charging my EX for accessing my email?

Fine, it's my fault. But what she did is illegal, like that news anchor in Philadelphia. And that's my point -- how to track them down and prove it? IP address?

If you write Hotmail, they can find the IP of whoever went in, and then get you their name and city, etc.

How do you know that someone was accessing your email? Were messages sent that you did not write? Do you have any damages? Were items purchased that you did not order? Was your bank account drained?

Just messages opened that I didn't open...

here's a clue - change your password.

I did. And now I'm going to find the IP you used to read my letters, and charge you!

(I know you're not my BF, but this should work.)

not in the know wrote:

Just messages opened that I didn't open...

Its possible that messages are switched from "unread" to "read" if they are forwarded to another source, such as a Blackberry, depending on how your settings are set up. Also, you may have inadvertently, selected "Mark as read" for an entire series of emails.

Charging someone with a crime would require more evidence than you have presented. No District Attorney would prosecute with what you have presented.

Filing a civil suit would be a waste of your money, if there are no damages to prove. Plus, you could get counter sued for malicious prosecution, ..etc. Also, it doesn't help that the person you expect is an "Ex." A jury might think that you're just after revenge.

This one is not worth fighting.

Yes it is illegal even if she gave him the password. See what happened to this guy:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20080624_CBS3_fires_Mendte.html

If you want to push it, contact the police, they would probably need to get the information from hotmail on the ip address used.

They likely will not pursue it though unless he has done you harm (sendinig e-mail, deleting e-mail etc). They will likely just tell you to change your password.

not in the know wrote:

Ha-HA!

What if I'm actually a dude, and I just posed as a woman because I thought I'd get more advice?

Maybe if I told you I was a guy (I am) you would help me prove it was her?

Aren't there ANY hacker-types out there?

your bipolar ! go seek help

Will Hotmail really find this stuff out for me?

There's a big difference in the Philly case and the poster on this board. From the above quote the poster doesn't know who accessed her email or if anyone did at all. In the Philly case: (1) Mendte invaded Lane's privacy by hacking into her email,(2) Mendte publicized private facts about lane, (3) Mendte's publication of these private facts led to Lane's firing, (4) Lane sufferred damages by losing her $800k per year job, and (5) Lane was defamed to the extent that she may never find another job for the rest of her career. If I was Lane's attorney, I would argue that she is out $800k per year for the next 30 years of her career ($24M).

In contrast, the poster here has not gotten past step 1 by her statement "I found someone had gone into my account, and obviously I suspect him."

not in the know wrote:

Will Hotmail really find this stuff out for me?

unlikely...

For what it's worth, since I've started using the Window's Live version, sometimes weird stuff happens, if I read an email and delete it, the next email in line will sometimes show up as read, but I had no part of it.

THe only problem is that they'll only be able to give you an IP address. If he/she was using a public computer, or it it was accessed on a shared network at work or McDonalds or something, then you'll be no closer to any answers.

Change the password (if you haven't already done so) and move on.

This is a no win situation.

...so if it was from home I could bust them?

What do you mean hacker-types? Do you really think you're going to find someone to hack into microsoft's hotmail servers and find out which IP address was used to access an email account that you probably check twice a day or so?

Of the 4 people alive that could do that, I'm sure you'll have no problem convincing them to risk time in jail because you gave out your email password to someone else.

But if I get an IP, I can trace it back to his place, right?

If you could get an IP address for a specific instance that someone logged into your account (you can't), then you could ping that IP address and have a general idea of where it came from.

If you think Microsoft is going to sit on the phone with you and figure out the exact time/location that you think someone logged in, you're crazy.

Not going to happen. Ever. Let it go.

But if they sent a letter from the address, I can get the IP. The question is whether this is enough to charge them, if it's linked to their home.