Law Guys/Tech. People-Friend has some major issues... (1 Viewer)

[Eviloutsider]

So I met up with a family member/friend after an ordeal that happened to him the other day. Basically the federal government came with a warrant to his place stating that his IP address was tracked to some identity fraud. Basically, someone used his IP address to hack into someone else's EBAY/Paypal account and collect about $1,000 worth of merchandise. They talked to him for a couple hours and confiscated his computer and phone to look into. So I have a bunch of questions...

1) How likely is it to use someone elses IP address to do this?

2) Could someone remotely get into his computer and do this?

3) What should his next course of action be? Lawyer up (he is hesitant to do this do to the fact that he did nothing wrong)?

4) If they find nothing on his computer/phone, would that be the end of it?

Any other ideas or questions, feel free to put them in here. I feel awful because he didn't do this but he doesn't know what to do about it.

 

[mr roboto]

Lawyering up and being guilty are completely unrelated.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Lawyer up immediately.

 

[Eviloutsider]

Lawyering up and being guilty are completely unrelated.

That was my advice as well. He just didn't want to seem guilty and just hopes it will go away when they search his computer.

 

[Insein]

If someone was using his wireless internet, it's possible they could ha e had the same IP at the time.

 

[Eviloutsider]

If someone was using his wireless internet, it's possible they could ha e had the same IP at the time.

That's a scary thought as a lot of friends knew his password (they would come over with their laptops/phones.

 

[Insein]

If someone was using his wireless internet, it's possible they could ha e had the same IP at the time.

That's a scary thought as a lot of friends knew his password (they would come over with their laptops/phones.

Do they know the approximate time of the sales. Your friend could possibly see if any of the times correspond when he had people over.

Or does he live close to another house or apt? People could have just piggybacked on his internet. If they were skilled enough to hack into an eBay account, they at least know how to break a WEP security on a wireless router.

 

[Eviloutsider]

If someone was using his wireless internet, it's possible they could ha e had the same IP at the time.

That's a scary thought as a lot of friends knew his password (they would come over with their laptops/phones.)

Do they know the approximate time of the sales. Your friend could possibly see if any of the times correspond when he had people over.

Or does he live close to another house or apt? People could have just piggybacked on his internet. If they were skilled enough to hack into an eBay account, they at least know how to break a WEP security on a wireless router.

Yes, they gave him the times, both of which he would have been at home. He does live in apartment so that's a possibility as well.

 

[Insein]

If someone was using his wireless internet, it's possible they could ha e had the same IP at the time.

That's a scary thought as a lot of friends knew his password (they would come over with their laptops/phones.)

Do they know the approximate time of the sales. Your friend could possibly see if any of the times correspond when he had people over.Or does he live close to another house or apt? People could have just piggybacked on his internet. If they were skilled enough to hack into an eBay account, they at least know how to break a WEP security on a wireless router.

Yes, they gave him the times, both of which he would have been at home. He does live in apartment so that's a possibility as well.

If its an apt, then this is what I would look into. What kind of security did he have on the router? WEP, WPA, WPA2 or MAC Address?Or nothing? Which is foolish but not uncommon.

 

[mr roboto]

Unsecured wifi in an apt building?

He needs to say nothing and to get an attorney.

 

[Eviloutsider]

Unsecured wifi in an apt building?

He needs to say nothing and to get an attorney.

It had a password, if that's considered secure but enough people knew it it seems.

 

[Insein]

Unsecured wifi in an apt building?

He needs to say nothing and to get an attorney.

I agree. A lawyer could have this tossed pretty quick I would think? Law guys what say you?

 

[Christo]

The Federal ####### government thinks it's possible he was involved in identity theft. He should get a lawyer to do his talking for him.

 

[mr roboto]

The Federal ####### government thinks it's possible he was involved in identity theft. He should get a lawyer to do his talking for him.

But that will make him look guilty...

 

[JohnfrmCleveland]

Yeah, he should get a lawyer just to keep better tabs on what the government is doing/what they are thinking. They aren't going to keep him in the loop or anything.

Heard about another thing like this, where a bunch of kiddie porn was traced to a guy's IP. Neighbor in an apartment building, of course, was the culprit.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Nothing to lawyer up for yet. He has not been charged with anything. He can tentatively contact a few lawyers to maybe have one prepared to take on his representation, but for now there is nothing to do, so long as he does not speak with the Feds.

He should know where his bail is going to come from, just in case.

Very important that he not say anything to the Feds. Nothing. He will want to convince them of his innocence, but that is not his job. People have a strong tendency to want to explain themselves, they can't help it. They are just certain it will help, it will set the investigators onto the correct track if they can just explain. Don't. Seriously, no matter what you think about your innocence, your persuasiveness, or your intelligence, don't talk to the investigators. Don't invite them into your home. Don't "cooperate" thinking it will help. Don't presume you are smarter than them. Simply, Don't.

Don't consent to a search. Don't volunteer for a lineup or to provide a sample of anything. Simply don't.

 

[jon_mx]

The search of the computer should bring up nothing if someone hacked into his wifi. If someone hacked into his computer, it could be more complicated. He needs to consult with some lawyers who have a strong background in computer crime. Talk to a few. Get their rates and how they will charge and what they think they can do to help. As mentioned above, it is probably too early to hire one. But he should have one located that he is comfortable with in case it looks like they are going to press charges. The FBI are smart cookis. They are just fishing right now and are just hoping they found a hacker who was dumb enough to use their home IP. Odds are good, they will figure out this is not the guy.

 

[Eviloutsider]

Nothing to lawyer up for yet. He has not been charged with anything. He can tentatively contact a few lawyers to maybe have one prepared to take on his representation, but for now there is nothing to do, so long as he does not speak with the Feds.

He should know where his bail is going to come from, just in case.

Very important that he not say anything to the Feds. Nothing. He will want to convince them of his innocence, but that is not his job. People have a strong tendency to want to explain themselves, they can't help it. They are just certain it will help, it will set the investigators onto the correct track if they can just explain. Don't. Seriously, no matter what you think about your innocence, your persuasiveness, or your intelligence, don't talk to the investigators. Don't invite them into your home. Don't "cooperate" thinking it will help. Don't presume you are smarter than them. Simply, Don't.

Don't consent to a search. Don't volunteer for a lineup or to provide a sample of anything. Simply don't.

This seems like the type of advice your buddy could pay a lawyer for but is getting here for free. Tell him to follow it.

Yikes, it seems he already talked to them for a couple hours at his place and at the polic station thiking exactly what was bolded. Hopefully it didn't mess up and say something really bad.

 

[Henry Ford]

Nothing to lawyer up for yet. He has not been charged with anything. He can tentatively contact a few lawyers to maybe have one prepared to take on his representation, but for now there is nothing to do, so long as he does not speak with the Feds.

He should know where his bail is going to come from, just in case.

Very important that he not say anything to the Feds. Nothing. He will want to convince them of his innocence, but that is not his job. People have a strong tendency to want to explain themselves, they can't help it. They are just certain it will help, it will set the investigators onto the correct track if they can just explain. Don't. Seriously, no matter what you think about your innocence, your persuasiveness, or your intelligence, don't talk to the investigators. Don't invite them into your home. Don't "cooperate" thinking it will help. Don't presume you are smarter than them. Simply, Don't.

Don't consent to a search. Don't volunteer for a lineup or to provide a sample of anything. Simply don't.

This seems like the type of advice your buddy could pay a lawyer for but is getting here for free. Tell him to follow it.

Yikes, it seems he already talked to them for a couple hours at his place and at the polic station thiking exactly what was bolded. Hopefully it didn't mess up and say something really bad.

Oh, he did. He just doesn't know it yet.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Nothing to lawyer up for yet. He has not been charged with anything. He can tentatively contact a few lawyers to maybe have one prepared to take on his representation, but for now there is nothing to do, so long as he does not speak with the Feds.

He should know where his bail is going to come from, just in case.

Very important that he not say anything to the Feds. Nothing. He will want to convince them of his innocence, but that is not his job. People have a strong tendency to want to explain themselves, they can't help it. They are just certain it will help, it will set the investigators onto the correct track if they can just explain. Don't. Seriously, no matter what you think about your innocence, your persuasiveness, or your intelligence, don't talk to the investigators. Don't invite them into your home. Don't "cooperate" thinking it will help. Don't presume you are smarter than them. Simply, Don't.

Don't consent to a search. Don't volunteer for a lineup or to provide a sample of anything. Simply don't.

This seems like the type of advice your buddy could pay a lawyer for but is getting here for free. Tell him to follow it.

Yikes, it seems he already talked to them for a couple hours at his place and at the polic station thiking exactly what was bolded. Hopefully it didn't mess up and say something really bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

 

[jon_mx]

Nothing to lawyer up for yet. He has not been charged with anything. He can tentatively contact a few lawyers to maybe have one prepared to take on his representation, but for now there is nothing to do, so long as he does not speak with the Feds.

He should know where his bail is going to come from, just in case.

Very important that he not say anything to the Feds. Nothing. He will want to convince them of his innocence, but that is not his job. People have a strong tendency to want to explain themselves, they can't help it. They are just certain it will help, it will set the investigators onto the correct track if they can just explain. Don't. Seriously, no matter what you think about your innocence, your persuasiveness, or your intelligence, don't talk to the investigators. Don't invite them into your home. Don't "cooperate" thinking it will help. Don't presume you are smarter than them. Simply, Don't.

Don't consent to a search. Don't volunteer for a lineup or to provide a sample of anything. Simply don't.

This seems like the type of advice your buddy could pay a lawyer for but is getting here for free. Tell him to follow it.

Yikes, it seems he already talked to them for a couple hours at his place and at the polic station thiking exactly what was bolded. Hopefully it didn't mess up and say something really bad.

Oh, he did. He just doesn't know it yet.

That is the problem. Even if you think you did nothing wrong, the law might say otherwise. Best not to say anything, let them try to estibalish a case, then have the lawyer build the case with an understanding of the law and what all the known facts are.

 

[Eviloutsider]

Nothing to lawyer up for yet. He has not been charged with anything. He can tentatively contact a few lawyers to maybe have one prepared to take on his representation, but for now there is nothing to do, so long as he does not speak with the Feds.

He should know where his bail is going to come from, just in case.

Very important that he not say anything to the Feds. Nothing. He will want to convince them of his innocence, but that is not his job. People have a strong tendency to want to explain themselves, they can't help it. They are just certain it will help, it will set the investigators onto the correct track if they can just explain. Don't. Seriously, no matter what you think about your innocence, your persuasiveness, or your intelligence, don't talk to the investigators. Don't invite them into your home. Don't "cooperate" thinking it will help. Don't presume you are smarter than them. Simply, Don't.

Don't consent to a search. Don't volunteer for a lineup or to provide a sample of anything. Simply don't.

This seems like the type of advice your buddy could pay a lawyer for but is getting here for free. Tell him to follow it.

Yikes, it seems he already talked to them for a couple hours at his place and at the polic station thiking exactly what was bolded. Hopefully it didn't mess up and say something really bad.

Oh, he did. He just doesn't know it yet.

That is the problem. Even if you think you did nothing wrong, the law might say otherwise. Best not to say anything, let them try to estibalish a case, then have the lawyer build the case with an understanding of the law and what all the known facts are.

Yeah, that's tough as he was taken aback with a warrant out of nowhere and has never been in trouble prior so he didn't know how to respond. Coming from a small town (1,000 people) I guess he was just used to the local police being friendly and actual there to protect and serve first and foremost.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Nothing to lawyer up for yet. He has not been charged with anything. He can tentatively contact a few lawyers to maybe have one prepared to take on his representation, but for now there is nothing to do, so long as he does not speak with the Feds.

He should know where his bail is going to come from, just in case.

Very important that he not say anything to the Feds. Nothing. He will want to convince them of his innocence, but that is not his job. People have a strong tendency to want to explain themselves, they can't help it. They are just certain it will help, it will set the investigators onto the correct track if they can just explain. Don't. Seriously, no matter what you think about your innocence, your persuasiveness, or your intelligence, don't talk to the investigators. Don't invite them into your home. Don't "cooperate" thinking it will help. Don't presume you are smarter than them. Simply, Don't.

Don't consent to a search. Don't volunteer for a lineup or to provide a sample of anything. Simply don't.

This seems like the type of advice your buddy could pay a lawyer for but is getting here for free. Tell him to follow it.

Yikes, it seems he already talked to them for a couple hours at his place and at the polic station thiking exactly what was bolded. Hopefully it didn't mess up and say something really bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

An error occurredI plead the 5th Dimension

 

[Bucky86]

 

[Fullback Fro]

Most people who setup a password for their SSID don't set one up for their router's admin pages, so anyone can type in the router ip and change anything on their router settings.

 

[Eviloutsider]

So he is meeting with a lawyer who specializes in these things tomorrow just to go over the next steps. It's going to cost him a lot which is a shame for a young guy just out of college.

 

[Insein]

So he is meeting with a lawyer who specializes in these things tomorrow just to go over the next steps. It's going to cost him a lot which is a shame for a young guy just out of college.

Unfortunate but necessary in this case. Better broke than in a federal prison for the foreseeable future.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

So he is meeting with a lawyer who specializes in these things tomorrow just to go over the next steps. It's going to cost him a lot which is a shame for a young guy just out of college.

Define "a lot". A car detailing, a nice dinner, a Men's Wearhouse suit, or a vacation to Jamaica? What price freedom and reputation?

Seems to me this would be a quick consultation, no more than an hour, and a half hour only if your friend does not make the lawyer repeat himself.

 

[xulf]

OP...you seem to know a lot about this guy's password setup and activity. Where were YOU at the time of the crimes?

 

[AAABatteries]

I've always found the "I don't won't to ask for a lawyer because it makes me look guilty" to be a ridiculous position. My guess is that even the majority of lawyers would immediately lawyer up so some every day Joe should sure as hell do so.

 

[Ned]

Basically, someone used his IP address to hack into someone else's EBAY/Paypal account and collect about $1,000 worth of merchandise.

Wow the feds get involved for this? I would've thought it'd have to be in the high 5 digits to get the feds involved.

 

[jon_mx]

Basically, someone used his IP address to hack into someone else's EBAY/Paypal account and collect about $1,000 worth of merchandise.

Wow the feds get involved for this? I would've thought it'd have to be in the high 5 digits to get the feds involved.

I think the Feds shy away from most fraud which occurs overseas just because there is nothing they can do about it. It may help in this case that eBay is involved and could be pushing for some action.

 

[BigJohn]

Lawyer up (he is hesitant to do this do to the fact that he did nothing wrong)?

Seems to me this is the biggest reason to get representation.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

I've always found the "I don't won't to ask for a lawyer because it makes me look guilty" to be a ridiculous position. My guess is that even the majority of lawyers would immediately lawyer up so some every day Joe should sure as hell do so.

I would lawyer up.

 

[FigJam]

The search of the computer should bring up nothing if someone hacked into his wifi. If someone hacked into his computer, it could be more complicated. He needs to consult with some lawyers who have a strong background in computer crime. Talk to a few. Get their rates and how they will charge and what they think they can do to help. As mentioned above, it is probably too early to hire one. But he should have one located that he is comfortable with in case it looks like they are going to press charges. The FBI are smart cookis. They are just fishing right now and are just hoping they found a hacker who was dumb enough to use their home IP. Odds are good, they will figure out this is not the guy.

Provided he actually didn't do it... Even basically honest people can get stupid at times.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

blumpdate

 

[captain_amazing]

So I met up with a family member/friend after an ordeal that happened to him the other day. Basically the federal government came with a warrant to his place stating that his IP address was tracked to some identity fraud. Basically, someone used his IP address to hack into someone else's EBAY/Paypal account and collect about $1,000 worth of merchandise. They talked to him for a couple hours and confiscated his computer and phone to look into. So I have a bunch of questions...

1) How likely is it to use someone elses IP address to do this?

2) Could someone remotely get into his computer and do this?

3) What should his next course of action be? Lawyer up (he is hesitant to do this do to the fact that he did nothing wrong)?

4) If they find nothing on his computer/phone, would that be the end of it?

Any other ideas or questions, feel free to put them in here. I feel awful because he didn't do this but he doesn't know what to do about it.

1. Likely - this happens all the time.2. Yes - this happens all the time.