How is she reading my emails?

[ditherwood]

I have a 'friend' who I am 99% sure is reading my emails. Long story but a couple of years ago I was starting a business venture with a mutual friend and we gave our company a very unusual name and pronunciation, we told no one about this, particularly not this woman who had already been problematic. I then saw this 'friend' who produced a list of potential dog names for her new puppy to read to me, on this list was my company name, which she pronounced in the exact same unusual way. I had a pretty good idea then that this was because she was hacking my emails and even had an idea how; about a year previously I had agreed to support her in a work project, her husband set me up with an email address for her website on my computer and I had to add the server details to my computer etc. At the time I really trusted both of them and was also quite ill after a breakdown so possibly didn't protect myself enough. We fell out during this project due to her controlling nature and I deleted the email address but realised I hadn't fully deleted the server details from my computer. After the dog/company name issue I went through my server list, deleted her details and presumed I was safe. Last week I got the vibes she is still somehow able to read my emails, the mutual friend I started a company with emailed me about her (a bit of a rant) and I replied and I am pretty sure this other woman read it (she suddenly stopped replying to a brief email thread, which I felt timing wise was because she had read these emails). Her husband is VERY tech savvy and a bit sinister/conspiracy theorist so is very up on security, hacking etc. I really want to feel like my emails are private, does anyone have any tips as to how I can secure myself even more or perhaps identify how they are hacking my systems?

I’m afraid I don’t have much advice other than that you should definitely change all of your passwords. I would do this from a different device to the one they uploaded the server on - it’s possible he has installed something like a keystroke tracker onto the computer which would mean they could have access to all of your passwords etc. Do you know anyone tech savvy who you trust who could look at your computer for anything suspicious?

Thanks BillyIsMyBunny I hadn't thought of a keystroke tracker, yikes, that is a scary thought. I really don't no anyone tech savvy to help, will have to see if I can find someone I can pay to help I think.

I googled the problem and a number of sites came up with ideas. This is one for example:-
Logger
Hope this helps.

You've never changed your password?

Thanks widowerbutok I will check that out

Yes Aquamarine1029 I've changed it several times since then, but I think the issue is server based as it's not a web based system

Stop using that email address and get a new one!

If they've been entering server details etc on your PC, or had access to it, there is the possibility that they could have remote access to your PC, screen mirroring etc.

What you do, depends on how far you want to take it. If you just want them out, the easiest way would be to completely wipe (or even replace your computer) and set it up from scratch.

If you want them to face any kind of repercussions you'll need evidence, you may be lucky and find a police cybercrime unit willing to take it seriously and do the technical investigation for you, but unless there's been substantial fraud or harm as a result you'll most likely have to find someone privately (cost +++) who can collate that data and build a case for you, even if you do, the CPS may decide that there's no public interest in a prosecution, which means civil action, again not much point unless there's a substantial loss involved.