• LAVA Moderator: Mysterier

Hacked: concerns and a path to freedom

China Rider

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Messages
11,453
Might as well just call it what it is - cyber rape.

I'm pretty confident my tablet and phone has been hacked into by my roommate\landlord(as of Nov 9) I use term 'hacked' despite being able to define it.

The second night I was here my tablet went into a forced system update I've never been asked to complete and I've owned for more than a year on top of receiving peer confirmation from others who have same device. In the moment it reeked of toxicity. I've encountered some minor bugs within operating system since the 'update'

Tonight I met 3 people familiar with my roommate, landlord and potential digital parasite and the first thing said to me was to get out of here asap. Based on their Intel I'm dealing with a confirmed robber, specifically at least once with a score of upwards of $18k.

What does it even mean when someone hacks into your device? Is it equivalent to owning a key to door of my entire digital footprint?

For cautionary reasons, I'm assuming I'm dealing with a pro. Black belt in hacking. What kind of power does my intruder possess? Are they simply able to record entire days of screen activity and watch it like a video? I'm not worried about anything visual, mostly the raw data scares me.

Can they mess with the general infrastructure\operating system? If desired can they cast spells like disabling spell check or close the window I'm viewing?

Once intruder is in, can they access everything I've ever done on device or just content since bug was planted?

I plan on leaving at end of month. Where I'm moving I can move in any time I feel. Would you move out ASAP?

Will discarding all of my devices with connection to wi-fi do anything.

What's likely hood this person has infiltrated not just my kindle but my iPhone 4 and iPod as well? All have connected with router that's separate from one he uses. The wi-fi's name is MostPeopleRFuckinRetarded. Which I find to be quite taunting and telling.

I've used digital banking. Get a new checking account and debit card immediately?

Is this experience permanent? Do I have to be intensely discreet with my money for the rest of my life. Do I need to hire a professional to ensure cyber safety from this person?

Would you suggest I acquire a new e-mail address and telephone number? Should I make new handles on forums...pretty much wipe out anything a password was used for?

My biggest fear is having money stolen. Not far behind is being target for identity theft? My privacy being invaded is frustrating but if he did acquire my digital footprint and is able to view everything I've seen online it's kind of relieving considering my activity is the least bit damning.

Luckily at the moment my debt is significantly higher than my capitol.

None of my stuff may actually be compromised but I'd much rather play on side of caution.

I have no desire to pursue legal action.

Yes I realize if my assumptions are correct, my web-stalker will be reading this. Not revealing anything they don't already know. Honestly glitches were present as I was writing this out... Copy\paste was disabled, I would command uppercase font, forcing having to make annoying adjustments and I swiped down to view settings instead screen went to my pre-entry wallpaper

Thanks for help!

You will help, RIGHT!?!?
 
Oh yeah and shortly after 'update' YouTube suddenly activated closed captioning as defeat fuction. There was also a night I was unable to go full screen.

How bad does it sound like I'm compromised. I'm equally as scared as I am excited for this amateur diagnosis.
 
Hey there mate, so sorry to hear about your predicament, sounds really distressing :(

I'm going to move this to LAVA and see if any others have some insight or advice they can offer.

Take care!
CFC
 
I'm sorry, but out of your entire post of suspicions you have only posted two pieces of evidence, which I have quoted, which are incredibly flimsy to put it politely. I'd honestly suggest that you are more likely possibly having a paranoid episode induced by stimulant use/sleep deprivation, or perhaps just a generally paranoid outset.

The second night I was here my tablet went into a forced system update I've never been asked to complete and I've owned for more than a year on top of receiving peer confirmation from others who have same device. In the moment it reeked of toxicity. I've encountered some minor bugs within operating system since the 'update'

Tablets sometimes do this, especially when they are a branded tablet with the factory operating system installed. It will likely either be an update to a later version of android, or simply a system update of the manufacturers proprietary software. I've seen this on my parents tablets (I don't have this problem because my phone is flashed with lineageOS and can only update manually, by quite a lengthy process, and has zero bloatware). However my parents phones will have something like "Samsung system version 2.1" and they can be quite pushy with their updates, because it's just updating their bloatware apps or installing new ones (or attempting to fix the bugs they brought in the first place). It is not uncommon at all for a phone to become buggy after receiving a system update. Try a factory reset, or if you really want things to run smoother, flash a custom ROM like lineageOS from XDA developers.

Honestly, as somebody who has a fair amount of experience in rooting and flashing my phones with new versions of android, the idea that somebody could just remotely update your system sounds quite far out, whereas my years of posting on this website indicate that the idea you could simply be experiencing paranoia seems pretty likely.

Tonight I met 3 people familiar with my roommate, landlord and potential digital parasite and the first thing said to me was to get out of here asap. Based on their Intel I'm dealing with a confirmed robber, specifically at least once with a score of upwards of $18k.

This just indicates that you're dealing with sketchy people. I agree, get out, but it doesn't mean you've been hacked.

If you're worried about people accessing your bank, then presumably your bank uses 2 factor authentication (those little key pad things), and you're in the clear as long as they don't have access.
 
I'd honestly suggest that you are more likely possibly having a paranoid episode induced by stimulant use/sleep deprivation, or perhaps just a generally paranoid outset.
And you sound like a hacker that doesn't want us commoners to learn just exactly what you're capable of doing. Let me 'honestly suggest' gaslighting someone dealing with serious shit is extremely pretentious and insulting. I'm not seeking any kind of validation of my situation. Your presumptions offer nothing but the potential to alter the threads narrative. Weird.

I've been sober for years and trust the good in people to a fault. I've had some bad luck lately excuse me if I'm a hyper concerned over a rational fear.

It's not common for me to make accusations. I generally mind my own business. Generally my instincts are confirmed. My ability to recognize patterns has been clutch since childhood.

Hell let's just say I did just make all this up - now they're simply hypothetical questions undeniably adaptable with practical solutions and general guidance.
 
Well to be honest I thought the same thing... my friend who was psychotic on meth for a year was telling me the same kind of stuff. My guess is most people will go right to that explanation first off. We see it a lot on this forum. I'm sure Tranced didn't mean to offend you, and I don't mean to offend you either.

If you're really worried about this, I think the first thing you need to do is get new bank account and credit card numbers, ASAP. Also you can put a free credit monitoring/lock on your credit report with creditkarma.com (there are others too) where it will alert you whenever someone does anything that affects your credit report. Which will make it much, much easier to deal with if someone did steal your identity. If you believe your device has been hacked, there is probably a way to deal with that but I'm not really sure how... if it was your PC I'd say reformat your hard drive and install your OS fresh, that would wipe anything done to it. Maybe a similar thing could be done with a tablet.

And lastly, if you don't trust the people you live with/are around, you should make some moves to get out of that situation.
 
Well to be honest I thought the same thing... my friend who was psychotic on meth for a year was telling me the same kind of stuff. My guess is most people will go right to that explanation first off. We see it a lot on this forum. I'm sure Tranced didn't mean to offend you, and I don't mean to offend you either.

If you're really worried about this, I think the first thing you need to do is get new bank account and credit card numbers, ASAP. Also you can put a free credit monitoring/lock on your credit report with creditkarma.com (there are others too) where it will alert you whenever someone does anything that affects your credit report. Which will make it much, much easier to deal with if someone did steal your identity. If you believe your device has been hacked, there is probably a way to deal with that but I'm not really sure how... if it was your PC I'd say reformat your hard drive and install your OS fresh, that would wipe anything done to it. Maybe a similar thing could be done with a tablet.

And lastly, if you don't trust the people you live with/are around, you should make some moves to get out of that situation.
Thanks

This was a temporary stay from the start. It was this or be homeless for 3 weeks.

Would love for an actual hacker to weigh in. Such a dark, dark art that most people are completely in the dark on.

I'm not even mad. If that's what the dude does to make a living that's on him. I suggest he might be in that business based on fact he doesn't work, collect gov't assistance and is not some wealthy trust funder.
 
And you sound like a hacker that doesn't want us commoners to learn just exactly what you're capable of doing.

I mean... really... this is what you think now? I am a commoner, and no, I am not a hacker. I just have a phone with a custom ROM because it's cleaner and less invasive.

Apologies if I was blunt, but my years of reading posts on this forum have taught me that when I detect paranoia, I try to rationally and logically highlight it. You got a system update that made your phone buggy; this does not indicate to me that you have been hacked.

If you're this concerned then you could reset your phone to the factory settings, and turn off all updates (although some manufacturers are really pushy and ignore your requests, pushing them through anyway). It is probably just an update to their shitty bloatware, which is why your tablet went buggy.

To take it a step further, you could find your tablet on XDA developers and see if it has a custom android rom that you could flash. FTR android is open source.

Again, I'm not being a dick but your tablet auto updating and going buggy is a very common issue. It should also be known that manufacturers tend to roll out updates incrementally (damage limitation), and other people with the same tablet might not have it yet.
 
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When I was at work, I was listening to music on my iPod in the lunch room with a co worker who has a blue tooth headset he wears. The manager came in to talk to him and I saw him press his headset with his finger as if he was pausing his music and suddenly my music paused at the same time. What does that mean?? I always had a feeling he was hacking into my phone and iPod but I don?t know for sure. I also always make sure my blue tooth is off because he makes me paranoid. Out of the entire parking lot, he would park beside me at the start of the night instead of any of the other spots and I could see him on a tablet or his phone.
 
Again, I'm not being a dick but your tablet auto updating and going buggy is a very common issue.
Why are you obsessing over one of multiple of my discoveries?

I don't want to argue but did you miss the part where I said I was sharing a house with a confirmed cyber criminal who has had a revolving door of roommates, most of which moved out out of nowhere for over 5 years? A person who random people city know if him and his bullshit. This is the information 95% responsible for my worries.

Since moving out my tablet is back to operating as it did prior to moving in with a self proclaimed member of an organized crime family. A person, who on day 2 of living with, was 'showing off' and bragging about the 50-75 phone numbers he had blocked. I never had to block a number.

Why shouldn't I be suspicious? I'm not looking for justice - just information and protection.

Nobody helped. Cyber crime exists and is growing every year. Those who recognize increasing patterns of foul play and speak up are doing the right thing. To call them mentally unstable is simply crime denial. Keep it to yourself. Every time you bring it up, the narrative gets tainted.

Luckily I think I'm safe - the dude liked me and going to assume he only went after tenants who wouldn't pay on time.

If you think someone is going through psychosis, can I suggest you PM and ask what's up and take it from there. I've been sleep derived and crazy before and being told I'm acting crazy wouldn't help a thing. Seems like you get off outting people's mental health, ignoring due process. Way to go, admirable!

The questions are extremely informative to tech dopes like myself.
 
No need to get so defensive, it's probably what almost everyone was thinking. Tranced was trying to be helpful, not trying to "get off"... and what do you mean "due process"? If you post publicly on a message board, be prepared to receive public responses from people who are speaking their minds, and don't attack them for their trouble. Nothing Tranced posted was inappropriate. You're not psychotic, okay cool, all we know about the situation is your words. I thought psychosis when I read it, but gave you the benefit of the doubt in my response in case it wasn't; Tranced thought psychosis and decided to go there in an attempt to be helpful. Both of us were trying to be helpful... in subsequent posts you have revealed more information about this guy as if we should have already known it (hes a self-proclaimed member of a crime family? Okay that might have impacted how someone responded... don't hold it against us that we didn't somehow know that).
 
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