Question Home phone and pc compromised by malicious person

[geoffranklyn]

Hello everyone,

First time I have ever posted on a site like this. Below I will describe the problem and situation and hopefully somebody can offer some advice.

Several years back my sister got into a relationship with a guy who turned out to be a complete weirdo. Basically he was mentally abusive and controlling, all the usual low life behaviour, etc. Anyway she was texting me one night and I said to her to just pack up and leave and I said she would actually have a case to take it further to the police. By this point she'd had a baby with said weirdo. He actually saw the text I had sent because unbeknownst to her, he had set up her phone so all calls and texts were routed through something he could spy on them with.

This guy is very tech savvy and has done a degree in computer science. He is a fan of the dark web and has actually expressed to my sister an unhealthy interest in children (which is what got her to get away from him with her child).

Before all of this came to light she allowed him full access to my parents computer network and internet provider account. Now they have a random phone number attached to their internet provider account which they cannot remove as administrator rights he had obviously set up for himself.

The phone is a broadband phone and the provider has now said that calls appear to be coming from a foreign country so it's looking like they are being re-routed somehow. He constantly taunts my sister with lines used on the phone which shows he can listen in to calls, etc.

I have suggested that if the ISP are refusing to help and get rid of this random number then maybe close the account and open up a new one. Would this help in anyway? Once someone has your phone number, email, etc is it easy to just start up the same thing again? I know this guy downloads nefarious programs from the dark web.

I don't know if I'm asking this in the right place, maybe someone here knows another forum that may be able to help?

What would be great is someone from Anonymous to expose this guy. By the way this has gone to court but lack of evidence meant it was thrown out. He even taunted afterwards that if the police cyber forensics had been used then evidence would be there.

Thanks in advance

 

[Gururu]

Get new social security numbers and open new accounts.

 

[COLGeek]

Change ISPs or at least close current account and reestablish a new account.

Reset (or even replace) home router and establish strong admin passwords, disable remote access, and use complex passwords on wireless networks.

Wipe all attached devices (factory resets, clean installs of OS as appropriate).

Has any of this been done?

 

[geoffranklyn]

Change ISPs or at least close current account and reestablish a new account.

Reset (or even replace) home router and establish strong admin passwords, disable remote access, and use complex passwords on wireless networks.

Wipe all attached devices (factory resets, clean installs of OS as appropriate).

Has any of this been done?

Haven't changed isp yet. That is what I was wondering if it would help in doing so. New router was given by isp and the person in question mentioned he knew we had a new router so he can obviously see account details. The PC is not even being turned on. My sister was in the mind of keeping it disconnected but preserved incase of potential evidence. Before I sort out a new PC for them I am basically asking how can I shut this creep out from tampering further. He even remotely controlled their smart tv away from the house via his phone and showed off about it. She basically allowed this trojan horse into their house to install god knows what. Who knows what malicious software is available on the dark web.

 

[COLGeek]

If you do the things previously mentioned, it removes any current device from being compromised. It removes his foothold.

But, all of them need to be done. All, including resetting TVs.

Quit worrying about dark web nonsense. More than a little urban legend FUD in play and it won't help.

 

[Ralston18]

And I will add the suggestion to seek legal advice.

Especially if it all has already been in court one way or another.

The issues are much more involved than just "IT".

Not a lawyer (full disclosure) but I would expect that some sort of restraining order could bring the problems to a halt.

Once/if a restraining order is violated then stronger actions can be taken.

There are places and services that can help with such things. Often free or very low cost under some circumstances.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[COLGeek]

All banking, utility, and any site where purchases are made should change passwords and review authorized users as well.