18 months ago ... ahh ... life was simple.
I had my own home business. I was a Transcriptionist. I used a computer every day for work for nearly 14 years. I never had any problems.
I loved technology! I had my work PC, my Laptop, my cellphone, my Xbox, my Alexa, my social media apps, my banking apps, my security camera for my house, my smart TV and my Hi-speed internet. All worked, all were really nice, and all ... were connected.
I clicked the wrong Email one day and that all changed.
First, they got my google account, then my MS account, then my Laptop, then my phone. As I repeatedly tried to login to my emails using my girlfriends phone, I remember feeling as if the world was closing in around me.
My bank app was no longer accessible ... poof, my Social Media ... poof, my DAM Roku account!!!! C'mon you've got to be kidding me!?
I was able to stop the bleeding there that night and transfer all funds out of my bank to another account. (I had been saving to buy a new car and a down payment on a new house. At least they didn't get that.)
I replaced my phone with a new iPhone because they "cant be hacked", and had my laptop cleaned. All was well. I would not let this slow me down! Lol How naïve I was!
They had installed a rootkit on the laptop, so the guy who "cleaned it" didn't do squat. The next day they re-infected my Laptop again. Infected my new iPhone and took control of my router. They surrendered both my emails but all the emails now had trojans and malware embedded in them.
Well, at least they did not get into my work PC. An old desktop that NEVER got hooked to the internet. I would bury myself in work and chalk it up as a really, really bad week.
So, I grabbed my thumbdrive that I had always used to transfer files from my laptop to my PC and vice versa and stuck it into my PC to download some work and ... I'm sure you have already guessed what happened.
Within the a week malware had used Privilege Escalation to make me a user on a profile in my own computer and "it" was the Admin.
I could not use anything on the PC. Years of special homemade programs obtained through former friends and fellow tradesman were useless. I was not (as you can guess by my actions) a "Code" or "Security" guy. I had people I came across for that or bought what I needed. It was now all useless.
I could not fulfill my contracts for the upcoming busy season that I had just begun and all my employers pulled their contracts. After all, there were deadlines to meet.
I lost over $50,000 in an instant ... my new car ... my new house ... all gone.
I had 10k saved, not alot but for me, significant.
I had no phone, no computer, no work, no tv, no internet. I disconnected them all. They were in everything! I sat in my apartment, a grown man crying ... unable to do anything as I watched my life, my possessions, my future get stripped from me.
I would not let my girlfriend bring her phone into my house because "they" may be on that and watching me (I had found strange close-up shots of my license plate and car taken with my security camera.) I told every one I knew and those who even believed me were sick of hearing about it. I went to PC shops and asked for help, none of them knew what to do. I didn't have access to internet because ... to be honest, I'm a loner and have few friends and few family. I was all alone to figure this out. I bought books, I had new hard drives put in. To no avail. The books just scared me with knowledge of what they can still do and how easy it is. The devices were always quickly compromised with utmost efficiency.
I had to do something. I started screwing with the Task Manager and PC Settings trying to reclaim some sort of power but all I did was blend the hacker's malware with the idiotic fumbling of my own deletes and permission changes.
I knew nothing of the "inside" of a computer. I bricked 3-5 phones, multiple PC's ... and relationships. Yet one thing remained ... they were still getting into my devices. Weren't they? I think so. IDK anymore. Was that the App or me, or the computer, or malware, or a hacker moving my mouse? Why were they/he/her/it doing this to me? They had to somehow know me.
I have had a troubled past and have hurt many and was now paying for it. Did someone pay a hacker? Was it the government? Had I downloaded something I shouldn't of and was now being surveilled? Why was that car parked there? If that's possible then ... are my new neighbors really "neighbors"? How many were in on this? Was my girlfriend? I could trust no one. (This mindset has contributed to many poor decisions I have made in the last 18 months. Many, I am too ashamed to discuss.)
I made my 10k last almost 6 months. Pretty good!
I lost my apartment. Had to move in with my girlfriend, my car broke down mysteriously too not long after and I lost that and I lost my business.
People told me to just get a different job. !$##% That crap made me soo mad!!! They would pry my business from my cold dead hands! ... And they did. The last of my money was spent on a local security firm who said they installed "Next Gen AI" on my computer. LOL. What a joke! I would sit and watch code being added to text files on my PC. Yet they assured me all was ok. My Cloud sync would download strange files. Yet all was ok. My desktop Apps would act strangely and settings would change. Yet all was ok. ... It took the hacker/s 2.5 months, but they took control of my "Monitored" "locked-down" "last chance" of a PC. ... Needless to say, I haven't paid their last bill and most likely never will!
I didnt work for almost 8 months. Finally, I just got a construction job but quit because cars were following me and fellow employees were trying to set me up. I got another job about 6 months ago but quit that one too, same reason. I see people following me periodically. I have checked into the hospital for panic attacks twice.
Through all this, I keep trying to recover but it crushes me what has happened. I try to get phones but "they" get into them, change stuff, watch me and are "always" listening.
Through it all, my girlfriend has stuck by me and not wavered. She is ... ... "other-worldly." I love her so much, yet she bears the brunt of it all. I would of left me long ago.
About 3 months ago I felt brave and decided to try another phone. They were running a special on the Google Pixel 6a for $.01. They have gotten into it at least twice ... I think . Who knows or cares anymore. But recently I stumbled upon a YouTube video on our new Roku TV (I had to sell off mine), touting "The Most Secure Phone Ever!" ... And it was my Pixel ... but with GrapheneOS??? I have watched many, many videos since then on GrapheneOS. "I like Side of Burritos" posts lol.
Well, after my phone started acting strange the other day. I decided to try and have my girlfriend follow the downloader instructions and try it. (Even though they are most likely on her computer and will block the download), but they didn't. But how could I know for sure this wasn't a fake OS? ohh, you include an ID when it's installed, and it can be independently checked? Cool! So far so good. What? everything is sandboxed? Nothing runs "all the time"? There are few Apps?
THIS IS MY KINDA OS!!
So, I installed it a few days ago and all was going good. Until yesterday when the Apps changed and so did some settings. So I factory reset it like I always do. Then I saw today that you actually had an update, thats why some things changed?? Ooops!
Anyway, I've reloaded it, but I dont trust it/you yet. I badly need GrapheneOS to literally save me! You are my last and only hope. I need help to integrate back into society, to be normal, to retake control of my life.
Things are getting better lately. My girlfriend is now my fiancée! And this is the longest I have been able to type on a keyboard in almost a year! I'm not currently working though because of anxiety but I'm starting to see a possible light in this tunnel.
If this OS was designed for anybody, it's me! If this doesn't work, nothing will.
My Threat level is and always will be very high. What are your recommendations?
GrapheneOS ... Can you? ... Will you? Save me?