You never think that something like this will happen to you. If you're like me, you believe that people are basically good and would never do something so malicious. Perhaps I have gone through life completely naive, but I now have personal proof that there are really nasty and mean people out there.

My hotmail account was recently hacked by an individual that is obviously out to ruin my photography business and give me a bad name. I have been using this e-mail account to answer inquiries, schedule consultations and book sessions. After receiving a message a few days ago from someone informing me that I did not show up for a planned meeting and that the same thing had apparently happened to other individuals over the past few weeks, I began searching through my e-mail sent messages and was shocked to find that there were messages in the folder apparently written and sent by myself that I did not write or send. I receive and respond to a large number of messages on a regular basis so it is not uncommon for me to have a large number of received and sent messages in my account. Over the past few weeks I have apparently missed a number of scheduled consultations and meetings that I did not set up. Someone hacked into my hotmail account and began posing as me without my knowledge. This individual has been setting up these meetings (which I would obviously not show up for due to the fact that I was completely unaware of them being scheduled). This same individual would then pose as me and send messages of apology to these potential clients and set up second meetings with these same people (which I of course would not show up for due to the fact that I was completely unaware of what was happening!). The hacker would delete received, sent and trashed messages to keep me in the dark as to what was going on. The only reason that I eventually became aware was when I received a nasty message on my phone from an individual that was ticked off at the fact that I had an appointment with and that I did not show. I thought that I was losing my mind because I had no idea who this person was! I then started checking into my e-mail messages and luckily found a few that the hacker neglected to erase....messages written and sent by me that I myself did not write or send. I felt sick to my stomach! How long had this been going on?! How many people set up appointments with me (but not actually me!) that I did not show up for because I didn't even know that the appointments were set up?! How many people now thought that I was completely unreliable?! My reputation has been tainted and trust has been broken with so many people. I am afraid that due to this unfortunate violation of privacy, I have potentially lost clients and that word of mouth will spread that I am an unreliable individual.

I'm not sure if this note will make sense as I am furiously writing and probably babbling due to the fact that I am so upset at the moment. As a new business owner this is one of the worst things that could have possibly happened. The only individual that would do such a thing obviously wants my business to fail for one reason or another. Through research, I have discovered that my e-mail account was initially hacked possibly as far back as September 2007. One individual is even now claiming that I stood her friend up twice and then spoke to her on the phone to set up a third appointment. Who ever this is did not ever speak to me or they are making this up!! Is this hacker also sending out a phone number and posing as me on the phone?!

I believe that it is most likely an individual that knows me personally as crimes like this are very personal. Through reading the few messages left behind and sent by this individual posing as me, they obviously know a lot of my personal information and day to day activities. It does not look as though this individual actually attended meetings posing as me or taken money from anyone as deposits for weddings or portraits, but this is still infuriating and scary!

I sent out a mass e-mail to all of my contacts a few days ago from a new g-mail account explaining what was happening. An individual promptly phoned me to confirm that she had a scheduled appointment with the following day. She was one of the victims of my hacker. I had never scheduled this appointment with her nor corresponded through e-mail with her. I booked an appointment with her for the same day but at a different time later in the afternoon. I met with her and she was extremely understanding of my horrible situation. When I arrived home that evening, she phoned me to tell me that she had received another message from my hotmail account. The hacker posed as me again and sent this message to apologize for not showing up for our planned meeting. Little did the hacker know, but I did actually meet with the client, just at a different time that was booked on the phone!

There are a few individuals writing nasty comments on my blog page about how I stood their friends up on more than one occasion. They are also accusing me of making up the whole hacking story and to just own up to my own mistakes. Why would someone make something like this up?! As a new business owner, why would I set up appointments with potential clients and then just decide to not show?! Believe it or not, I actually want people to hire me so that I can make money!! I know that this may seem like a difficult concept for some to grasp, but come on! I put my heart and soul into my business and I want to do well. It is so disheartening that someone would do this and that even after telling everyone what had been happening, certain individuals are still blaming me!

I learned a few lessons from all of this.1) People can be really mean. 2) When someone is jealous of your apparent success they will stoop really low to knock you down. 3) Even when you explain to people the terrible thing that has been happening to you, they would rather choose to disregard it and claim that you must be lying. 4) I have an amazing support group and close circle of friends to help pick me up when I am down. 5) No matter what anyone does to me or tries to do to me and my business, I have the strength, thanks to my friends, to hold my head high and continue to follow my dream.

There are strong suspicions as to who the hacker is. When the identity of this individual has been confirmed, legal action will be taken. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and I hope that it never happens again. I am now attempting damage control in hopes of restoring a good reputation. I will continue to push forward with my business, even though I am scared that this individual has caused too much damage for my business to be successful.

Thank you so much to everyone that has shown support in this difficult time. I am a firm believer in karma and that people get what they give. I will not let this terrible individual get the better of me thanks to your kindness, love and words of encouragement.

Patricia