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Very strange and very disturbing. I got the same mail. :-(((
Posted 64 months ago.
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I got the same flickr mail a few minutes ago as well and I have reported abuse to Flickr + forward the mail to 3rd foundation. I am so relieve that I am not the only one.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Pig Flyin' edited this topic 64 months ago.
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I got one too. :-(
Posted 64 months ago.
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Report abuse. Go to the page you got your message and click it. Now !!
Though hopefully staff may see this and act quicker.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Strange that [removed by staff] would allow that image to remain in her photostream...
Posted 64 months ago.
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heather (staff) edited this topic 64 months ago.
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Sure it's strange and disturbing, but you're not supposed to point fingers, HHSC
As Stevekin pointed out, follow the defined process, not your own.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Same/similar email, a different id.
----------------------------------------------
From: [removed by staff]
Subject: [removed by staff]'s Daughter.
Hi,
Somebody told me you sell naked pictures of [removed by staff] ([removed by staff]) daughter, and i was just wondering how much you ask for, and do you accept paypal? If you don't then what methods do you accept?
- Thanks and i hope to hear from you soon.
Posted 64 months ago.
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hitherto (staff) edited this topic 64 months ago.
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I got the same yesterday from [removed by staff].
Posted 64 months ago.
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hitherto (staff) edited this topic 64 months ago.
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Don't feed the child molesting troll. flickr will handle it. Based on the emails I'm getting from concerned recipients of this sick message, flickr must be overwhelmed with requests to deal with this individual.
This hacker is playing a very dangerous game by asking for naked child photos. Hacking an account is one thing. Pretending to be a pedophile is a whole different class of abuse.
Sean
Posted 64 months ago.
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This has been reported already by many people. I posted this to make people aware of a widespread flickr problem...
How exactly was I pointing fingers??
Posted 64 months ago.
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Theoretically, by mentioning the account at the centre of the mess...
Realistically, you also pointed out that it was clear that the account had been hacked, and therefore not the account-holder's fault...
And the "FelipeMesa" Flickr ID appears to not exist...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Yes that id ("FelipeMesa") has been deleted. I don't know if I deleted the original email or not, but it doesn't show up in FlickrMail either.
Posted 64 months ago.
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The account of FelipeMesa was active until yesterday, seemed to be a normal account, lots of pictures and contacts.
Posted 64 months ago.
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I don't think we should fight amongst ourselves. I think a lot of people are very upset about the content of this email and the tactics of this hacker. I feel very sorry for the owners of the hacked accounts. Lets hope this is cleared up quickly.
Sean
Posted 64 months ago.
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what's very interesting, and i think flickr staff should be aware of this, is that i think the hacker still has access to lisa's account.
i was one of the people who received an email from this account. i posted a comment in response to what appeared to be an angry and expletive filled post from lisa explaining that she was not responsible. another member pointed out that lisa was most likely not responsible for the response, and it was likely posted by the same people who originally hacked the account, who were getting a pathetic kick out of the trouble they caused and the ensuing responses. i added to my original response, warning people not to add fuel to the fire.
within minutes, my response and others that were of the same line of thinking, were removed and i have been blocked from commenting further.
i can't imagine that lisa would have done this without responding to the entire issue. my guess is that lisa hasn't checked her account since this happened, and will sadly have a shock to her system when she does.
Posted 64 months ago.
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oh and sean, i'm very sorry that you were targeted by this as well.
i was considering sending you a message about it, but reasoned that there was likely scores of others who had already done so.
Posted 64 months ago.
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I posted a comment in there that the account-holder was being strangely silent regarding the whole matter. It's still there.
Flickr staff are being rather quiet, too...
Posted 64 months ago.
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I got it too. I'm glad I'm not the only one.
Posted 64 months ago.
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I was one of the recipients as well and decided to heed mark daniel's advice and not add fuel to the fire by having a post about it on my stream and comments on that fake post on Lisa's stream. I deleted all traces of this as I know that this is where they are having the most fun.
It's sad that they have nothing better to do with their time.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Yay!!! Posted a comment on the photo calling the hacker a sub-literate child-molester.
Comment removed, and I'm blocked.
I feel as though I've really acheived something!!
Posted 64 months ago.
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Holy Crap!
I just tried a little experiment.
I went to www.flickr.com/photos/moonfaires/400671232/
and posted this comment:
"People!
This was posted by the same idiots who sent you and I the message.
DON'T respond to this post!
this is what they want. Piss them off by NOT responding!
Let's see if I get blocked"
and guess what.
I was blocked.
Posted 64 months ago.
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LOL Those hackers really need to get a life!
I reported it to flickr and told flickr that the user's account was clearly hacked and currently under control of the hacker... We'll see what happens...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Looks like Lisa may have gotten control of her account again. This was just posted:
lisakettell says:
Hello all,
it is obvious that someone has just hacked into my account. I am currently taking steps to get this issue resolved, i apologize for the inconveinece. This is very disapointing to see that people have nothing better to do than to target innocent people who spend time doing things they enjoy, so that others can find comfort and joy in their work.
Thank you!
Lisa
Posted 64 months ago.
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Greg Adams Photography edited this topic 64 months ago.
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Greg, I think we've ALL reported it... Not much seems to be happening at present.
Hmmmmm... Could be from Lisa. Although, looking at the way "inconvenience" was spelt, maybe not...
Even if she has regained control - if the hacker got her password once, it'll take only a minute or two to do so again...
And also interesting to note that she hasn't removed the "Morons" graphic - that's the first thing I'd have done!
Posted 64 months ago.
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Dr. Keats edited this topic 64 months ago.
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They probably are....
Posted 64 months ago.
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Dr. Keats, I think you are probably correct. As Lisa would probably delete the offensive picture and replace it with a statement of her own...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Yep.
'Nother clue is the capitalisation of "I" the first time, and not the second - just like in the "Morons" graphic...
Posted 64 months ago.
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@ megditi, your post was deleted from the page and I would guess that they blocked you as well...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Message from "Lisa" has just been changed:
I am just greatly disturbed by all the emails that this hacker sent out to each and evryone of you. Emails went out to over 800 flickr members. The email was utterly distasteful and disgusting. Most of the members that this email reached I don't even know, or aren't on my friends list. I'm still reviewing all of the, It's horrible. I am asking each and everyone one of you to please contact a local authority on this matter in your town/state/country and flickr. I am doing the same.
I just found out about this 20minutes ago, when I logged in. Please accept my apologizes and let's bring this hacker/hackers to justice. I will not stop until I personally have these individuals brought to justice.
I have several friends in the Government and secret service in the US, so I assure you that mr./mrs. hacker you will be found and punished for your actions. I was the wrong person to hack into.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Especially the last paragraph is really believable...not!
Posted 64 months ago.
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Ok, enough is enough, i chant to my Comrade, his process is out of control, all for fun, not fortune! Blah! so i halt today's progress, it's come to the end now.
Now i must delete this account.
- Regards,
Svex0r.
Posted 64 months ago.
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lisakettell edited this topic 64 months ago.
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Fuckwit...
Posted 64 months ago.
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I got the email too. I'm reporting it. Someone hacked liskettel's account.
Posted 64 months ago.
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That sucks......
Posted 64 months ago.
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The bastard's only gone and deleted nearly everything !!!
Make that everything except the Moron poster :(
Posted 64 months ago.
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Stevekin edited this topic 64 months ago.
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hey Svex0r, is that your world of warcraft name as well?
are you a level 73 warlock?
get a life.
please.
(no offense to all the wow players out there.)
Posted 64 months ago.
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megditi edited this topic 64 months ago.
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I can't believe that. Wonder how the account got hacked and the account of FelipeMesa yesterday. I feel really sorry for Lisa.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Just hope everything can be restored...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Not if it's deleted it can't Dr.
If only I'd thought sooner, but I was only able to get 58 of her photos downloaded with Flickrdown.
Not much I know, but I have them if she wants/needs them.....
Posted 64 months ago.
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I agree. It is also amazing to me that flickr is responding so slowly on this... Maybe a lot of this is happening today?
Posted 64 months ago.
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Wow, great for thinking of that anyway Steve.
What is FlickrDown?
Posted 64 months ago.
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Sure this is completely coincidental, but... signed out for a few minutes - came back, and my seal on the sign-in page didn't come up...
Meanwhile, the hacker is still posting comments, pretending to be Lisa...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Well, A flickr staff member has looked at this forum and modified my posts so it is clear that they are aware of what is going on. What amazes me is that they have not responded on Lisa's page (and shut the posts there) or even here so that we know what is happening...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Sure hope it is coincidental...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Good morning Flickr! I've edited out the identifying info from the first post. From what I can tell in the abuse queue numbers, everyone has reported it!
Given the apparent hacking, I'd like to remind you of our January Security alert:
www.flickr.com/news.gne#sec_alert
If you think that your own account may have been compromised, this post of Kevin's from six weeks ago may be of some assistance:
www.flickr.com/forums/help/30768/#reply160238
Posted 64 months ago.
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Update - Lisa's account is now completely gone...
Posted 64 months ago.
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I must admit as the weight of this settles on me I am finding myself taking a dim view of flickr. I think this just drained all the enjoyment I find on flickr out of me. I am definately going to be taking a break.
Sean
Posted 64 months ago.
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Sorry, Sean. I got a spam of this too as I emailed you. Hope you find some solace in this support. : (
Posted 64 months ago.
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Hello Everyone,
As you already know, my site has fallen victim to a hacker and flickr’s poorly secured site. When I logged into my account this morning, I realized what had happened and tried to take action against this disgusting act. When the hacker realized I was aware of what was going on it became a battle for control of my site. I tried every measure I could think of, I changed my password twice, tried to remove that horrible picture and the wording, but this hacker managed to lock it. I then went into my flickr email and witnessed an even more horrifying site; the hacker had sent hundreds of emails to flickr members everywhere. It appears as though this hacker targeted many photography/photo artists and members gaining this access through one of the photography or political flickr groups. I noticed this similarity, as many of the members who received a strange email from my account were many of these people. I too had recently joined some of these groups. Then I sent several emails to flickr, who has yet to contact me on the matter. In the mean time I managed to email some of the members to apologize for what was going on. But before I could continue, this hacker deleted my entire account, with hundreds of pictures, favorite photo’s, contacts, testimonials, etc. For what reason? , I do not know. My art is not a threat to anyone, I’ve tried to create art which comforts all and spreads magic and joy to everyone who views it. I’ve noticed on the message board some skepticism as to the realism of my identity. In an effort to reclaim my identity on flickr I am adding a sincere quote to each of you from my website and the heart: “Is not the truth the truth?”-William Shakespeare and “If your were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them growing”- Coco Chanel
Also be aware, flickr still has not contacted me, none of my emails have been responded to. My account was a pro account and until this matter is resolved I will have limited pictures and info on my new temp account, I refuse to pay for another pro-account, I am comfortable with flickr’s security.
P.S. Thank you for your added support on this issue.
Magic and Joy,
Lisa aka Moonfaires
Posted 64 months ago.
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Lisa Kettell edited this topic 64 months ago.
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I'm sorry for anyone that this has happened to, especially Lisa as we have just watched this happen !
I know what they must be feeling, I was hacked a month or two ago. But fortunately for me, 'I' only sent comments with dodgy links to a key logging trojan and left one sick comment on a photo of my Grandson !
Nothing else happened and I managed to remove the trojan, or at least I think I did.
However, I had reason (other reasons) to format my drives and reinstall Windows. The first thing I did was merge my account to a Yahoo ID. So even if the hacker still has my sign in details, well they don't now.
I see you have just posted Lisa. Sorry about all this, and even though the chances are pretty remote, I hope you get some sort of retribution.
I'm sure you will have your photos backed up...but as I said earlier, I only managed to download 58 of your pics (full size), so if you do need them, Flickrmail me and we can work it out :-)
If that is not necessary, just say the word and they are gone from my computer.
eSThER...FlickrDown.
Lisa...one other thing. You are likely to have a trojan on your computer that is logging keystrokes and always staying one step ahead of you with sign in details.
You need to seriously look at cleaning your computer, scan it thoroughly in safe mode with System restore switched off.
Antivir found the trojan I had the last time something like this was doing the rounds.
I found it on a link Kevin (staff) gave about the particular trojan.
Give it a try, it's free.
Good luck.
Posted 64 months ago.
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just read about this, this is shocking.
Moonfairies, did your yahoo email get hacked too?
Posted 64 months ago.
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I tried every measure I could think of, I changed my password twice, tried to remove that horrible picture and the wording, but this hacker managed to lock it. Changing your password after the fact doesn't help :-( If the hacker has checked the "remember me" box he will go to your account right away, without ever being asked for a password again. Shhexycorin already pointed that out in the bugs forum yesterday. What flickr should do is invalidate all "remember me" cookies once the password is changed. However, since the passwords are no longer under their control but under Yahoo's, I'm not sure if they are even notified when users change their passwords. So this is another security hole that's immediately related to the use of Yahoo IDs to sign into flickr.
Posted 64 months ago.
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"Also be aware, flickr still has not contacted me, none of my emails or my fiancé’s emails have been responded to. My account was a pro account and until this matter is resolved I will have limited pictures and info on my new temp account, I refuse to pay for another pro-account, I am comfortable with flickr’s security."
Actually, I've responded to both of you. Our privacy policy precludes me from responding to your fiance with specifics regarding your account, but I've sent you specific info on steps you should take to ensure that your computer is secure before we can apply your pro fee to your account.
Posted 64 months ago.
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dee_gee — if she uses the same Yahoo ID for flickr as she uses for Yahoo Mail, then of course hacking into one account will give the hacker immediate access to the other one, too :-(
Posted 64 months ago.
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Lisa...one other thing. You are likely to have a trojan on your computer that is logging keystrokes and always staying one step ahead of you with sign in details. You need to seriously look at cleaning your computer, scan it thoroughly in safe mode with System restore switched off.
I can't second this strongly enough.
Posted 64 months ago.
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I watched this whole thing unfold today, as I received one of the offending messages. I feel awful for Lisa, and I hope that Flickr has the ability to restore your account/images/favs, etc. They SHOULD have a backup, but I have a bad feeling that you're going to have to start over.
I do not say this glibly...buy a Mac. It's days like this I'm so glad I switched a few years back, and have never regretted it.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Heather...in light of what has happened with Lisa's account, and will likely happen again, and again.....
Surely it would be prudent to at least defer deletion of accounts and photos stored in limbo (even when deleted by the owner), for say maybe a week, or two.
No matter how many times someone has to press the are you sure button, at least it gives a chance for something like this to not happen again.
Maybe if the account is then shown to have been compromised, then perhaps it could be locked/suspended, until such time the owner has done enough housekeeping ??
Then it won't matter if the hacker does whatever, it could be restored
Posted 64 months ago.
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Surely it would be prudent to at least defer deletion of accounts and photos stored in limbo (even when deleted by the owner), for say maybe a week, or two.
I'll share your feedback with the rest of the team.
Posted 64 months ago.
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flickr.com/photos/davidteter/401031334/
Posted 64 months ago.
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Edited to reflect I now understand what davidteter is linking to ;-)
Posted 64 months ago.
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Stevekin edited this topic 64 months ago.
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OK.
What is going on. I posted that shot to several groups. And now it appears that the shot has been blocked from those groups. i can see it but nobody else can.
heather? any comments?
Dave
Posted 64 months ago.
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Maybe people Don't want your rants in their group? They want pictures instead.
As a side point to that:
The issue here is not with flickr. People have had their account details hacked from their computers. This is the internet. It happens (if you are on a window machine). But it is not a failure of security of the site, but of people's connections and their firewalls/virus software. It doesn't matter how convoluted the lock is, if people can just steal the key from you directly.
Flickr has done all it can. It can't change it's security to allow for people getting viruses; that isn't possible. If it was that easy, then windows would copy it and actually be more secure than it is (ie not at all). It cannot run after these people and chase them down. It is not their responsibility to make sure people secure their own internet activity.
The cold, hard truth, admittedly, but it is the truth.
Posted 64 months ago.
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davidteter — If it is still in the group pools, this is what happens when a certain number of people click the "may offend" link, or the photo is set to "exclude from public searches". Besides that I don't know how that "shot" as you call it would fit into the "Bokeh" or "color whores" groups and I expect that it will soon be removed by the group admins anyway. Being upset is no excuse for spamming.
Posted 64 months ago.
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@Brock: Hmmm. I will both agree and disagree with you. Yes, people need to be a lot smarter about how they create and protect their passwords. I know that. I know how several of my friends had their accounts compromised, and I was left shaking my head. But, there is a determined person out there who is stalking a select group of people on flickr. That person is determined. In my opinion, as well as those of the people who are being targeted, flickr/yahoo needs to step in and monitor things so as to help catch/remove this person. Make no mistake, crimes have been committed. Flickr was informed. And as far as I know, is not acting.
@Mr. Last Minute: *sigh* I cannot argue with you on that. I will not. I did spam. I won't argue that. But I suspect that this was flickr, not users.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Make no mistake, crimes have been committed. Flickr was informed. And as far as I know, is not acting.
Crimes? Account hacking on a photo site? Hmmmm. Over stating the case a bit there, surely.
If flickr was informed, or became aware, of a crime, they will act. Consequently, they will NOT be blathering about it in the forums, would they? That may just tip off the alleged criminal to the concept of impending prosecution, would it not?
However, flickr's responsibility ends upon reporting these crimes to the relevant authorities. If they have done that, then they have done all they can.
flickr/yahoo needs to step in and monitor things so as to help catch/remove this person.
People have had their computers compromised. This is not flickr's problem. At all. That this information is being used to target flickr is not their problem, either, and so the fact that they are helping at all (by giving pertinent advice about how users should be looking after their own data) is pretty damn good customer service, I'm not sure how you can justify asking for more, to be honest.
If I leave my car key on a table in a cafe and my car gets stolen, I don't go after the car manufacturer to make it all right...
Posted 64 months ago.
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@Brock: I have no desire to argue with you. You're coming across as a bit of a troll. Crimes were committed. What I am referring to was done by the same person who hacked/phished flickr accounts. This is above and beyond poor operational security.
Posted 64 months ago.
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When the only avenue for attack is Flickr, it's Flickr's problem.
This shouldn't be about defending Flickr or arguing for the sake of argument (@Brock), it should be about fixing the problem.
Posted 64 months ago.
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I wasn't arguing. I was calling for perspective. And I am certainly not a troll. Unless you consider anyone with a differing viewpoint to yours to be trolling.
You take flickr's silence as evidence of inaction. I am pointing out the limitations of their requirement for action, and also the possibility that silence does not equal inaction.
What are these crimes that you refer to? The only problem that has been mentioned in this forum are accounts being hacked. This is NOT a crime, no matter how serious you feel it is. Making veiled references to undisclosed 'Really Bad Things' does not make this problem any more serious.
Yes, Flickr should do everything they can to reduce the chances of account hacking. But so should the people make every effort to protect their personal details. If that is, as seems to be the case, where this issue has arisen from, it is not up to flickr to correct other people's inadequate security.
This is not account hacking, just for reference, it is account hijacking. hacking involves breaking flickr's system. Hijacking is (as in my example with the car) stealing a legitimate key. From the evidence above, the log in details were stolen, not the system corrupted. Hacking is very much something that flickr should address, while hijacking is not really something that they can help with if people have insecure systems.
Posted 64 months ago.
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I got the email as well. Out of curiosity, has this kind of thing only started happening since Yahoo took over?
Posted 64 months ago.
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Brock is making some very good points. I'm just as angry as everybody else over this, but instantly lashing out at Flickr is misguided. The fact that Heather is monitoring and posting to this thread surely is evidence that Flickr is very concerned about this at its highest levels. Hijacking issues like this are complicated and frustrating for everyone, and they take time to investigate and resolve. And I know it's an unsatisfying thing to say, but we need to have a little patience and let the Flickr team sort through this mess instead of calling for blood.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Hi all, I've been reading all the posts, but now I'm left with a bare flickr site, lost all my photo's, contacts/friends and can't log into my own flickr group which I admin. This is so upsetting to me. What do I do now?
Posted 64 months ago.
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For reference, Rachel, this has nothing to do with Yahoo. There was not a sudden (or even noticeable) spate of account hijacking two years ago, now. So the two are entirely unrelated.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Also thanks Stevekin for saving my pics. I'm just nervous that the pics now might have a bug on them. A computer friend told me that sometimes photos can have bugs on them. I'm just nervous, and not sure what direction to go in on flickr.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Problems with this individual hijacking and spoofing accounts had been going on for several weeks before this thread was posted. And if you ask any of the affected people who contacted flickr seeking help, you would find that they rate flickr's response to be "Abysmal".
Posted 64 months ago.
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Heather,
I secured my whole computer system, can I now be upgraded to my pro-account? Also, will I be able to gain admin rights to my flickr group which I manage with over 255 members. I would have responded to your message in my email, but I'm just a bit paranoid. So I'm asking for your assistance here.
Thanks Lisa
aka Moonfaires!
Posted 64 months ago.
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Thank you, Brock. I only ask because I never remember seeing messages about security from flickr like we are seeing now so I just wondered if there was a connection.
Lisa~I'm so very sorry that you lost everything on here. I can't even imagine how frustrating that must be. :(
Posted 64 months ago.
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Rachel: The problem started a few weeks ago with the creation of a series of fake comment in people's streams that sent people to a fake flickr page, and asked for the re-entry of account details.
People fell for it.
This is purely because flickr is so big that it has become a target for this - Paypal had exactly the same thing with fake emails and the like some years ago (still does) and so do many high street banks. They had phishing through fake emails, flickr had it through an account that posted fake comments. When flickr was so much smaller, it was so much less of an attractive target. Based on a percentage success rate for the phisher (the person trying to get your details) bigger sites get bigger responses.
It was only a matter of time, as flickr got bigger, that someone put the time and effort into finding a way to sucker people into putting their account details where they shouldn't...
Posted 64 months ago.
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i got it too, and thought it was a hoax, but then i reported it to Cybertip.ca in case it was real, they said they were looking into it...
Posted 64 months ago.
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Lisa: Individual cases are not discussed in the forums. Email is your best bet.
I'm not sure though that the 're-applying' of all the information and permissions and photo's is at all likely. Whether it was you or the arse that hacked your account was the one that deleted it, I have no idea, but generally, deleted is gone.
You may be lucky, but best prepare for the worst.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Brock you as usual are doing flickr no favours in this thread. You believe you are not a troll but many of us know that's exactly what you are. Flickr did not cause the hacking of this account and neither did Yahoo. But hours of people reporting abuse went on with absolutely no action by the flickr team. That grates.
Signed, a pompous and irritating arse.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Well said, trickle&thrum. :)
This will be my last post, because I have been targeted by this hacker and don't want to stick around to find what he's going to do next. I've quit my real Flickr account after pleading with Flickr for help. Altohgouth I sent them dozens of forwarded e-mails and information, they responded ONLY with automated responses or in a very limited capacity--NO HELP WHATSOEVER.
I had to quit Flickr to protect my family (as well as my sanity), but I cannot let this thread die without responding.
Two things concerning this hacker have not been emphasized enough.
1. This has been going on for months--in the form of phishing, hacking, thieving, trolling, spoofing, blackmailing, etc. It is the work of one or two sick individuals--not just random attacks. I think it is extremely important that everyone is clear on that. These incidents are absolutely related, which means the jerk(s) responsible should have a bigger chance of getting caught. The evidence should be piling against them. BUT Flickr has treated the incidents as if they are completely independent of one another, and that's the sad misfortune for all of us.
2. And this is more important--this hacker is involved in child pornography. He defaced the photo of two little girls in the bathtub and linked it to my site, when I tried to warn people of a phishing attempt--back in NOVEMBER. He has asked me repeatedly for photos of my daughter in the bathtub. He wrote me numerous horrible e-mails involving my child--things no one in their right minds would ever think, much less write. He is not phishing for financial information. He is after our children. And if there is one thing in this world that should not be tolerated--it's crimes against children.
This is NOT about stealing passwords and security not being tight enough. It's that this hacker and his cohorts feel safe coming after innocent people here. Why? BECAUSE THEY CAN. If Flickr refuses to see the attacks are linked, how or when will this stop?
Posted 64 months ago.
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I'm just nervous that the pics now might have a bug on them. A computer friend told me that sometimes photos can have bugs on them.
Your friend is giving you some bad advice. The real risk here is in Stevekin replacing one of your images with something malicious, and you activating it by accident, so you need to decide if you trust him. I would, personally, but that's just me.
I would have responded to your message in my email, but I'm just a bit paranoid.
If you are still worried about your email, then it is unlikely that your computer has been secured - if someone still has access to your email, you can't reasonably assume they don't have access to everything. If you've followed the instructions about securing your machine, then email is a more secure means of communication.
Posted 64 months ago.
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If Flickr refuses to see the attacks are linked, how or when will this stop?
Do you have evidence that these attacks are linked? Hard, legally submissible evidence? Did you know that Flickr (through Yahoo) have access to very good resources for attacking this very thing?
If you presented this evidence to them, they will be able to act, and with significant power. And I hope that they do.
If you have no evidence, then regardless of the seriousness of the child porn link, then there is surely very little they can do.
I'm not trying to play this down. I'm just presenting a realistic alternative view point. The seriousness of a violation doesn't (sadly) always give people/companies or organisations suddenly more power. They are still as limited as provable evidence makes them. I don't think that this is right, or grounds for complacency, but I know from bitter experience that things can't always be suddenly and easily solved when criminal charges are involved.
Also: As soon as a criminal act is involved, don't forget that flickr may well be powerless when this has been handed to the authorities and be as frustrated as you are about this. Once the proper authorities take over, flickr will be obliged to toe the line, so may not be able to act unilaterally against the people involved.
They may already be doing all they can. even if it isn't enough. We just don't know.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Brock edited this topic 64 months ago.
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@Brock: Get thee behind me, troll.
Posted 64 months ago.
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yes, i received this strange message too.
Posted 64 months ago.
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You think I'm a troll for having a different viewpoint and trying to explain alternative possibilities?
Well, I am unable to say what I think of you without violating community guidelines, so I won't.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Who is screaming troll, davidteter?
And why have you deleted the rest of your response?
This name calling is leading to nowhere. And hackers are laughing.
Posted 64 months ago.
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I too got the email earlier today
Posted 64 months ago.
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We are fighting amongst ourselves which is not the response I ever expected from this fiasco.
My disappointment with flickr is their lack of response on this issue. I have still not received a personal explanation of what is happening on their end and at this stage I don't care for one. Reading this post and then posting a reply saying "I've sent you 2 emails" is too little too late.
It was very clear yesterday that 2 users were involved (Lisa became the 3rd sometime last night): the one sending the emails and myself. Sending a personal response to each of us would have only taken a moment and would have been very helpful.
Why does it take approx 9 hours to lock down an account that is sending out disturbing emails to hundreds of my contacts? I could do nothing as the horrified responses from people kept coming into my inbox.
My gut feel is that flickr support is understaffed and that they have not formulated a methodical response to this sort of activity. I don't expect flickr to go hunt this individual down. I do expect them to provide a higher level of customer service when this occurs.
Would I pay $5/more per year to have the proper staffing levels for customer service? You bet. At $20/year flickr is a steal.
Unfortunately the damage has already been done in terms of poor service. Maybe in the future they will reevaluate this situation in a post-mortem meeting and come up with a better way to handle it.
Sean
Posted 64 months ago.
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I too Sean, couldn't stop the emails from going out, It was horrifying for me. I don't know why I was targeted, no one ever does. It's just amazing to me to see how bored and psychotic some people are, that they need to hack/take control over someone's account who they don't even know and screw it up, then try and demoralize everyone and bring them into their own demented state.
But I refuse to let this person ruin my life.
I love life and will continue to create works of art and literature which will bring smiles to the people who view and buy it.
All I want is to be able to have faith in a secured site and comfort in knowing that when a problem such as this occurs, it can be resolved.
Lisa!
Posted 64 months ago.
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Also,
The scariest thing is flickr members that aren't as active as all of us, think I'm some sick weirdo, and I've been blocked by people, my character has been demoralized, Someone even suggested I need therapy, my name was reported to dozen's of international agencies and I was contacted at my parents house regarding this issue by a local authority, in which I had to explain this situation and refer them to flickr on the matter.
Now I'm going to relax, drink some tea, and try to forget this nightmare.
I thank each and everyone of you for your generous support and wish you all a wonderful nite and weekend.
Magic and Joy!
Lisa aka moonfaires.
Posted 64 months ago.
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YUCK I got that exact same email too :(
Posted 64 months ago.
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"If men would consider not so much wherein they differ, as wherein they agree, there would be far less of uncharitableness and angry feeling."
-Joseph Addison
Posted 64 months ago.
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"He wrote me numerous horrible e-mails involving my child--things no one in their right minds would ever think, much less write. He is not phishing for financial information. He is after our children"
This I assume was over flickr mail, isn't there a way for flickr to find this sickos IP or am I just presuming that flickr/ yahoo has that capability ?
Posted 64 months ago.
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"...am I just presuming that flickr/ yahoo has that capability ?"
Well, they had no problem finding an IP for the Chinese govt.
web.amnesty.org/pages/chn-310106-action-eng
Posted 64 months ago.
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There's so many possible ways for you to get hacked, and if you are not careful, security will be compromised, however, the issue I'm more concern about is say it did happened, and causes these kind of mess, would it possible for flickr team to implement a few things.
1) similar to what 'system restore' in windows, it would be possible to restore the flickr status in which you feel that the account was safe. I think most of us have pictures backup, that's not really a big deal, but more so is the title, tags, descriptions, photo sequence, comments, favorites, and notes ... basically all the related infos and 'social' event that went on. Right now, say you or hacker delete the picture, everything including infos is also gone. If you can recall the information, you can upload the picture to replace them (to help remember maybe retain the thumbnail).
By closing down account when hacked is just so much loss (interaction time loss). Somehow what makes a picture special is probably what was written on them as well, a story. Backup of this 'text' information should be available features by flickr to help PRO user would be great.
So, may i suggest that if there is something like a 'save' flickr information status or even automated (perhaps every week that goes back to 1 month) then when hacking occur, not all is lost.
2) login track back (login crumbs). Meaning it shows the last login date and time with some ip info.. so it helps user detect if there's something strange going on. Many sites implemented this, even way back in the telnet login days.
What do you folks think. Do you think it would be useful? I actually i would be willing to pay extra for this feature to 'restore' things or even export the whole thing in other sites for safe keeping... since i use flickr for work related stuff too.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Sgt.Hulka - there are programs available which randomly generate fake IP addresses; if the hacker's using one of those, you'll never be able to track him.
It is disturbing that it took so long for Flickr to get involved; I'm sure we were all sending "Report Abuse" messages. I was under the impression that Staff operated on a 24-hour basis. Maybe not.
Can't agree enough with the suggestion that all "deleted" accounts remain on the servers for a week or so after the event, just to prevent this sort of shit happening.
It'd also be nice to see Flickr implement an immediate quarantine on accounts that are subject to this sort of activity - in his last post, the hacker clearly said that he was going to delete the account. Flickr staff were aware of the problem at that point - but it still happened!!
Posted 64 months ago.
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I agree with you on this, "deleted " accounts should be on the server for a week or so. Plus it would be nice to have seen my account quarantined before the condition got any worse.
Posted 64 months ago.
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Along with scan the PCs with Antivir,(which I use myself and consider a good antivirus solution for personal use. As its free and quite fast in provide signatures for new malware.) I suggest scan the PC wity spybot search and destroy too and with "roottkit revealer"
www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Security/RootkitRe... The Rootkit Revealer searches for trojans that can hide from Antivirus/AntiSpyware by manipulating how the windows API works. Due to my experience at least 20% fs all infected
PC that have malware there arew also rootkits present on the system. The disadvantage for the rootkit revealer is that you nned quite some knowledge to interpret its output and how to resolve/research it. But it can give you a hint if there are things hidden in your pc. The Scan with this tool takes quite long and you need to wait it to finish. Also the process explorer is a good tool to anylyze the system for malware, but it also nneds knowledge of the internals of windows and of what processes should run and what could be malicious.
www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Security/ProcessEx...
Also this little tool may be halpful to delete found malicious files while they are running: ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/ As this tool can free ur files for deleteion even if they are currently in use/running.
I hope this hints help at least some of you to protect your pc and to remove malware that may be discovered.
Posted 64 months ago.
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I received the same email today and want to apologize to @Lisa Kettell. I had no ide this was going on. Flickr needs to fix this crap and soon!
Posted 64 months ago.
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