calling all those with both skills and balls: i don't care who you are or what you've done, if you can help me shake these ... what oh what to call my favorite little foe -- maybe a skilled logician, tho SOB, with what might be a sense of humor if s/he weren't also a SOB works, too ... i'll get down, virtually, on my knees and scatter kisses all OVER the ground BEFORE you even walk on it.
me: just a single mom writer/researcher/copy editor who dug a bit deep into a matter of significance. now i've been hacked up, down, and all around for just under four months. they "own" all the devices on my LAN and all my accounts, minus one. i've wiped my devices and had new op systems installed three times; two new modems installed, the second of which i *thought* was pretty darn secure (though THAT word -- "secure" -- now seems such a fallacy in association with anything computer that it's almost becoming hilarious ... almost); had my mac's Terminal and ScriptEditor uploaded to iCloud and then locked out of iCloud and unable to recover the account or have it closes because apple's apple id dept. won't verify my identity.
Think the y first got in because i stupidly had my primary email ad my apple ID. at that point, they had to continuously change my passwords and vice versa. once they got into the network -- tunneled into the modem maybe or just for the default credentials. i'm not really sure. but they're in there. *somehow* when i pulled the plug -- likely with f's flying everywhere -- the first replacement modem, they -- and i'm completely serious -- had my hp wireless and networked printer begin functioning like a modem.
they then had full control of my computer and no longer needed to change passwords and the like -- if they wanted to restrict a search, they did; if they wanted to change a youtube playlist while i was listening to another, they did; if they wanted to delete all my Notes or ANY file, they did; if they wanted to turn down the volume, well volume be gone! there seemed to be no limitations. the same has and does go for every account except one.
and my iphone? yeah, not mine anymore. for instance, because i kept turning off and restricting Location Services in every place it's used on the damn phone, they just went on and added it -- yeah, added it -- to iBooks, which is a stock app that cannot be deleted, right? restrictions no longer work for anything either. if they don't want my mother (or anyone for that matter) and me to talk or text, we don't talk or text. if they don't want my alarm to go off, it doesn't. as for being transferred once on the phone with a company like apple or AT&T, etc., forget about it -- three times now i've been transferred all right but NOT to anyone at the company or state agency i called. the list of things they're able to do has been astounding, and every time i learn something new (i'm no techie, or wasn't, but i'm having to learn fast ... or try) and bump up a defense, they just go a step above. the consensus is that i'm dealing with someone pretty darn sophisticated. seems organized, too, but they aren't after money, clearly. seems to be info. and what i may or may not do with certain info. thoughts?
so, to the ip question. for a long time, my ip addy would change -- one day i might be in the UK and the next in cleveland. now it's being reported as a static addy, geolocating me to my apartment complex name as the city in which i live. i've also had a site confirm the use a proxy server and detected tor nodes twice. from my online research, the apartment situation isn't possible in terms of geolocation, but, well, that's what it does, indeed, say! am i correct that this is an impossibility in terms of geolocation? if so, how are they doing it?
additionally, if you would -- i don't know for sure if what all they've got running on both devices is in the firmware or not. i feel reasonably confident it is on my iphone given than within minutes of a system restore location services is back on iBooks, for instance. my computer, however, is another story. after the last modem installation, my IP was checking out just fine. i didn't notice any changes to preferences and such either. but within about 3-4 days, i was again geolocating all over the country. i haven't, however, noticed any other system changes or oddities (well, that's not true -- when i start up, i have to enter my password two times on two different login screens). so, is their BS all up in the firmware, and will getting a new hard drive resolve things or not? the apple "geniuses" say yes, but i've not found them to be particularly genius, frankly, and i've read elsewhere that such is not always the case. replacing the hard drive, that is.
any help you can provide on these issues -- or just any thoughts you have in general about how to kick them to the curb, if even possible, or thoughts/insights on the hacks deployed -- would be greatly appreciated. this has been an absolute nightmare, especially the social engineering component. and not being believed by others the more fantastical it becomes. i'm having to work *very* hard at not allowing it to do a serious number on my psyche.
me: just a single mom writer/researcher/copy editor who dug a bit deep into a matter of significance. now i've been hacked up, down, and all around for just under four months. they "own" all the devices on my LAN and all my accounts, minus one. i've wiped my devices and had new op systems installed three times; two new modems installed, the second of which i *thought* was pretty darn secure (though THAT word -- "secure" -- now seems such a fallacy in association with anything computer that it's almost becoming hilarious ... almost); had my mac's Terminal and ScriptEditor uploaded to iCloud and then locked out of iCloud and unable to recover the account or have it closes because apple's apple id dept. won't verify my identity.
Think the y first got in because i stupidly had my primary email ad my apple ID. at that point, they had to continuously change my passwords and vice versa. once they got into the network -- tunneled into the modem maybe or just for the default credentials. i'm not really sure. but they're in there. *somehow* when i pulled the plug -- likely with f's flying everywhere -- the first replacement modem, they -- and i'm completely serious -- had my hp wireless and networked printer begin functioning like a modem.
they then had full control of my computer and no longer needed to change passwords and the like -- if they wanted to restrict a search, they did; if they wanted to change a youtube playlist while i was listening to another, they did; if they wanted to delete all my Notes or ANY file, they did; if they wanted to turn down the volume, well volume be gone! there seemed to be no limitations. the same has and does go for every account except one.
and my iphone? yeah, not mine anymore. for instance, because i kept turning off and restricting Location Services in every place it's used on the damn phone, they just went on and added it -- yeah, added it -- to iBooks, which is a stock app that cannot be deleted, right? restrictions no longer work for anything either. if they don't want my mother (or anyone for that matter) and me to talk or text, we don't talk or text. if they don't want my alarm to go off, it doesn't. as for being transferred once on the phone with a company like apple or AT&T, etc., forget about it -- three times now i've been transferred all right but NOT to anyone at the company or state agency i called. the list of things they're able to do has been astounding, and every time i learn something new (i'm no techie, or wasn't, but i'm having to learn fast ... or try) and bump up a defense, they just go a step above. the consensus is that i'm dealing with someone pretty darn sophisticated. seems organized, too, but they aren't after money, clearly. seems to be info. and what i may or may not do with certain info. thoughts?
so, to the ip question. for a long time, my ip addy would change -- one day i might be in the UK and the next in cleveland. now it's being reported as a static addy, geolocating me to my apartment complex name as the city in which i live. i've also had a site confirm the use a proxy server and detected tor nodes twice. from my online research, the apartment situation isn't possible in terms of geolocation, but, well, that's what it does, indeed, say! am i correct that this is an impossibility in terms of geolocation? if so, how are they doing it?
additionally, if you would -- i don't know for sure if what all they've got running on both devices is in the firmware or not. i feel reasonably confident it is on my iphone given than within minutes of a system restore location services is back on iBooks, for instance. my computer, however, is another story. after the last modem installation, my IP was checking out just fine. i didn't notice any changes to preferences and such either. but within about 3-4 days, i was again geolocating all over the country. i haven't, however, noticed any other system changes or oddities (well, that's not true -- when i start up, i have to enter my password two times on two different login screens). so, is their BS all up in the firmware, and will getting a new hard drive resolve things or not? the apple "geniuses" say yes, but i've not found them to be particularly genius, frankly, and i've read elsewhere that such is not always the case. replacing the hard drive, that is.
any help you can provide on these issues -- or just any thoughts you have in general about how to kick them to the curb, if even possible, or thoughts/insights on the hacks deployed -- would be greatly appreciated. this has been an absolute nightmare, especially the social engineering component. and not being believed by others the more fantastical it becomes. i'm having to work *very* hard at not allowing it to do a serious number on my psyche.
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