GDPR: Account opened fraudulently using my email address; company refuse to close/remove it

Jenni_D

Ergates said:

Carrot007 said:

Have you signed/reset the password and looked into the details?

You could then change all the details to something random and also the password. Which would be good enough.

Missed this earlier.   DO NOT DO THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.  Accessing an online account, that you know is not yours, and changing anything would be a breach of the sections 1 and 3 of the Computer Misuse Act, both of which are punishable by up to 12 months in prison.   Do no log onto the account *at all*, definitely do not change the password.

Oh pulleeeeese! That is absolutely NOT going to happen if the OP did do that. 🙄

(Yes it is technically correct - but isn't going to be prosecuted - not in a million years)

Ergates

Jenni_D said:

Ergates said:

Carrot007 said:

Have you signed/reset the password and looked into the details?

You could then change all the details to something random and also the password. Which would be good enough.

Missed this earlier.   DO NOT DO THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.  Accessing an online account, that you know is not yours, and changing anything would be a breach of the sections 1 and 3 of the Computer Misuse Act, both of which are punishable by up to 12 months in prison.   Do no log onto the account *at all*, definitely do not change the password.

Oh pulleeeeese! That is absolutely NOT going to happen if the OP did do that. 🙄

(Yes it is technically correct - but isn't going to be prosecuted - not in a million years)

That's a very dangerous assumption.   The situation as it is has no impact on the OP aside from an occasional unwanted email, which can be easily dealt with (block them) without breaking the law.

Olinda99

if the login credentials to a site are specified as being an email address, then it could be argued that you logging in with *** your *** email address means the account belongs to you and you are free to change whatever you like on it eg password

it would be a different matter logging on with someone else's email of course - that would be illegal

user1977

Ergates said:

Jenni_D said:

Ergates said:

Carrot007 said:

Have you signed/reset the password and looked into the details?

You could then change all the details to something random and also the password. Which would be good enough.

Missed this earlier.   DO NOT DO THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.  Accessing an online account, that you know is not yours, and changing anything would be a breach of the sections 1 and 3 of the Computer Misuse Act, both of which are punishable by up to 12 months in prison.   Do no log onto the account *at all*, definitely do not change the password.

Oh pulleeeeese! That is absolutely NOT going to happen if the OP did do that. 🙄

(Yes it is technically correct - but isn't going to be prosecuted - not in a million years)

That's a very dangerous assumption.

Seems a remarkably safe assumption to me. Why on earth would it thought to be worthy of prosecution?

Ergates

Olinda99 said:

if the login credentials to a site are specified as being an email address, then it could be argued that you logging in with *** your *** email address means the account belongs to you and you are free to change whatever you like on it eg password

it would be a different matter logging on with someone else's email of course - that would be illegal

Given the OP *knows* it's not their account, that assertion wouldn't stand up at all.

Ergates

user1977 said:

Ergates said:

Jenni_D said:

Ergates said:

Carrot007 said:

Have you signed/reset the password and looked into the details?

You could then change all the details to something random and also the password. Which would be good enough.

Missed this earlier.   DO NOT DO THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.  Accessing an online account, that you know is not yours, and changing anything would be a breach of the sections 1 and 3 of the Computer Misuse Act, both of which are punishable by up to 12 months in prison.   Do no log onto the account *at all*, definitely do not change the password.

Oh pulleeeeese! That is absolutely NOT going to happen if the OP did do that. 🙄

(Yes it is technically correct - but isn't going to be prosecuted - not in a million years)

That's a very dangerous assumption.

Seems a remarkably safe assumption to me. Why on earth would it thought to be worthy of prosecution?

That would probably depend on what type of account it is.  If it's some kind of financial organisation, then the OP changing the password (so the OP can log in, but the owner cannot) could be considered account hijacking and is the type of thing that might be reported to the police.   If it's a company that sells socks, then probably not. 

One thing is clear - accessing the account and changing the password would be categorically illegal, (this isn't some "shades of grey" situation) and is also totally unnecessary.   It would be a monumentally stupid risk to take.  No matter how low the chances of prosecution are they're above 0%, whereas if the OP just directs the emails to the bin then there is no risk (because no law has been broken).