Somebody tried to sign in as me?!

AnneMarble · Aug 8, 2007

I got this e-mail earlier today and wondered if it was legit:

"Your account on Absolute Write Water Cooler has been locked because someone has tried to log into the account with the wrong password more than 5 times. You will be able to attempt to log in again in another 15 minutes.

The person trying to log into your account had the following IP address: 74.53.243.34"

Eeep?

Is this common? A spammer, maybe? Or someone even creepier?

Willowmound · Aug 8, 2007

Muuuaahahahahaaaaaa!

(I got nothing. Yeah, that is creepy.)

poetinahat · Aug 8, 2007

I agree with the general assessment -- that sucks, Anne. Thanks for passing on the IP address.

Change your passwords now and then, folks -- and make them something people aren't likely to be able to guess. Include capitals and lowercase, and numbers. Definitely don't use a garden-variety dictionary word.

AnneMarble · Aug 8, 2007

poetinahat said:
I agree with the general assessment -- that sucks, Anne. Thanks for passing on the IP address.

So I guess if other people get one of those e-mails, they should pass it on as well?... Should that be a FAQ?
(Yay, I created more work for the mods. :hooray:

)

poetinahat said:
Change your passwords now and then, folks -- and make them something people aren't likely to be able to guess. Include capitals and lowercase, and numbers. Definitely don't use a garden-variety dictionary word.

It's a good thing my password isn't countertenor. :tongue

RumpleTumbler · Aug 8, 2007

The IP is from a web hosting company called The Planet.

http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/ipall.ch?ip=74.53.243.34

http://www.theplanet.com/

I would send an email to [email protected] detailing what happened with the IP address and the exact time it happened. They can grep the router and see who it was.

poetinahat · Aug 8, 2007

AnneMarble said:
So I guess if other people get one of those e-mails, they should pass it on as well?... Should that be a FAQ?

Absolutely. We might be able to spot a repeat offender.

(Yay, I created more work for the mods. )

Hooray.

(heh.)

It's a good thing my password isn't countertenor.

Or the voice used in some PDQ Bach works, the "bargain countertenor".

Bo Sullivan · Aug 8, 2007

After reading this I changed my password.

akiwiguy · Aug 8, 2007

Yes I got one too and traced IP roughly. It was definitely not me, and not New Zealand. Was New York. I'm thinking of seeing if the provider I traced it to can identify the origin, just for the hell of it.

Bailey · Aug 8, 2007

AnneMarble said:
I got this e-mail earlier today and wondered if it was legit:

"Your account on Absolute Write Water Cooler has been locked because someone has tried to log into the account with the wrong password more than 5 times. You will be able to attempt to log in again in another 15 minutes.

The person trying to log into your account had the following IP address: 74.53.243.34"

I got the same thing.

Thank you AWWC for having a lock down system after 5 attempts.

Bailey

AdamH · Aug 8, 2007

Yeah. I got the exact same one with the exact same IP address. Someone's trying to hack into people's accounts. That's for sure.

Azure Skye · Aug 8, 2007

I got that too. WTF? I'm changing password now.

Azure Skye · Aug 8, 2007

Heh, I just noticed that all who got the emails, so far at least, have names that start with A or B. I guess they started at the beginning. Hm.

Uncarved · Aug 8, 2007

poetinahat said:
Definitely don't use a garden-variety dictionary word.

so my password "dictonary" should be changed eh?

AnneMarble · Aug 8, 2007

Azure Skye said:
Heh, I just noticed that all who got the emails, so far at least, have names that start with A or B. I guess they started at the beginning. Hm.

Dang. I thought they were just in love with my adorable countertenor avatar.

Azure Skye · Aug 8, 2007

I sent an email to [email protected].

Hopefully, I'll hear back from them because I'm just curious like that.

wyntermoon · Aug 8, 2007

Azure Skye said:
Heh, I just noticed that all who got the emails, so far at least, have names that start with A or B. I guess they started at the beginning. Hm.

It'll take forever to get to me then. heheheh

ChunkyC · Aug 8, 2007

Hi kids. Yeah, it's some dweeb trying to guess passwords, or some kind of script designed to do the same automagically. I've received a few reports with a different IP and have notified that ISP.

It never hurts to change your password periodically, and make it as difficult to guess as possible. Lots of characters, a mix of upper and lowercase and numbers, that sort of thing.

RumpleTumbler · Aug 8, 2007

ChunkyC said:
It never hurts to change your password periodically, and make it as difficult to guess as possible. Lots of characters, a mix of upper and lowercase and numbers, that sort of thing.

Since all good cracking programs skip your user ID if you regularly change your password. :roll:

Ok, sorry...j/k.

MidnightMuse · Aug 8, 2007

This happened to Alleycat a couple of days ago - they must have started with the A's and they're working their way down the alphabet ?

Basilides · Aug 8, 2007

Yep, it happened to me too...

I thought I was being specially targeted for nefarious purposes due to some kind of unwitting or underground fame, but I guess not.

Dang.

Dear Basilides,

Your account on Absolute Write Water Cooler has been locked because someone has tried to log into the account with the wrong password more than 5 times. You will be able to attempt to log in again in another 15 minutes.

The person trying to log into your account had the following IP address: 74.53.243.34

Don't forget that the password is case sensitive. Forgotten your password? Use the link below:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/login.php?do=lostpw

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/login.php?do=lostpw

All the best,
Absolute Write Water Cooler

Alan Draven · Aug 8, 2007

It happened to me too earlier this morning. It startled me a bit; I haven't been here in weeks so I knew right away it was someone trying to hack my account. I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one who got one of these. The IP address was 74.53.243.34

Upon looking it up in Google, all I found was a Russian board discussing the topic (in Russian, of course--if it really was Russian to begin with) so I couldn't decipher anything they were saying. Let's hope whoever's doing this won't make a habit of it.

auntybug · Aug 8, 2007

I got it too!

The person trying to log into your account had the following IP
address: 74.53.243.3

Del · Aug 8, 2007

What would anyone have to gain by hacking an AW account? Malicious mischief? Fake flouncing?

Maybe it is someone that just wants to ask how to sign up. *snicker* The dummies. It's not that hard.

I think I'll change my password too. I thought of a really good one. It's 192837465qpwoeiruty. Clever? No one is ever going to figure that one out.

AnneMarble · Aug 8, 2007

Delarege said:
What would anyone have to gain by hacking an AW account? Malicious mischief? Fake flouncing?

They probably wanted to spam spam spammity spam spam. Or they thought they could access other information once they got the password.

Delarege said:
I think I'll change my password too. I thought of a really good one. It's 192837465qpwoeiruty. Clever? No one is ever going to figure that one out.

Good luck remembering it.

AdamH · Aug 8, 2007

Delarege said:
I think I'll change my password too. I thought of a really good one. It's 192837465qpwoeiruty. Clever? No one is ever going to figure that one out.

Clip...and paste! :tongue

Somebody tried to sign in as me?!

Nefarious Ghost Fan

Lightly salted

Numbers are beautiful

Nefarious Ghost Fan

Loves Joni Mitchell

Numbers are beautiful

AW Inmate #90976

Pumped Up Kicks

Huh?

Huh?

I aim to misbehave

Nefarious Ghost Fan

Huh?

It's hard being green

Loves Joni Mitchell

Midnight Reading

teh other evil broad

Sky isn't falling, ground is rising

Nefarious Ghost Fan

Pumped Up Kicks