Be Prepared for an Email Bomb

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

Moderator
Staff member
Yesterday around lunch some hacker dropped an email bomb on me. The way these things work is they have a bot that uses your email address and signs you up at thousands of websites all over the world. Your inbox then starts receiving validations/confirmations from these websites. Spam filters are about useless as these emails are legit under ordinary circumstances. To make matters worse these websites will email you for years to come as you are now on their distribution list. My inbox was seeing messages arriving every few seconds all day until I pulled the plug.

Since yesterday I've been logging into every account I can think of to change my email, e.g., financial institutions, appleid, IG, FB, online vendors, auction houses, forums, etc. etc. I wish I had kept a record of every account I have out there. Now I'm having to try and remember and dig them up. It is a MAJOR PAIN IN THE ASS complicated by the fact I don't remember every password and resetting a password when you have a different email is usually a no-go.

To be prepared I highly recommend you make a list of every online account you have and include the web address, account name, and password. Use two factor authentication whenever possible. File it in a safe place. If you do get hit with an email bomb you can disable the hacked email address and get a new one and go through your list to update all your accounts.

In short be prepared for an email Armageddon. It's not fun and best to be prepared to update your accounts rather than struggle through an unpleasant process brought on by a malicious person who knows they will never ever be caught because law enforcement is ill equipped to deal with cybercrime.

Eric

p.s. If you use my ericp@duckboats.net email it is no longer. PM me for my new email.
 
Last edited:
Wow, brutal. I can't imagine.

We went to a password manager in the past year, so I would expect that would help, but that must suck. Bummer.
 
Tod

Tell me a bit more about this password manager. I've heard of them but never actually looked into using one. I've always relied on other means which have proved problematic.

Thanks.

Eric
 
Eric

Like Tod mentioned, I also went to using a password manager a few years ago, and use two factor authentication to log into that also. It is a very good way to manage that. I also use two factor on any account that has any financial item/account associated with it. I have minimized how many accounts there are in that category also. In addition, I use a password file that is password protected inside my password protected digital electronics. I have three fairly complex passwords to access all of this in my head only. You can remember them if you use them frequently. I take internet security pretty seriously and think that most people do not. I don't keep payment apps on my phone, it is too easy to get into that and too easy to lose or have stolen. I have given my master passwords to the person that will administer my estate so everything can be unlocked when that day comes, and those are in a safe deposit box.
And no, I'm not a paranoid conspiracy theorist. I'm an auto parts salesperson. But I do understand the volume of data available on people, how it is gotten, sold, circulated, and is used to steal, cheat, commit fraud, et al. I'm doing my best to not make it easy. I am also not so smug to think it cannot happen to me regardless of the things I did to protect data. But I do have a way to immediately access and change change security settings on any account I have and hopefully mitigate the damage.
Some internet bot will now probably find this and trick me into getting a transfer of great wealth from Nigeria through a PM on duckboats.......Good luck with your situation, it is realy a nightmare and great stealer of time and unnerving.
 
I use a password manager as well. 1 Password is what o have used for some time. Face ID needed to get into the site which I like.

Mark
 
Tod

Got it. Been a crazy hectic weekend with Thomas's graduation in Auburn. I'll hit you with a reply tomorrow. Thank you!

Eric
 
Greg,

I take security pretty seriously as well, but it didn't help when a bank or government agency gets hacked and your data that you are required to provide gets stolen.

Rick
 
Richard-I have had the exact same thing happen in the last year. It is a mess beyond all messes, and I have no idea when or if it will be resolved. I have no faith it will.
 
I have been caught up in 2 hacks and have free credit monitoring because of their incompetence. With the GSA hack they also stole your fingerprints.

Rick
 
Richard and Greg

On at least two occasions the data for my security clearance background investigations was hacked, like thousands of other DoD workers. It made the national news. This Saturday while driving back from Auburn I got notification of a bogus $1600 credit card charge. VISA authorized payment and then realized it was fraud and contacted me. I don't have to pay it, but we all do through higher interest rates and card fees. A few months ago, my oldest son who is autistic and vulnerable, was duped into giving his debit card number to a scammer and had $2500 pulled from his bank account.

I've had the conversation with friends many times that our state and federal authorities over these matters are outmatched by hackers and it seems prosecution rates are so low there is no deterrence. I'm sick and tired of hackers and scammers getting away with theft but I don't see it going away. In fact, if you look at the Federal Trade Commission data the trend is getting worse and more costly. My personal beliefs are since the fed gov threw in the towel on the war on drugs those resources need to go to catching cyber criminals and scammers and apply VERY HARSH PENALTIES. Hard working Americans are getting ripped off directly and indirectly and the liars, thieves, and low-life morally bankrupt losers suffer little to no consequences. It is just so maddening, and I'm pissed our government for being ineffective at stopping it. Thirty years ago I had a conversation with a very bright coworker. His idea was to send in the Secret Service to foreign countries and on our own soil and assassinate the hackers as they were a threat to our national security. Back then the number of folks trained and skilled to hack was relatively small. That number is huge now and so much of it is petty crap for relatively small amounts, but it is so numerous it adds up to tens of billions of dollars each year that we have to pay, and many individuals are financially ruined. Think of the elderly who get scammed of their life savings or people who have the titles to their houses stolen. The hackers and scammers have the upper-hand, and I don't see the scales tilting in our favor anytime soon.

Thoroughly disgusted.

Eric
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top