Unauthorized Access To Email Account

[Jason]

Please help! I am going through a divorce and counting the days till the papers come. My ex-wife who owns half my the house but does not reside here gained access over a weekend she knew I was away. While she was here cleaning me out she found my laptop and proceed to delete files on my "C" drive and desk top. She also got on my yahoo email account and deleted all emails from her and from me to her. She confided in a friend that I left myself logged in(which I never do). My local police seem clueless on how to handle this? Is this a crime and can I get the information back? Please help.

ANSWER: Hi Richard,

What state do you live in? In almost every state this is a crime. Also in the meantime until you respond, DO NOT use or turn on the computers. They need to be left alone so that no chance of any evidence is destroyed either. Also touch them as little as possible.

I look forward to your response so I can research it and give you an informed response.

Be safe and stay well..

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

I live in PA.

[farquharson61]

Good morning Richard,

Under Pennsylvania State Law what has occurred is a crime. Below I have researched and pasted the section of the crime but I believe was violated:

HACKING AND SIMILAR OFFENSES        Cross References.  Subchapter B is referred to in sections     7605, 7606 of this title.     Sec.     7611.  Unlawful use of computer and other computer crimes.     7612.  Disruption of service.     7613.  Computer theft.     7614.  Unlawful duplication.     7615.  Computer trespass.     7616.  Distribution of computer virus.     § 7611.  Unlawful use of computer and other computer crimes.        (a)  Offense defined.--A person commits the offense of     unlawful use of a computer if he:          (1)  accesses or exceeds authorization to access, alters,        damages or destroys any computer, computer system, computer        network, computer software, computer program, computer        database, World Wide Web site or telecommunication device or        any part thereof with the intent to interrupt the normal        functioning of a person or to devise or execute any scheme or        artifice to defraud or deceive or control property or        services by means of false or fraudulent pretenses,        representations or promises;          (2)  intentionally and without authorization accesses or        exceeds authorization to access, alters, interferes with the        operation of, damages or destroys any computer, computer        system, computer network, computer software, computer        program, computer database, World Wide Web site or        telecommunication device or any part thereof; or          (3)  intentionally or knowingly and without authorization        gives or publishes a password, identifying code, personal        identification number or other confidential information about        a computer, computer system, computer network, computer        database, World Wide Web site or telecommunication device.        (b)  Grading.--An offense under this section shall constitute     a felony of the third degree.        (c)  Prosecution not prohibited.--Prosecution for an offense     under this section shall not prohibit prosecution under any     other section of this title.        Cross References.  Section 7611 is referred to in section     7603 of this title.

I believe that in your case actually you more than one of the sections above were violated. You need to notify your local police department and make a police report in reference to this case. If your local police department is unable to or unwilling to help you, then I would contact your local Sheriff's office and report the crime to them. If you are still unable to get assistance then your next step would be to contact your local state attorney's office. There are some police departments that still did not have people trained in these types of crimes and may not be able to help you. That's why you need to know where to go if you do not receive assistance at the local level.

In addition the sooner the to report this type of crime the better the chances are for solving it as computer crime information is constantly being changed over written, logs are being deleted, IP addresses are being removed, and generally computer crime is a time sensitive type of investigation.

Since you say that your local police department is clueless on how to handle this maybe if you make an assignment to one other investigators and learned the same time that they are helping you out. If that's not the case I would get on the Internet and see if Pennsylvania has a state police and pewter crime unit if they do I would contact them also.

Any time that someone unauthorized accesses anything on a computer or online account of another person including e-mail, Facebook, MySpace or any other network it is a crime and should be followed up on him prosecuted by the police.

If you still need further assistance after contacting them or you're still unable to get help please post a follow-up question and I will try to help you track down exactly who it is you need to contact.

Sorry it took a couple days but I had researched the law and make sure that I was trying to give you correct information.

Be safe and stay well,