Is it really this easy to monitor someone's email and web usage?

[PosterChild]

A friend of mine received an email saying that he was being investigated, and if he wanted, he could buy the software and use it on someone else. It said he could read their email, moniter their web visits, chat rooms etc., and didn't need access to the other person's computer. The software provides ways to get the IP address, and works from there.
I assume it's a scam, but is it?

Below is an excerpt from the email.

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"...Is there someone online that you want to find out more about?

Are they exploring areas of the internet that they shouldn't be?

It's time for you to see for yourself and find out what they are really doing online!

Get your hands on the most powerful IDetect ME ware available today! With it, you can find out who they are talking to and more importantly what they are talking about!

See and record every word typed in:

EMails
Private Messages
Chat Rooms
Message Boards
ICQ & IRC

Find out who they are talking to and what they are saying. Find out what type of chatrooms they are going in. Record and check out all the web sites they are visiting or searching for! Best of all, they don't have to be using the same computer as you! IDetect ME can find all this out by using just their IP Address!
And with all the easy to use tools, finding out an IP is one of the easiest features!..."
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[jrishaw]

being a network engineer, this one isn't too hard to answer.

short answer: this is most likely a scam.

spying on someone's computer activity can fall under any of several felonies.. wiretapping, computer fraud, and most obviously, violations of the electronic communications privacy act.

you probably could do it if you installed software on their computer, but i'm sure that's illegal as well, and, well, if you have ability to install software, then just look at their bookmarks or something. :-)

from the ISP point of view.. it's not *too* hard, i could probably snarf out peoples messages - but it's also very, very illegal.. and really time consuming.

[Crispy]

Actually, it's quite easy once you have the right progams. I'm not saying that the one advertised worked, but I do know that the equipment is out there. I have a friend who has it all. He can hop online, read people's messages, e-mails, and basically do everything that advertisement said you could do. Of course, it must be extremely illegal, so I wouldn't recommend buying it. Just knowing how easy it is has really made me watch what I type. Be careful about what you say.

[handy]

Naw, its just another scam. A slap in the face to ISPs because they have extensive security measures & even if you could get thru, they would know eventually who it was & then the FBI would come around. Haven't you read the news on these things?

"IP Address"

Changes too much.