[chrispy47]

I've searched through the forums to verify, but can't find anyone else that has encountered this situation. I don't know if I'm missing something obvious, but I was informed by the person that viewed my texts was able to do so without my phone. This person (let's just name them "SWAPA") has a line on the same Verizon account, and USED to have access to it. I've talked to several Verizon reps and they've all agreed that there is no legal way (other than a subpoena) to access historical texts without the phone owner's prior knowledge...even through their website. There is no reason for a subpoena, and SWAPA has found a way to view my texts without using my phone. I know there's spyware available to tap into someone's phone but I doubt SWAPA did that. Anyone have any insight on the possibilities and how to keep it from happening again? It seemed like there were only a few days worth of texts that were able to be viewed, according to the information I've gathered.

[bbwizard]

Sounds like he backed up your information and loaded it on his phone by accident.. Has he had access to your computer or has your phone been hooked up to his computer?

[bbwizard]

to CrackBerry

[chrispy47]

Yeah, that may be so. The thing that I can't figure out is my last backup was 23 Aug, and the information SWAPA relayed to me was more current, pertaining to my texts around 26 August. If my backup worked correctly, SWAPA should have been able to quote a lot more historical information.

[bbwizard]

Hmmmmmm

[RickyRoss10]

I don't think I understand.

Someone had access to your current phone? phone number? in the past...and that person is NOW able to access your current texts?

[barbwyr]

Wipe the phone, change your passwords on your phone and computer and your VZW account. If it continues call the police and file a stalking report. Yes there is spyware and if he has had access to you phone then it's easily possible that he has installed it. If this is being done to you in a malicious manner, call the cops NOW.

[wentouch]

The account holder has the authority to do anything that person wants with the accounts & plans under his or her name including retrieving texts.

Did your parents uncover you sexting?

[TSOnTheDrums8892]

woah woah woah...... verizon keeps records of EVERY SINGLE TEXT?!?!

how is that possible. theres no way to access it through my account so how would anybody have access to them.

[wentouch]

From my understanding, backlogs of texts are stored for a certain period and can be retrieved on request as to certain dates by the account holder. It's not a normal account feature, but is possible if VZ is contacted.

In other words, parents can be able to track text sent from and to their children on family plans upon request.

[seVer916]

you can see the transaction online (number, sent to or received from, date/time), but you cannot see the actual message without either the phone, a copy of the text, or a subpoena of text records.

[stunna54960]

So this person had a phone activated on your number at one point? They probably just turned on there old phone and some of your messages sent to you came through. In the past I was using one phone, then upgraded to a new phone and left the old one on. Messages came through to both of the phones when someone texted me, that's why the Reps tell you to turn off your old phone when you get a new one.

[cornettbr]

It is possible also to have more then one line on the phone... think about it this way... you can be logged into AIM on your computer... you can be logged into aim on your blackberry.... any message that gets sent from the black berry can be seen on the computer... and vice versa

[seVer916]

oh wow... the last 2 posts made me seriously doubt the validity of info given.

stunna-- WRONG. calls and/or messages will only go to 1 phone at a time. For security (not to mention billing) reasons, the network is setup to only recognize 1 phone at a time. If multiple ESNs hit the switch, especially from different areas, the number is immediately suspended for possible fraud. That, of course, forces the legit customer to call in.

Cornett-- WRONG at the start... maybe wrong about AIM. While phones do have dual NAM capability, so you can have 2 numbers and use only 1 phone, Verizon doesn't support it. And even more so, the OP's concern was having 2 phones with 1 line.

In addition- I can't speak for AIM specifically, but I know that Yahoo will log out of 1 session so you can log in another. I would have to assume the same would be said for AIM, but I never use it so I can't try it. I can speak for Yahoo, however, and it happens every time - on computer, will sign out of phone.... on phone, will sign out of computer.

[Sidhe]

oh wow... the last 2 posts made me seriously doubt the validity of info given.

stunna-- WRONG. calls and/or messages will only go to 1 phone at a time. For security (not to mention billing) reasons, the network is setup to only recognize 1 phone at a time. If multiple ESNs hit the switch, especially from different areas, the number is immediately suspended for possible fraud. That, of course, forces the legit customer to call in.

Cornett-- WRONG at the start... maybe wrong about AIM. While phones do have dual NAM capability, so you can have 2 numbers and use only 1 phone, Verizon doesn't support it. And even more so, the OP's concern was having 2 phones with 1 line.

In addition- I can't speak for AIM specifically, but I know that Yahoo will log out of 1 session so you can log in another. I would have to assume the same would be said for AIM, but I never use it so I can't try it. I can speak for Yahoo, however, and it happens every time - on computer, will sign out of phone.... on phone, will sign out of computer.

Sorry, but you're wrong on everything you've posted (except for Yahoo) so far.

Yes, the reason they ask you to shut off your old phone (whether the tech knows it or not) is because YES, the texts and notifications WILL come through on the first ESN at the same time that it comes through on your second (new) ESN. Trust me, I've seen it with Verizon and Alltel. I only own one AT&T phone, so I can't say for certain on a Sim-carded phone.

Calls do not ring on both, nor is voicemail accessable, but messages (including email notifications, text and IMs) can and DO come through on multiple phones if you've switched them from one to the other. Alltel is the most recent one I've had this happen with, and I believe it has to do with the fact that unless you call in and specifically tell them to release the ESN (such as for resale), they keep that ESN tied to your account. If you've ever bought a phone used from someone on Alltel, and unless the seller is savvy, chances are you've encountered the whole "We're sorry, that phone is tied to another account, get in touch with the account holder and ask them to release the ESN so that you can use it".

Next, yes, AOL will tell you you're signed in from multiple locations (I've had upwards of five going at once to see how far I could push it) and at least one side of the convo will come through on ALL of the connections. If you use it (and you say you haven't, so allow me to explain), and you open multiple locations (say on your phone, your laptop at home and your work PC) AIM will open a window on each telling you that you are signed in on X number of locations (in this case 3) and will ask you to reply with 1 on your current location to sign out of the other two locations.

[deuspatriND]

I beleive, maybe i am mistaken, but Verizon, ATT, TIME warner etc all store up to a month of records regarding phone calls, texts, etc (these include copies of txts) done so for legal and law enforcement reasons. Now i think it is either 15 days or a month which is standard and under subpoena it can be extended to 1-2 months. I recall hearing about this in my Public Policy class last semester but i dozed off a little so i may be taking it out of context.

regardless, if this is happening get a new phone. Then there is no spyware on your phone and change all your paswords - i suggest a 8 character alpha numerical password. and make sure they are removed from the account.

[seVer916]

Yes, the reason they ask you to shut off your old phone (whether the tech knows it or not) is because YES, the texts and notifications WILL come through on the first ESN at the same time that it comes through on your second (new) ESN. Trust me, I've seen it with Verizon and Alltel. I only own one AT&T phone, so I can't say for certain on a Sim-carded phone.

Calls do not ring on both, nor is voicemail accessable, but messages (including email notifications, text and IMs) can and DO come through on multiple phones if you've switched them from one to the other. Alltel is the most recent one I've had this happen with, and I believe it has to do with the fact that unless you call in and specifically tell them to release the ESN (such as for resale), they keep that ESN tied to your account. If you've ever bought a phone used from someone on Alltel, and unless the seller is savvy, chances are you've encountered the whole "We're sorry, that phone is tied to another account, get in touch with the account holder and ask them to release the ESN so that you can use it".

well, considering I am a VZW tech (VZW direct - not 3rd party (outsource) or flextronics in-store), I'm telling you point blank that you are incorrect... from a VZW standpoint. I don't know or care about Alltel for 2 reasons - 1) VZW bought them out (other than a few trust markets where there is no other carriers), and 2) the OP is a VZW customer, using VZW service.

The reason the first phone must be turned off is because the switch is still recognizing that ESN as being authenticated and active. So when you try to program the new phone, the switch is basically caught between 2 places - does it understand that the old phone is still active, or does it understand that the ESN has been changed and allow the new phone to be programmed?

From time to time, the programming will go thru, but more often than not it fails. When this happens, and the customer doesnt have access to the old phone to turn it off, we go thru manual programming the new phone to force the switch to validate it. Usually then the OTA programming goes thru, but even still it sometimes doesn't.

Not once in the years that I've been working for VZW have I ****EVER**** spoken with a customer who says they're getting messages on their current and old phone simultaneously. Not to mention that I've never had a problem, nor my parents, nor my fiancee, nor my friends, nor my coworkers, nor... nor... I think you get the idea.

[chrispy47]

Alright everyone, thank you very much for the info. Here is the info I've gathered about what has been done to my phone...from the person that did it no less. (I'm not going to go into detail, but no WENTOUCH, my parents didn't catch me sexting). I've been out of their house for a LONG time. Supposedly there is a hacking code that can be used from any computer to access my texts, emails....anything written. Regardless of how long it's been on my phone or whether I delete it, there is a log kept somewhere. Some of you are right, Verizon does keep a log of past texts which can only be brought up through subpeona...I can't even get to them as the account owner. Apparently, SWAPA found this code on YouTube of all things. There was no spyware installed on my phone, but I got a replacement just in case. The only other thing aside from getting a new account that this person has absolutely no access to is to adjust my security settings and/or use some type of security/firewall app to protect info leaks. I mean, if Obama can have a blackberry with national secrets on it and RIM has some of the most secure software out there....why can some computer illiterate, yet highly resourceful individual hack into my information? Anyone have other suggestions? Anyone have a point of contact at RIM that could provide some clarification? Thanks again for all the info!

[barbwyr]

My suggestion is to stop believing everything you hear..lol. Unless they are looking at your back up files on your computer there is no way for them to see your texts without some form of spyware.

[chrispy47]

Barbwyr, If backup files are the only way someone can see my past texts, then how are they able to edit my contacts without my phone? I understand they would have to resave a backup file with the same name to cover their tracks but that's a lot of work just to view some texts. Also, wouldn't some of their blackberry info be passed in the backup process and transferred back on mine if I did a restore (which I have done in the recent past)?

[barbwyr]

Barbwyr, If backup files are the only way someone can see my past texts, then how are they able to edit my contacts without my phone? I understand they would have to resave a backup file with the same name to cover their tracks but that's a lot of work just to view some texts. Also, wouldn't some of their blackberry info be passed in the backup process and transferred back on mine if I did a restore (which I have done in the recent past)?

They don't need a Blackberry to read your backups they simply need your backup. If you synch you contacts with Outlook they can easily change your contacts on Outlook then you synch them and it changes. If things are happening on your phone and you are not backing up or synching to your computer or if they have information that is newer than you last back up then they either have access to your device or they have previously installed spyware. So, either your device is compremised or you are just very gullible and believing what your friend is telling you. Or...your device is simply haunted.

[McCracken]

The other option is way simple. The program skydeck is installed on your phone.

[chrispy47]

Thanks a bunch all, I'll keep all this in mind and am definitely going to guard myself and my phone much closer now. Everyone has been very informative, thanks for the guidance! Peace!

[DabOfLoven]

Not once in the years that I've been working for VZW have I ****EVER**** spoken with a customer who says they're getting messages on their current and old phone simultaneously. Not to mention that I've never had a problem, nor my parents, nor my fiancee, nor my friends, nor my coworkers, nor... nor... I think you get the idea.

Raises hand... I have gotten messages on an old phone and the new phone. My daughter was playing with my old phone and I charged it up so I could look at old pics on it, and it would beep when she played with it... I got multiple messages on old phone... It only happened for a short period of time then it stopped. So it can happen, somehow.

[Vanion25]

google talk also allows this type of multiple log ons. I can be logged on my computer at home, my BBerry, and a computer at work, and almost all of the time all the windows recieve messages, it used to work perfectly, however recently it's been a little iffy. but you can still log on in multiple locations.