Rants etc.....

[JD]

People shucking seagate external drives and throwing their WD SMR drives in???

Haha, that would have been more funny, but it was a Barracuda Pro 10TB in it instead. What I don't get is that's not even a cheap drive by any means, so why go through all the effort? If you're going to steal, throw in some 1TB drive?

The proper drive in this is the Exos X16 16TB, so for $400, it's a good deal. Don't plan on shucking it quite yet, just going to let my QNAP do a full backup to it so I have a bit of piece of mind

 

[sswilson]

Heh.... just received a "threatening" spam email based on one of the old personal data dump / hacks.

It was personalized in that it "knew" what my email address is and what my old password was (both of which are out there in the "public domain" from the dump) but then went off on a tangent about how they used that information to place spyware on my PC (supposedly when I logged into a porn site, and I'm sorry, but I've never registered on a porn site.... ) that they then used to create a "dual screen video" of the porn I was watching (according to them... some "interesting" tastes ) and what I was doing while watching said porn. There was then a reference to a link that would allow me to buy the mailer's silence.

I can see how folks who aren't thinking critically about what's being claimed in the threat could be concerned, but if you're thinking it quickly becomes obvious that they've just grabbed the available info from the dump in an attempt at extortion.

 

[CMetaphor]

@sswilson
I got the same one a few months ago and actually took the time to inform friends and family about it in case any of them got it (after I stopped laughing of course).

Pretty sure the valid email/password came from a Desjardins or similar large leak. But it's Ancient. Like, a very early 2000s password before I knew any better. But nonetheless it's possible that some may have never changed their passwords since, so I thought it a good idea to notify people about the bs.

The rest of email was literally the same though, "interesting tastes" included. It's pretty sad that they could have almost made it seem like a legitimate blackmail threat... But the ridiculousness of the rest of the email made it an obvious Pathetic joke. I was literally laughing with tears by the end of it. And the fact that a different address sent the exact same "threat" a week later verbatim didn't help either.

Should this be in the ranting category? Maybe we need a new one for "laughing at terrible, idiotic scammers" section as well.

 

[Shadowmeph]

@sswilson[/USER
I got the same one a few months ago and actually took the time to inform friends and family about it in case any of them got it (after I stopped laughing of course).

Pretty sure the valid email/password came from a Desjardins or similar large leak. But it's Ancient. Like, a very early 2000s password before I knew any better. But nonetheless it's possible that some may have never changed their passwords since, so I thought it a good idea to notify people about the bs.

The rest of email was literally the same though, "interesting tastes" included. It's pretty sad that they could have almost made it seem like a legitimate blackmail threat... But the ridiculousness of the rest of the email made it an obvious Pathetic joke. I was literally laughing with tears by the end of it. And the fact that a different address sent the exact same "threat" a week later verbatim didn't help either.

Should this be in the ranting category? Maybe we need a new one for "laughing at terrible, idiotic scammers" section as well. 🤣
[/QUOTE]
the thing is elderly people could possibly fall for this scam which is why I always tell my mother if you receive an email and you do not know who it is from dont open it just delete it

 

[sswilson]

Well, at least this one was flagged as spam by gmail so that would have been the first hint.

Didn't one of the "have I been pwnd?" sites that you can type your email into report back with the info that had been compromised? I'm not even sure they'd need access to the original dark web dumps. (My listed vectors are adobe, project red, last FM, and for some reason "My Heritage" and I find it hard to believe that I registered with that site in the first place).

They're all wayyyyy back in time with a password I haven't been using in more than a decade.

 

[Entz]

It depends on how old it is, Troy Hunt (https://haveibeenpwned.com/) has a crap load of data breaches but not all of them of course. He is only, mostly (?), human.

Sometimes this information is shared. I remember one of my breaches was to a company that hosted the information for dozens of others so you may not of been on "My Heritage" but their host may have been.

Anyways yes I get those from time to time as well. I can see how some people who don't change their passwords would become very very worried and would pay. Not just elderly. Basically keeping things form their spouses or coworkes or the cesspoll that is twitter/facebook. Fear and being rejected in a professional manner is a powerful motivator. Ashley madison, which granted is worse in terms of the repercussion, led to suicides.

 

[sswilson]

It depends on how old it is, Troy Hunt (https://haveibeenpwned.com/) has a crap load of data breaches but not all of them of course. He is only, mostly (?), human.

Sometimes this information is shared. I remember one of my breaches was to a company that hosted the information for dozens of others so you may not of been on "My Heritage" but their host may have been.

Anyways yes I get those from time to time as well. I can see how some people who don't change their passwords would become very very worried and would pay. Not just elderly. Basically keeping things form their spouses or coworkes or the cesspoll that is twitter/facebook. Fear and being rejected in a professional manner is a powerful motivator. Ashley madison, which granted is worse in terms of the repercussion, led to suicides.

Yeah, that's the site I just checked that spit out the list of breaches I referenced. I could be wrong, but I thought one of the other sites went further than just listing the breaches and would display the information that was part of the breach.

 

[Entz]

I think I know of the one you are talking about I just can't remember the name. Its one you had to pay to get the details on I think?

 

[FreeKnight]

So I've been in Kamloops the last 3 days for work. It's not been my favorite place tbh. Was supposed to fly out today, but the play had a mechanical issue and they cancelled the flight. Now I'm not getting home until tomorrow night :S

 

[Marzipan]

So I've been in Kamloops the last 3 days for work. It's not been my favorite place tbh. Was supposed to fly out today, but the play had a mechanical issue and they cancelled the flight. Now I'm not getting home until tomorrow night :S

what's wrong with Kamloops? that's where I grew up!