Am I right to be suspicious of my neighbours?

[Curtaintwitcher2017]

NC for this one..

I live in a terraced house in a popular and friendly part of London. The sort of place that nothing bad happens (well actually that's not true based on recent news, but we all like to pretend otherwise). Our house backs onto all the other houses on our block, and from our first and second levels we can see into the kitchen of some houses where the neighbours don't use curtains or blinds.

A few months ago one of the houses was renovated by a family, who moved out. There is now about 4/5 young men living there, but the house is still for sale. I assume they are renting short term.

They have turned their fancy shiny new kitchen into some sort of computer den. There is a row of mac computers along the kitchen island, and I kid you not but they spend probably 9am in the morning until 5AM straight, on their computers. I see them there when I get up for the loo throughout the night.

Rubbish piles up around them throughout the week, but they do empty it on bin day.

I can't see what they're doing clearly but I don't think it's coding or gaming (I work in IT). They have bright colourful screens up all the time- kind of like cctv but not images of camera footage, just of colourful pictures.

AIBU to have a range of conspiracy theories about who they are and what they are doing? Maybe that they're hackers trying to bring down a major corporation? Or perhaps they're running an illegal website? Spying on their neighbour's internet usage (maybe that's why my internet is so slow)? Dodgy finance traders?

Or maybe they're just doing some sort of start up and trying to make the big time?

Or maybe there is something more sinister?

What would you think? And AIBU to wonder what they are up to during their epically long days?

Plenty of perfectly innocent explanations: gamers, coders, app developers, film editors.
By all means amuse yourself by speculating but FFS don't run bleating to the nearest authority to grass them up. You will just make yourself look like an absolute twat.

I too am puzzled about how you know they are Macs but you can’t make out the pictures.

Could they be coding apps or games? Many coders work overnight rather than during the day.
I’m not at all concerned that they let rubbish pile up. Have you met young men before?

Staples

I couldn't cope not knowing, I would have to get some binoculars.

I really don't get why this is suspicious at all. I work from home and am on the computer pretty much non-stop from 9-5 every day, on a busy day can easily be 8-8.

If they're youngish and living in a naice part of London then they're almost certainly house sharing because that's the only way for many to afford rent, and freelancing / working from home is hugely popular among the younger generation.

I'm now wondering if any of my neighbours are devoting time to staring in my windows at me working on the computer all day and if I might end up with a knock on the door from the authorities!

running a business
or
esports

No harm in reporting it.

Reporting what, exactly? To whom?

winteriscoming
My money is on Pistonheads and MNHQ.
Thanks for making me laugh op.

Personal internet shoppers?

If spending too much time on a computer is a crime, I'm in deep shit.

No harm in reporting it. Better safe and all that

To who exactly? And for what?

If its bothering you- id report it to 111. Let them decide if its suspicious enough to investigate. After everything thats happened, i think I'd report if i felt uneasy!

For what it's worth, I never mentioned I was considering reporting them! I just find it odd and thought it would be interesting to get your input.

I can tell what a mac looks like from a distance - I can see the front and back of a few of them as they're all around the kitchen island. I cannot however zoom in and see what's the colourful pictures are on their screen.

If I had binoculars then I would have definitely used them for a better idea of what's going on!

For whoever asked, no they're not "forriners", or maybe they are, I can't hear them talk - the only time I have heard them is 2am and they're having a loud gathering in the garden having a smoke. I can't hear them clearly. They're all talk scrawny white geeky looking males.

So far My bet is that it is some sort of fantasy sports league or gambling website that they're running. They must be making a profit- I know gamers play nearly all day/night but they need to be paying their rent somehow!

Either Esports or a start up.

double electric expressor at the kitchen island

Some new fangled fancy coffee machine Blinkingblimey?

Gamers. Especially if they're young, group of guys etc.

Friends from uni used to have LAN parties so they'd all be connected to the network and play the same game together.

Boring? Yes. Illegal? No

Illegal? No

I like how you felt that this needed saying

Meanwhile on Reddit: "we are a group of guy friends who've just rented a terraced house in London. Are we being unreasonable to be suspicious of our neighbour who keeps peering into our kitchen from her house? We are thinking that it might be worth investing in blinds".

Get some binoculars!

Intriguing

"They have turned their fancy shiny new kitchen into some sort of computer den. There is a row of mac computers along the kitchen island, "

This made me laugh out loud - suspicious and highly middle class!

Sounds like some graphic designers are using it as an office. Hence to 9-5.

Santa's elves in disguise organising Christmas lists?

I think plenty of people have misread your op and think they're on the computers 9am-5pm.