I've been hacked but my ISP won't help!!!

I came back from my holidays to find that my comp had been hacked. I complained to my ISP but they said they can't do anything. Are they right in saying this? Apparently someone has been using our acct. and ran up bills of over $200.00 over a period of a couple of months. They have info on who it is (their phone numbers and that sort of thing) but they're not giving anything away. "It's against privacy laws". I've changed my password but what else should I do? Can they still get online when we're online? Do they get cut-off when we disconnect?
If my ISP is wrong and they really should be doing something what should I say to put the fear of God in them?

Well, while I don't live in Australia and I don't know their laws and such, I can offer this advice:

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I've changed my password but what else should I do? Can they still get online when we're online? Do they get cut-off when we disconnect?
If my ISP is wrong and they really should be doing something what should I say to put the fear of God in them?

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Changing your password on a dialup account is definitely the first step in securing it. Make sure it's a GOOD password (6-8 chars both upper and lowercase with special characters and at least one number), something like gR8eSt1& . Keep in mind, most ISPs probably don't allow more than 8 chars so making something 10 chars in length won't help because it'll authenticate against the first 8 (like passwd will let you change your pw in unix/linux to any length, yet login doesn't give a shite after 8 chars?! what's up with that? Time to abuse the open source movement and go fix that! hehe...)

They can't get online with your account if you've changed the password (they'll constantly fail). As for the bill, you might get shafted on it, but I'd tell your ISP that you didn't authorize anyone else to use that account and that you can prove you were away on vacation and that if you DO have to pay for it, it'll be something like 10 bucks a month for 20 months, hehe...if they get pissy, cancel your account and go somewhere else because if you're forced to pay for someone else's abuse and blatant breaking of the rules, then your business is deserved elsewhere.

If they still give you grief on it, tell them that from this point on, nobody from any other phone number should be allowed to use your account, period and go so far as to verify on the phone that you will not be responsible for anyone else's charges on your account if they choose to bill you for their wrongdoing. They probably won't agree to that but you've stated it and if something else happens, you have written documentation for all of this.

As for their "It's against privacy laws.", tell them that your privacy was violated when they broke into your account and now, it's up to the ISP to handle charges and any police action against them. I would think they'd try to help you out but it seems they don't care. I'd start looking at other ISPs, my friend....

Hope this helps. Oh, this is also my opinion...

Adding on to what Vorlin had to say, if you can prove you were on vacation and didn't use your account, you shouldn't have to pay. If they try to make you pay anyway, it's time for a new ISP. Making you pay because your account was hacked is just corrupt.

Further to Vorlin and stflook's replies I also add this -
if you pay your isp with credit card then you have some additional protection for you can claim to the cc that your account was used in an unauthorized fashion and then let them fight the isp on your behalf.:cool:

Thanks for your posts! :cool: And when I speak to my ISP on the phone again I think I'll ask for the supervisor. The tech support guy I got kept insinuating that somehow this was my fault. :rolleyes:

I'd ask the supervisor/tech support guy why they think it is your fault (they may have additional technical information that you don't know about). It's interesting that you state that your PC has been hacked. Are you sure that is the case? For example it is possible you have a trojan on your PC which has sent details of your account/password to another party, and if so changing your password isn't going to stop it happening again!
There is a big difference between your PC being hacked as opposed to there being a problem with the security of your ISP.

I bet its AOL, cos there a load of ***"*"*"*"*"

reykjavik,
If your ISP intends to make you pay for it, I'm pretty certain that you can complain to the Fair Trading people, as its not 'fair'. And even if you don't wanna go that far, just threatening to can often work....

An alternate option would be that if the ISP tries to make you pay, tell them you'll simply send a letter to the newspaper regarding it.. I think that whatever paper that ICON is in might be interested in this, as they just love to publish little articles that warn general users of an issue...

Also, I'd recommend you download The Cleaner, and run it to test and see if you do have a trojan on your computer as if it does, changing your password really aint going to do jack....

I bet it IS aol, just because their the only one i know of that lets people but things and charge it to an online account.

the fact of the matter is, you've been robbed. and most likely its by someone who knows you well enough to access your account at a time they knew youd be away. This person might have accessed your computer in person, and gotten you account information. i wouldn't be surprised if the stuff was delivered to your door and the just picked it up there, unless it was just porn sites.

your isp is doing the right thing by not releasing this info to you, its a job for the police. They can get that phone numbers from your service provider and arrest the person/persons responsibe.

If you think you've been hacked contact local authorities. ISP's wont give ANY information without a court order.

I'm from OZ also and ur post is disturbing 2 say the least !

Who is ur ISP ? (and which part of oz u from).

I know for sure that if I was in ur situation I wouldn't take that **** from ur ISP.

:eek: I would get an new I.S.P. and tell the old one to kiss my ass, and send them your damage bill

Keepen it real
FreeAgent

u may have been social engineered by someone. did you get a phone call or email from someone asking you for your screenname and pwd?

the only advice i have for u is to cancle your account as soon as possible. and next time choose a stronger pwd.

well legaly.. they are liable to help you out.. coz it does involve them.. if it was just your computer that got hacked eg. attacked with a trojan.. ofcourse they cant do anything about it.. but since it is related to them they should help out.. its just plain simple logic.. though you have to prove you are the REAL owner so you can have the right to know what the fone number of the hacker is...

and if they still dont comply,. dont be scared to sue them.. the law is in your side..

What Ineternet Service Provider? I bet its AOL