OMG - what a freaking jerk!!! - She should be glad to get rid of him.

Be cautious here, everyone picks up spyware on their computer, that is why all of us, should have Norton anti virus or another utility to make sure that your computer is not hacked or whatever you want to call it. Anytime you have your computer on you are being bombarded with spyware and all kinds of internet bugs. I buy my computer Norton and a few others, on line and download it, it scans all the time and every now and then I run a full system scan. Buy it, do not use free programs and use a big name.. you get what you pay for. Spyware is not what another person can buy to spy on someone. There is a difference in computer terms...

Keylogger devices are another whole area. They are minature hard drives that someone puts on a computer, usually in the form of a fake plug in, on the back of your tower, that tracks all your keystrokes. They have to come in the house and have physical access to the computer to remove it. On a laptop you will see it as it is not easy to hide anything on a laptop. At one time parents used these for tracking where a kid goes It is not that easy anymore and any" program" is wiped out by a utility and you can run your own system to see if you have had threats, we all do. Some big corporations use Key stroke and all can read your e-mail, my ex was in charge of all e-mail for a huge corporation, and he had access to everyones e-mail at any time he wanted, he was the lotus notes manager and a lot of other things. The security division could track anyone, and he came home and told me someone was warned not to trade stocks and shop on ebay... and they were let go because they had a record of all time spent on what and where. He got really angry at me during the divorce because I sent him an angry e-mail to his business account by accident.. instead of his personal yahoo mail. He had security erase it from the system. All his companies e-mail was required by the goverment to archive it all, forever after 911. I should have bought stock in one of the companies that does the archives.

More of threat is not changing your password, you would be surprized how many people could get in your e-mail and ex spouse are often doing that! Never use the same password for everything. On banking software they ask you peridically to change your password, for a reason, do the same on all your accounts, email etc. If you use your smartphone or Iphone to bank it is a signal that can be read by people with scanning devices and you should always use encyrption programs so your info is not out there, over the air.

Most of us are not being spyed on by an ex, even mine who has been in the high side of the computer business since 1985. I did spy on him.. I hacked his amazon account, although I had to be careful, if I linked a book or something it showed up in his browsing history and I had to go in and erase that. I had fun, and Sld1 from here would call me up and say look and see what he is buying.... late at night. If you snoop you have to be able to handle it..!

And back up your hard drive, I don't take my own advice and on my PC, not my laptop, I had a crash and lost my data about a month ago.. I got a new hard drive but lost some data, mostly the 100's of cover letters, and some legal software I had and some research.

Most sites like the one we are on has some form of security. Some better than others and I worry about getting hacked thru DS until they get this mess fixed. I only get on here from one computer. I use the other only for banking and bill paying. Facebook is always having problems. I almost got hacked into while on Facebook. I had talked to a lady at Staples one day and she was describing her computer problems. The next day the same thing happened to me and I quickly shut down my computer and didn't click on the link. It looked just like my AVG security I was using. Only I couldn't shut it down so I did a manual shut down. I was just about to click on the link they were advising to fix a problem when I remembered the lady from the day before.

Now you can load key loggers onto the computer so it can't be seen. If I remember correctly it can be sent in mail and then whatever you type can be accessed from any computer the person who sent it to you is using. I need to back up my hard drive too.

Please have NewJoy77 check with the police. Most keystroke loggers are illegal.

My STBX put one on my computer. He's the IT Director where he works so he doesn't worry about anyone seeing anything he does...he could just go in and delete it. Of course he had access to my computer before the split (he'd obviously been making plans for quite some time). I found out when I went to log into my new bank account (at a completely different bank then we ever used) and the password and security questions had been changed. That was just the beginning. I had the IT dept where I work completely wipe out my computer and started fresh. Hmmm, that didn't do the trick. A friend who's husband works for IBM said it's on the hard drive itself. He installed it internally on my laptop so I never saw anything externally and had no idea. Very frustrating and SCARY!! They "email" them all of your keystrokes (think of EVERYTHING you type every day) as well as screenshots how ever often they set it up.

I downloaded a program and found out all kinds of disgusting stuff about my EX while we were married. I'm glad I did it. It reveled to me what I needed to know to make the best decision for me.


Good luck NewJoy77. And have a happy Thanksgiving with Kathi

On behalf of NewJoy77, she told me "I should have questioned it when the runaway husband offered me this laptop - after he had already taken the other computer and all the things out of our townhouse, but I didn't. NOW I KNOW BETTER."

Thankful4u: I will let NewJoy77 know about this. Like I said, she took her laptop to THE computer guru of the area and I'm sure he will be able to identify what it is that was put on her computer. What she decides to do with that information will be up to her. Thanks!

She should see if installing a keylogger is illegal in Maryland, and if it is, sic the cops on her stbx big time!

What a piece of scum he is.

hurtinandhealin: That's a good thought and I'm sure she is onto it. Unfortunately, there are some instances in our state where laws don't apply between married couples. But I have encouraged her to look into this. Thanks for your thought!

And yes, we all agree that he is a scumball and, no doubt, off his nut.

Wow...I'm so computer illiterate I wouldnt have a clue if my ex did something like that. Luckily he couldnt care a less what I do...lol... so I think Im safe. Send big hugs to Thankful for me Kathi...hopefully she will be back soon...Big Hugs..Kathy

dairytech: You DO mean NewJoy, right? I will make sure she gets all of these messages even if she has to wait for Thanksgiving Day when she comes over to share our holiday with us! Wish you all could be here as it's going to be a very special thanksgiving day here!

Ohhh crap...yes...sorry! Hugs NewJoy!