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Still locked out of my AWS account

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Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#181

Post by breatheoften »

stickydink wrote: post #141

I've been locked out of my AWS account for almost 3 years now. I have 2FA enabled, tied to a phone number I no longer have access to. I receive two emails per month. One invoice, for $0.80 (I cannot remember what is running on there, but I guess it must be something). One threatening, "Your AWS Account is about to be suspended". I've been "about to be suspended" for the entire 3 years. I want to pay the bill, I can't…

I'd be worried about them sending your account to collections -- would be annoying to take a credit hit over this ... insane as it is that you have no ability to resolve this situation now without hardship, you also won't have hardship free resolution path after it goes to collections ...

I guess if it goes to collections you'll at least then be able to pay the debt collector -- but you'll still take a credit hit ...

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#182

Post by renolc »

yebyen wrote: post #157
bpodgursky wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you have written backup codes, there should not be a resolution possible. You either remember to changes phone #s before you change them, or you are locked out. Deal with the phone company.

> "There should not be a resolution possible" This guy works in customer service. LOL If you're sending me a bill, you need to provide a way for me to resolve an issue such as this. "There is not a resolution possible, we will continue billing you in perpetuity thank you good day" is not acceptable. (It's AWS and they do, so maybe it is, but... try building a new service that isn't AWS with that attitude, and see how…

I kind of see chargeback as a potential resolution for this. If you lost access to your account and can't shut down billing via the normal route, you could still stop payments from your bank or credit card. That is the ultimate source of truth anyway, in regards to payments, so you could "prove" who you are by stopping all continuing payments to the service.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#183

Post by CaptSpify »

throwaway76543 wrote: post #160
otoburb wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that as they get bigger, they may soon automate delinquent account notifications to debt collection agencies which could impact your credit rating sometime down the line. You are unfortunately on the wrong side of an asymmetric relationship here.

That's solved by disputing the debt. Document the good faith attempts to pay.

I take it you haven't actually tried disputing debt. It's not a simple process, and can wreak havoc on your credit even if you are clearly not at fault.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#184

Post by jlarocco »

Macha wrote: post #159
analyst74 wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry for what you have to deal with, and I think as an industry we have definitely not thought through on the 2FA-over-phone system. But I feel like asking for a notorized letter confirming you are actually "you" is quite reasonable. Otherwise it'll be all too easy for malicious social engineering.

What's the consequence of him being impersonated here though? Some fraudster pays his bill and gets nothing out of it?

Wouldn't the consequence be that a fraudster gets complete access to the account and starts doing nefarious stuff?

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#185

Post by djsumdog »

module0000 wrote: post #174
yellow_postit wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

at what point does the debt get sold to a debt collector thus causing you more trouble and pain than paying for a notary would cost? Also if you're in the US and maintain a bank account, many banks offer free notary services.

It depends - but once that happens he is likely in the clear. The FCRA( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Credit_Reporting_Act ) states that once a debt is acquired by a new party, you(the debtor) can demand a proof of debt. If you don't get it in 30 days after the demand, the debt is null and void. If you do get it - proceed directly to small claims court and dispute it with all your documentation, and ask for an i…

Most cities charge <$50 for small claims court hearings too.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#186

Post by wnevets »

yebyen wrote: post #157
bpodgursky wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you have written backup codes, there should not be a resolution possible. You either remember to changes phone #s before you change them, or you are locked out. Deal with the phone company.

> "There should not be a resolution possible" This guy works in customer service. LOL If you're sending me a bill, you need to provide a way for me to resolve an issue such as this. "There is not a resolution possible, we will continue billing you in perpetuity thank you good day" is not acceptable. (It's AWS and they do, so maybe it is, but... try building a new service that isn't AWS with that attitude, and see how…

>If you're sending me a bill, you need to provide a way for me to resolve an issue such as this.

not if you want it to provide real security.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#187

Post by tankenmate »

rewrew wrote: post #152
ccleve wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get something notarized, at least in Illinois, for $1. Just go to a currency exchange. Most banks will do it for free.

Yes, my bank branch notarizes for free.

This is quite different in Australia where notaries public are appointed either by the State Supreme Court or by an Archbishop. Almost all of which of which are solicitors or barristers, sometimes retired from practice.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#188

Post by djsumdog »

raesene6 wrote: post #143

Whilst this is more about AWS accounts, the ability of Amazon (and other cloud providers) to lock you out of an account with very limited recourse does present some other problems. I've got quite a few ebooks I've bought via Amazon Kindle. If amazon one day decided to delete/lock my account, I would lose access to all that content which I had "bought". The more data people store in various cloud providers systems, th…

You don't really buy eBooks. You can't resell them after all. You're just renting them.

I'd look up some of the free tools out there and backup/un-DRM your Amazon/Nook/Google e-books. There are some guides out there for extracting your books notes as well.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#189

Post by kiehlster »

stickydink wrote: post #141

I've been locked out of my AWS account for almost 3 years now. I have 2FA enabled, tied to a phone number I no longer have access to. I receive two emails per month. One invoice, for $0.80 (I cannot remember what is running on there, but I guess it must be something). One threatening, "Your AWS Account is about to be suspended". I've been "about to be suspended" for the entire 3 years. I want to pay the bill, I can't…

Have you made any attempt to work something out with whoever may have your old phone number? Explain the situation to them? Maybe they'd be kind enough send you the 2FA code for the account?

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#190

Post by yebyen »

renolc wrote: post #182
yebyen wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "There should not be a resolution possible" This guy works in customer service. LOL If you're sending me a bill, you need to provide a way for me to resolve an issue such as this. "There is not a resolution possible, we will continue billing you in perpetuity thank you good day" is not acceptable. (It's AWS and they do, so maybe it is, but... try building a new service that isn't AWS with that attitude, and see how…

I kind of see chargeback as a potential resolution for this. If you lost access to your account and can't shut down billing via the normal route, you could still stop payments from your bank or credit card. That is the ultimate source of truth anyway, in regards to payments, so you could "prove" who you are by stopping all continuing payments to the service.

So say I do this, and later my account is sent to collections. Can you think of a worse possible outcome when your phone is dropped in the toilet if you have no scheme for 2FA recovery?

My cloud-hosted business gets shut down, credit score tanks, because of the combination of my butter fingers and your secure authentication scheme! Might as well not employ any CSR drones at all if you're not going to handle this case. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but this is not a great strategy for customer satisfaction or retention.

To the extent that in a dispute situation, who pays the bill =/= whomever holds the keys, my preferred customer service strategy would tend to favor who is paying the bill.

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