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Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

sherlockproject.xyz

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Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#151

Post by steelframe »

pluc wrote: post #144
steelframe wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently Googled myself, and in the first page of results I ran across some shit AI website that scrapes random web content about people and attempts to summarize it. It got my current occupation completely and comically wrong -- as in, it has nothing at all to do with tech. If you're trying to figure out anything about me from social media or other such random web pages, I don't care to have anything to do with yo…

Just did the same, and the form to get your data removed asks for 3 items of personal information "to confirm your identity" lol. Edit: the site I found was "zoominfo".

The only personal information they're going to get from me will be what's in my libel lawsuit.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#152

Post by quaddo »

d3VwsX wrote: post #141
dylan604 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

just to be slightly pedantic as there are still sites that have screen names vs account names where the screen name the public sees has no correlation with the account name (typically an email account). so don't re-use email accounts across sites. SecOps matter

I have a somewhat common firstname.lastname@gmail.com and others with the same name use it pretty often. Surprisingly often it seems as if sites allow accounts to exist without email confirmation. I estimate at least 50% of the accounts out there that use my gmail is actually not me, and I like the idea of anyone trying to make sense of that data, if they can even guess that I am the Firstname Lastname that the addre…

I’m in a similar situation and hadn’t thought of it that way. My take on the email I receive is that they fall into one of these categories: a) genuinely intended for me (and not spam), b) spam, c) genuinely intended case of mistaken address (they forgot to include another character), d) someone using mine as their throwaway (site sending verification email), and e) someone using mine as their throwaway (no verification process, ergo not altogether different from spam).

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#153

Post by dylan604 »

immibis wrote: post #129
packtreefly wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder what the market for throwaway phone number verification is worth. I pondered this recently, and it seems to top out at a couple bucks per shot. The problem is that the phone number tends to need to be persistent for the sake of security. You can't typically sign up for something that requires a phone number and then expect to be able to keep the account safe without maintaining exclusive access to that num…

If you're the kind of person who doesn't want to provide their own phone number to make an account, you probably also wouldn't be using any account long-term.

That’s not true. None of my Gmail accounts have a phone number, and I’ve used them for their discrete purposes continuously since their creation. I doubt I’m the edge case

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#154

Post by dylan604 »

immibis wrote: post #149
dylan604 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You claim OpSec, but if you’re using such bad opsec, then I’d suggest you’re not actually doing opsec. Tying a throw away account to actual data that can directly identify you is just such bad opsec, you might as well use your actual name as your user name.

Opsec can be a relative term. Yes, some people are selling drugs or spying for the Russian government but other people just don't want to be OSINTed by scripts like this. Then creating a new Gmail account from the same IP address is enough. It's a lot easier to hide your identity from people who don't have the power to issue subpoenas.

IP address != phone number

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#155

Post by blitzar »

Tepix wrote: post #23

And this makes it obvious why you should use a unique username everywhere! It makes pervasive tracking a lot harder. Also when you do any research on health related topics, be extra privacy conscious.

And this makes it obvious why you should use the same username everywhere!

When maintaining an official online public presence, or if you are privacy minded you likely want to "plant the flag" to stop others from impersonating you.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#156

Post by john_the_writer »

dylan604 wrote: post #154
immibis wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Opsec can be a relative term. Yes, some people are selling drugs or spying for the Russian government but other people just don't want to be OSINTed by scripts like this. Then creating a new Gmail account from the same IP address is enough. It's a lot easier to hide your identity from people who don't have the power to issue subpoenas.

IP address != phone number

I think his point was that he wasn't looking to be totally invisible. Just less obvious to people who won't spend a pile of time looking for you.

If you're adding your phone number to a throw away account you use on Target or Walmart, it's likely okay.

The IP comment was likely because if someone can get your phone number from the Walmart service (via subpoena), to track you down, they can also get your IP address too.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#157

Post by john_the_writer »

moehm wrote: post #88
cruffle_duffle wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The secret is multiple accounts. I too have a Brand Name Account(tm) I like to float around but it sure as heck isn’t this one. Doing the multiple account thing isn’t as easy as it sounds though. Some sites like Reddit make switching between accounts incredibly easy while others aren’t so much. Plus laziness kicks in and soon enough your Brand Name Account gets tainted and you have to consider taking it out back to t…

> Doing the multiple account thing isn’t as easy as it sounds though. Some sites like Reddit make switching between accounts incredibly easy And it's as easy to dox yourself by responding with the wrong account, as I have seen multiple times on Reddit.

trick here.. create different chrome profiles, with different color schemes. Peach is my "nice person" account. Red is for accounts that I want to be a little more argumentative.

I do this at work too.. where I have to have different user profiles to emulate working as an admin, staff, client, sub-client. Blue seems adminny :)

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#158

Post by [deleted] »

purkka wrote: post #140
sizzle wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use periods and they work fine like for exampl.e@gmail.com or e.xampl.e@gmail.com which surprisingly resolves to my main email and I’ll block spam from any sender spamming that period address. Anyone know why this works?

This is a Gmail-specific feature. I'd guess it's there for user convenience and some protection against typos (accidental or malicious). https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7436150?hl=en

[deleted]

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#160

Post by mystified5016 »

blitzar wrote: post #155
Tepix wrote: post #23

And this makes it obvious why you should use a unique username everywhere! It makes pervasive tracking a lot harder. Also when you do any research on health related topics, be extra privacy conscious.

And this makes it obvious why you should use the same username everywhere! When maintaining an official online public presence, or if you are privacy minded you likely want to "plant the flag" to stop others from impersonating you.

This is like preventing identity theft by putting your SSN on the side of a truck
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