'I thought I was happily married, then Alexa tore my world apart'
A UK private investigator has revealed how he uses smart speakers like Alexa to catch out cheating partners - and the voice logs told one woman everything she needed to know
Smart assistants like Amazon Alexa, Siri, and Google Home are not just for playing music or turning down the lights – they're becoming the unexpected sleuths in our homes.
A UK private investigator has suggested that these clever gadgets could be unwitting detectives after working on a case where a woman discovered her husband was cheating. Christopher Thomas, from UK Private Investigators, said: "While the internet has made cheating easier in my opinion, smart devices are levelling the playing field.
"These devices record so much information and many log what has been said or requested." A client grew suspicious after spotting odd voice commands and song requests on their shared Alexa history, according to Christopher.
"She wasn't snooping," he clarified. "She was just trying to re-play a song she'd heard earlier. But when she opened the Alexa app, she found a string of romantic song requests, followed by a dinner recipe, and then mood lighting being set, all while she was at work."
Initially, she thought it might be a system error or an accidental repeat of an old command. "When she confronted her partner, he claimed he must have hit the wrong button on the app remotely. But the voice logs told a different story," Christopher revealed.
"The voice commands had been recorded and saved. It wasn't him and it definitely wasn't her." The commands included "play a romantic playlist, set dining lights to 40%," and advice on "how to cook duck confit."
The digital forensics expert says that smart technology is increasingly playing the role of detective in infidelity cases, as people often overlook how extensively they're monitored. "These devices track everything including the exact words used, the time of day, even who said what. You might delete your texts, but smart assistants keep a record of your day."
Christopher points out that discovering deceit in relationships often comes down to piecing together the subtle clues rather than cinematic confrontations. "In the real world, it's about gathering breadcrumbs that reveal the full story."
He warns that while smart devices offer convenience, they also document interactions with undeniable clarity. "Alexa doesn't lie," he remarked, signalling that a smart speaker may be privy to more secrets than one imagines when it comes to unfaithful partners.
It comes after one man admitted to sleeping with his brother's wife after a drunken night out. Speaking to agony aunt Coleen Nolan, the unamed man revealed that he's 'eaten up with guilt' after the drunken, one-off encounter.
He said: "I got chatting to my sister-in-law about life and then we moved on to discussing my brother and she admitted that she's fallen out of love with him. The conversation got really deep and personal, and sparks started to fly. Unfortunately, one thing led to another and I ended up in bed with her."
The brother asked Coleen whether or not he should come clean. She responded: "To be completely honest, I think if you tell your brother, your relationship is as good as over. Ask yourself what your motive is for telling him – is it just about you and getting rid of your guilt by handing the problem to him?
"It is hard to live with guilt, but sometimes when you've made a bad choice, you have to. I guess there's a chance his wife will pursue a divorce, as it's clear the marriage is in trouble and she's admitted she's not in love with him, so your problem might go away. You could leave it and pray it never comes out – the danger is, if your brother and his wife get into an argument and she wants to hurt him, she might blurt out that she slept with you.
"So, the next question is, can you trust her? It's less important for her to keep what happened a secret because she can walk away and move on, but your relationship with your brother will be left in ruins.
"You say you've never spoken to her about that night, but maybe it would be a good idea to have a conversation during a break at work about how you handle things going forward. It might make things less awkward when you have to see each other with the rest of the family and provide some sort of reassurance."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'I thought I was happily married, then Alexa tore my world apart'
A UK private investigator has revealed how he uses smart speakers like Alexa to catch out cheating partners - and the voice logs told one woman everything she needed to know Smart assistants like Amazon Alexa, Siri, and Google Home are not just for playing music or turning down the lights – they're becoming the unexpected sleuths in our homes. A UK private investigator has suggested that these clever gadgets could be unwitting detectives after working on a case where a woman discovered her husband was cheating. Christopher Thomas, from UK Private Investigators, said: "While the internet has made cheating easier in my opinion, smart devices are levelling the playing field. "These devices record so much information and many log what has been said or requested." A client grew suspicious after spotting odd voice commands and song requests on their shared Alexa history, according to Christopher. "She wasn't snooping," he clarified. "She was just trying to re-play a song she'd heard earlier. But when she opened the Alexa app, she found a string of romantic song requests, followed by a dinner recipe, and then mood lighting being set, all while she was at work." Initially, she thought it might be a system error or an accidental repeat of an old command. "When she confronted her partner, he claimed he must have hit the wrong button on the app remotely. But the voice logs told a different story," Christopher revealed. "The voice commands had been recorded and saved. It wasn't him and it definitely wasn't her." The commands included "play a romantic playlist, set dining lights to 40%," and advice on "how to cook duck confit." The digital forensics expert says that smart technology is increasingly playing the role of detective in infidelity cases, as people often overlook how extensively they're monitored. "These devices track everything including the exact words used, the time of day, even who said what. You might delete your texts, but smart assistants keep a record of your day." Christopher points out that discovering deceit in relationships often comes down to piecing together the subtle clues rather than cinematic confrontations. "In the real world, it's about gathering breadcrumbs that reveal the full story." He warns that while smart devices offer convenience, they also document interactions with undeniable clarity. "Alexa doesn't lie," he remarked, signalling that a smart speaker may be privy to more secrets than one imagines when it comes to unfaithful partners. It comes after one man admitted to sleeping with his brother's wife after a drunken night out. Speaking to agony aunt Coleen Nolan, the unamed man revealed that he's 'eaten up with guilt' after the drunken, one-off encounter. He said: "I got chatting to my sister-in-law about life and then we moved on to discussing my brother and she admitted that she's fallen out of love with him. The conversation got really deep and personal, and sparks started to fly. Unfortunately, one thing led to another and I ended up in bed with her." The brother asked Coleen whether or not he should come clean. She responded: "To be completely honest, I think if you tell your brother, your relationship is as good as over. Ask yourself what your motive is for telling him – is it just about you and getting rid of your guilt by handing the problem to him? "It is hard to live with guilt, but sometimes when you've made a bad choice, you have to. I guess there's a chance his wife will pursue a divorce, as it's clear the marriage is in trouble and she's admitted she's not in love with him, so your problem might go away. You could leave it and pray it never comes out – the danger is, if your brother and his wife get into an argument and she wants to hurt him, she might blurt out that she slept with you. "So, the next question is, can you trust her? It's less important for her to keep what happened a secret because she can walk away and move on, but your relationship with your brother will be left in ruins. "You say you've never spoken to her about that night, but maybe it would be a good idea to have a conversation during a break at work about how you handle things going forward. It might make things less awkward when you have to see each other with the rest of the family and provide some sort of reassurance."
North Wales Live
2 days ago
- North Wales Live
Tech review: IMILAB EC6 Panorama Spotlight Camera provides a smart way to keep your home secure
My first confession with the IMILAB EC6 Panorama Spotlight Camera is that as of yet I haven't installed it anywhere physically on my house. Down to sheer tardiness on my behalf and not having the time to get the drill and ladders out. I have, however, given it a trial run to see exactly what it has to offer. The main thing being that it has a rotatable 180° panoramic camera. It also has in-built tracking that follows whoever is coming up your drive or climbing your back fence. Security is so important to everyone and it's security devices that can give people that all-important peace of mind. The camera has a lot of tech packed in and one of the great features is the ability to have two-way conversations with people at the door, the same as with a doorbell camera. Unlike the doorbell cameras, this has a really high resolution 3.5k live view with full colour night vision. It can also be used as an indoor camera. The in-built detection software offers a further deterrent for intruders with motion-detected light flashes. If you want, you can also record a message to play, to make it seem like you are at home. I will admit we did record daft messages at first. Customisation is a big thing with this camera. The app lets you take full control of things like playback, recording, and setting the target areas for detection. Everything that is recorded can be stored either via a subscription package, or with a micro SD card, the choice is yours. You can also link the camera up to Alexa or Google Voice Assistant, again giving you a variety of voice control options. Connection can be wired or wireless and you can keep an eye on everything at your home via the app, no matter where you are. The word smart cam is a very apt one because there is a lot of intelligence built into this and it feels like much more than just a security cam. That's something that really surprised me, home security is certainly hurtling along at quite a rate. The IMILAB EC6 Panorama Spotlight Camera is available for £149.99 from Amazon. Reviews "The camera has an audio problem, with the setting at 100% at 5 m you can't hear the alarm anymore, the sound is so low that it is impossible to communicate with the person when the camera is 3 m from the ground, it has a big manufacturing problem with the audio system." "I want to recommend this spotlight camera, provides high quality recordings, waterproof, it serves its purpose. As described, we can rotate the camera 180 degrees from where it was being installed. The images and videos captured are really of high quality one. I opt for continued recording using a micro-SD card, it captures every event like any vehicle or person detected. "No hassle of paying an extra subscription. Installing the Xiaomi app, linking the device was very easy. Once I turn on the device it automatically directs to format the micro-SD card to match the device. On the installation part, the package includes mounting kit which helps for easy installation. Even though I connected using Wi-Fi, it has a provision for wired network too." Ezviz Dual Lense
Wales Online
2 days ago
- Wales Online
Tech review: IMILAB EC6 Panorama Spotlight Camera provides a smart way to keep your home secure
Tech review: IMILAB EC6 Panorama Spotlight Camera provides a smart way to keep your home secure We take a look at the latest cutting edge offering in home security - you can even control it with your voice IMILAB EC6 Panorama camera My first confession with the IMILAB EC6 Panorama Spotlight Camera is that as of yet I haven't installed it anywhere physically on my house. Down to sheer tardiness on my behalf and not having the time to get the drill and ladders out. I have, however, given it a trial run to see exactly what it has to offer. The main thing being that it has a rotatable 180° panoramic camera. It also has in-built tracking that follows whoever is coming up your drive or climbing your back fence. Security is so important to everyone and it's security devices that can give people that all-important peace of mind. The camera has a lot of tech packed in and one of the great features is the ability to have two-way conversations with people at the door, the same as with a doorbell camera. Unlike the doorbell cameras, this has a really high resolution 3.5k live view with full colour night vision. It can also be used as an indoor camera. The in-built detection software offers a further deterrent for intruders with motion-detected light flashes. If you want, you can also record a message to play, to make it seem like you are at home. I will admit we did record daft messages at first. Customisation is a big thing with this camera. The app lets you take full control of things like playback, recording, and setting the target areas for detection. Everything that is recorded can be stored either via a subscription package, or with a micro SD card, the choice is yours. You can also link the camera up to Alexa or Google Voice Assistant, again giving you a variety of voice control options. Connection can be wired or wireless and you can keep an eye on everything at your home via the app, no matter where you are. The word smart cam is a very apt one because there is a lot of intelligence built into this and it feels like much more than just a security cam. That's something that really surprised me, home security is certainly hurtling along at quite a rate. The IMILAB EC6 Panorama Spotlight Camera is available for £149.99 from Amazon. Reviews "The camera has an audio problem, with the setting at 100% at 5 m you can't hear the alarm anymore, the sound is so low that it is impossible to communicate with the person when the camera is 3 m from the ground, it has a big manufacturing problem with the audio system." "I want to recommend this spotlight camera, provides high quality recordings, waterproof, it serves its purpose. As described, we can rotate the camera 180 degrees from where it was being installed. The images and videos captured are really of high quality one. I opt for continued recording using a micro-SD card, it captures every event like any vehicle or person detected. "No hassle of paying an extra subscription. Installing the Xiaomi app, linking the device was very easy. Once I turn on the device it automatically directs to format the micro-SD card to match the device. On the installation part, the package includes mounting kit which helps for easy installation. Even though I connected using Wi-Fi, it has a provision for wired network too." Alternatives Article continues below Ezviz Dual Lense Eufy security cam
