Hacked into my compter photos

[Before you can make things better, you have to stop making them worse...]

Ok. thought I would get on dating site. Put picture up of me and a friend at my ex fiancé friends wedding. It was a cute picture of me and his friend (another women). Now all of the pictures he sent me in my file are gone. Zipped. I can't access the wedding file.

I thought I saw his profile looking at mine and then he quickly got off. No picture but same age area. I guess he did not want me to have any pictures he sent me of the last several years on my computer zipped gone. What an... .

Has this happened to you? Go to your picture files all labeled but now empty? I feel robbed.

[downwhim]

Ok. thought I would get on dating site. Put picture up of me and a friend at my ex fiancé friends wedding. It was a cute picture of me and his friend (another women). Now all of the pictures he sent me in my file are gone. Zipped. I can't access the wedding file.

I thought I saw his profile looking at mine and then he quickly got off. No picture but same age area. I guess he did not want me to have any pictures he sent me of the last several years on my computer zipped gone. What an... .

Has this happened to you? Go to your picture files all labeled but now empty? I feel robbed.

[MrConfusedWithItAll]

It might be worth checking your recycle bin on your desktop.

[downwhim]

OK, all these pictures of my sons wedding are gone! I can't believe he did this! empty folders, going to try recycle bin now.

[hope2727]

Don't recycle bin the files. He may hack in again and put them back. You never know. If you delete the files he will know you noticed and that is the attention he craves. Negative or positive they crave attention. Just copy anything you value to somewhere else and leave it well enough alone. Just saying.

Sorry this happened to you. It is a terrible invasion of privacy.

[downwhim]

I did not recycle because I would have lost info. He is just trying once more to be mean. All is my fault so he will get me... .Ridiculous

[Johan]

How do you mean hacked? Has he that skillset?

He got physical access to your pc or not?

If the files were deleted into the recycle bin, and then the recycle bin emptied. There might be a chance by using some recovery software as deleted files are still on hard drive even when recycle bin gets emptied, it takes a while for it to be over written on the disk...

I am a bit lost, as to how they are gone... is the zipped file on your PC or is it completely gone...

Also if he has been able top get onto your pc remotely, make sure you update your operating system and do a full scan using malwarebytes and eset online scanner to start. that would be for malware and virus. Also set up a firewall.  If you need any help with any of this,shoot me a mail.

[raisins3142]

It is very difficult to remotely access another computer unless some sort of a "backdoor" is installed either in person (they did this to your computer while they had access) or via a virus (phishing attempt with email or something).  As said before, install and run malwarebytes and also make sure your firewall and other settings are up to snuff.  If you have any questions, I'd start an account at a dedicated computer forum and explain the situation and get exact steps to follow.

The more likely way that your ex did this is by still having your wifi password.  Change that immediately.  With a wifi password, your ex could park in front of your house and become part of your local network.  My bro used to live across the street and I would use this trick to make his printer print out funny messages, but I could've done whatever I wanted to his files.

If your ex hacked in remotely, without using your wifi or having something installed on your computer, then they have a strong skill set.  Is your ex a computer science person?

[raisins3142]

Also, make sure your computer is individually password protected (have to type in password to get to desktop screen, etc).

[propunchingbag]

Take your computer in to a professional and make sure that he has not installed software that allows him to view your activity. There are programs that he could have installed that track all your passwords even if you change them, take screen shots of every page you visit, etc... .It would be hidden from your view, but a skilled computer shop knows what to look for and might even be able to recover your pictures.

Once you have done this change all of your passwords and set up new email addresses just to be safe.

[downwhim]

Did my scan to get rid of all viruses and my folders with pictures so empty. Nothing in them. Then a thing... .not a folder says zipped. I found I can access some of the pictures in my email but my sons wedding pictures are gone... .

[raisins3142]

Before you do anything else on your own, if you really need those pics and have no other source... .download a free, safe program called Recuva which is made by Piriform.  Run through the set up so that it scans for all deleted files in all locations and then enable deep scan.  Deleted things aren't usually actually deleted (their address on the hard drive is only erased and the info is still there).  You can likely get them back this way.

[Ripped Heart]

Did my scan to get rid of all viruses and my folders with pictures so empty. Nothing in them. Then a thing... .not a folder says zipped. I found I can access some of the pictures in my email but my sons wedding pictures are gone... .

Downwhim, did you find any viruses on your computer? The reason I ask is that there are some viruses out there which target pictures (similar to what the celebrity community is seeing right now) but they don't necessarily delete them, they just hide them. If you open the picture folder and right click, go to properties and see if the hidden box is checked.

A lot of the advice on this page is extremely useful regardless of if it is your ex or a virus as it eliminates opportunity. I would definitely start with changing the wi-fi password because that's the most common password people forget to change.

When I was an IT engineer, we had several software programs that were installed on all the computers in the business. It allowed us to remote into anyone's machine and fix an issue. The part I worry about with you is that if your ex has installed this software, he is able to watch what you are doing on the screen and that does worry me. If you want, go into your programs under control panel and make a list of all the programs you have installed on your machine that you don't recognise. You can PM if you wish and I can verify if they are safe or if there is anything you should remove.

Also raisins suggestion of software is free and is safe. Hard drives always hold a signature, which is why pedophiles aren't safe when they think they have destroyed all the evidence on their machines but would first start with checking to see if they are hidden rather than deleted first and then we go from there.

I will also send you some instructions via PM later where you can check exactly who has been logging on to your computer. Regardless of how someone gets in, there is always a footprint trail that takes a very skilled person to be able to eliminate any trace of them being there.

[downwhim]

Thanks to all of you. I will see what I can do tonight after work.