved to your satisfaction.

 

 

I know I didn't end up losing any money, but it does irk me that nobody even cared that there was a criminal out there stealing from people (and credit card companies). If they got my cc number, they got plenty of others as well. I have no idea how it happened either because I'm darn careful with how I use my credit cards, and I never access my online account from anywhere other than my home, or my office. It must have been stolen (sold?) from a merchant. It happened less than a week after returning from a Med cruise where I used the card in Italy. It was used by someone in St. Louis though, so who knows :confused:

 

It would have been pretty extreme for me to go personally to the address where the camera was being sent. I live in San Antonio, and I would have had to travel to St. Louis. Not really worth it.

 

When I called AmEx to report the theft they wanted to verify my identity and one thing they asked me was my address. I got it "wrong" :rolleyes: By this time I knew the crook was in St. Louis so I asked if my new address was in Missouri and the AmEx rep said yes. Ugh! After answering numerous other questions to prove that I'm me, she changed my address back and added a security code that I have to give any time I deal with them over the phone.

 

 

About the OP's situation. If I had evidence that it was my ex who sabotaged my vacation, you can bet your booty that I'd be calling the police about it. What a horrible thing to do to someone. The worst breakup I ever had was nowhere near that nasty, but some friends have suffered at the hands of a mean ex. I don't get people :(

[Aquahound]

I suppose the credit card theft was minor compared to the other ID theft you and I are potential victims of, lol (OPM/Chinese Gov't?) :eek:

 

You ain't kidding. I got my letter 2 weeks ago.

[Sharkb8]

She did mention an attorney addressing the cruise, which he shouldn't have known about. So yes, damage done, ethics situation. Are you equating damage done with monetary equivalent? How base.

 

 

Not trying to sound like a smart a$$ (this time .. ) .. but why would a detective even touch something like this ... there was no damage done.

[xpcdoojk]

I always thought he was a she.

 

Pretty sure you are right at the 95% probability point.

 

jc

[pbfp2008]

No. Every day things like this are exactly why the justice system exists....to serve every victim of crime.

 

 

 

Not true at all. I used to be a general crimes detective for a county Sheriff's Office. This is exactly the sort of stuff I worked on a daily basis. The sexy crimes you see on TV that apparently you think we work every day are in reality only once in blue moon.

Maybe I should have prefaced it with the disclaimer that it depends on your municipality, state or whoever the jurisdiction you reported it to. I'm former LE, nothing more than a road cop, but our detectives wouldn't have done much with this even if there were local or state statutes that covered it. And if they had, the overworked and understaffed prosecutors office would have nolle prossed any charges more than likely.

[John&LaLa]

Maybe I should have prefaced it with the disclaimer that it depends on your municipality, state or whoever the jurisdiction you reported it to. I'm former LE, nothing more than a road cop, but our detectives wouldn't have done much with this even if there were local or state statutes that covered it. And if they had, the overworked and understaffed prosecutors office would have nolle prossed any charges more than likely.

 

My thoughts exactly, plus what are the jurisdictional issues. The friend and his/her ex may be in different states.

[Who Cares?]

Maybe I should have prefaced it with the disclaimer that it depends on your municipality, state or whoever the jurisdiction you reported it to. I'm former LE, nothing more than a road cop, but our detectives wouldn't have done much with this even if there were local or state statutes that covered it. And if they had, the overworked and understaffed prosecutors office would have nolle prossed any charges more than likely.

 

These actions right here are most likely the biggest cause of vigilantly justice.....because proper law enforcement refuses to do their job. It's not the right of the prosecutor to decide when to press charges, it's up to the victim and then have it play out in the court system.

[Who Cares?]

So sorry this happened but you weren't technically hacked. Ex had the correct password and used it. Moral of story (not to scold you at all): change your passwords if you find yourself in a divorce.

 

Exactly what I said and was shot down. Assuming it was the ex that did it, it was not technically a hacking. This is why a) separate emails are a good idea and b) yes, as soon as there is the hint of a split with a spouse or SO, change the passwords and delete all cookies/history so that it's not saved on anything... and DON'T SAVE the password.

 

Incorrect. Unauthorized access to an account, any type of account, constitutes hacking. Just because someone can guess or use equipment to gather the password does not negate that the party was not authorized access and therefore is hacking.

[Aquahound]

Maybe I should have prefaced it with the disclaimer that it depends on your municipality, state or whoever the jurisdiction you reported it to. I'm former LE, nothing more than a road cop, but our detectives wouldn't have done much with this even if there were local or state statutes that covered it. And if they had, the overworked and understaffed prosecutors office would have nolle prossed any charges more than likely.

 

It's a shame to read that.

 

My thoughts exactly, plus what are the jurisdictional issues. The friend and his/her ex may be in different states.

 

In ID Theft cases, venue can be either in the location of the suspect or the victim.

[RocketMan275]

Many posters are making a mistake in treating this purely as a criminal issue. Read the first post again. The divorce is not final, there is no 'ex' yet. Consequently, there are other routes to justice. This could be a major issue in the divorce settlement. If established as true, I don't believe any judge would look kindly upon some one in a divorce case who sabotaged a vacation.

[Aquahound]

Many posters are making a mistake in treating this purely as a criminal issue. Read the first post again. The divorce is not final, there is no 'ex' yet. Consequently, there are other routes to justice. This could be a major issue in the divorce settlement. If established as true, I don't believe any judge would look kindly upon some one in a divorce case who sabotaged a vacation.

 

You're right, but my posts really only address the op. The op isn't the one going through the divorce. This guy called the cruise line and canceled, acting as the op.

 

But again, yes, for the divorcing couple, this is both criminal and civil.

[Ourusualbeach]

These actions right here are most likely the biggest cause of vigilantly justice.....because proper law enforcement refuses to do their job. It's not the right of the prosecutor to decide when to press charges, it's up to the victim and then have it play out in the court system.

 

i don't think that it's a case of LE refusing to do their job but is instead the entire Justice system from law enforcement up to the prosecutor not having the resources to be able to investigate/prosecute every case that comes along. Somewhere decisions have to be made on how to allocate the few resources they have and sometimes this means not investigating/prosecuting some of the cases brought before them.

 

Until people are willing to stand up and tell their elected officials to raise their taxes to pay for the extra resources needed as opposed to trying to get them lowered this will continue to get worse.

[John&LaLa]

i don't think that it's a case of LE refusing to do their job but is instead the entire Justice system from law enforcement up to the prosecutor not having the resources to be able to investigate/prosecute every case that comes along. Somewhere decisions have to be made on how to allocate the few resources they have and sometimes this means not investigating/prosecuting some of the cases brought before them.

 

Until people are willing to stand up and tell their elected officials to raise their taxes to pay for the extra resources needed as opposed to trying to get them lowered this will continue to get worse.

 

:eek: call me crazy, insensitive or whatever, but I don't want my taxes raised to be able to prosecute something this minute. I wouldn't mind paying for more resources to go over things more substantial

[A&L_Ont]

Incorrect. Unauthorized access to an account, any type of account, constitutes hacking. Just because someone can guess or use equipment to gather the password does not negate that the party was not authorized access and therefore is hacking.

 

A locked door only stops a honest thief. In this case, the open door is access to email. If one knew this was the case and were facing a divorce, why wouldn't you change your passwords to avoid a situation like this. Why make work and grief for yourself if changing a few passwords could help to avoid the problem?

 

I doubt you would continue to let your future ex have your joint credit card? I sure wouldn't. What worked while a couple is married sure changes as the couple is in the process of divorce.

 

Sure, if they go into your email and cancel a cruise or run up your credit card that makes them bad people (criminal) but why give them easy access? If you think you need to take what is yours or change what needs to be changed, to avoid situations like this later, do it. Why leave things "out there" or "just sitting there" for temptation. If your ex is going to go to these extremes you might as well make it difficult. If you need to involve the police later at least you can show what measure you have take to protect your identity and what measures your ex took to defraud you.

 

Yes as you state the laws as there to protect us, but some common sense in the beginning could help to avoid the whole situation from even starting. As for an unknown hacker (professional) then you are out of luck as nothing really stops them, and there s a slim chance they'd cancel your cruise.

[John&LaLa]

A locked door only stops a honest thief. In this case, the open door is access to email. If one knew this was the case and were facing a divorce, why wouldn't you change your passwords to avoid a situation like this. Why make work and grief for yourself if changing a few passwords could help to avoid the problem?

 

I doubt you would continue to let your future ex have your joint credit card? I sure wouldn't. What worked while a couple is married sure changes as the couple is in the process of divorce.

 

Sure, if they go into your email and cancel a cruise or run up your credit card that makes them bad people (criminal) but why give them easy access? If you think you need to take what is yours or change what needs to be changed, to avoid situations like this later, do it. Why leave things "out there" or "just sitting there" for temptation. If your ex is going to go to these extremes you might as well make it difficult. If you need to involve the police later at least you can show what measure you have take to protect your identity and what measures your ex took to defraud you.

 

Yes as you state the laws as there to protect us, but some common sense in the beginning could help to avoid the whole situation from even starting. As for an unknown hacker (professional) then you are out of luck as nothing really stops them, and there s a slim chance they'd cancel your cruise.

 

I'm kind of surprised the divorce lawyer did not advise the friend to change his/her passwords. Let's sue the lawyer for negligence. ;)

[Midwestgal]

Wow how crazy is this ! I'm so happy it worked out for you.

Don't worry karma will find the person who did this, the karma bus may be late but it alway shows up ;)