Why was my email leaked? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#101

Post by eli » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:31 PM UTC

jey wrote: post #95

tokenadult wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I try subaddressing as I try to sign up for new online services, more often than not that address format is rejected as invalid. Most online services don't have very good email validation.

Use a whole domain name, e.g. signup for dropbox with dropbox@tokenadult.com. You could do this with Google Apps Gmail by setting a catch-all forwarding address for the domain.

It's all fun and games until you get attacked by a spambot that tries blindly sending thousands of messages to @yourdomain.com

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#102

Post by jewel » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:32 PM UTC

Khao wrote: post #5

jewel wrote: post #3

I also give out a separate email address to every service I sign up for. So far geico, mint, and dyndns have lost or sold my email address. I haven't gotten any spam on my dropbox account, but I've only had an account since 2012-10-02. I don't run any spam filtering, at all, and my email box is the catchall for my domain. These aren't just lucky guesses.

I'm surprised to see mint in that list. Have you contacted them in any way about this?

I've been meaning to send in a complaint, but they should really have some canary addresses in there to catch this. Of interest, the mint spam is a lot more varied than the geico spam. The geico address gets nothing but Canadian Pharmacy Viagra spam.

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#103

Post by bsimpson » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:34 PM UTC

EvanAnderson wrote: post #29

xer0x wrote: post #13

Holy crap Dropbox's moderators make me want to terminate my account with them.

Reading that thread was painful. I always use custom one-off email addresses for services I sign-up for and. When I've attempted to report disclosure of my email address I'm almost always met with major skepticism. It's maddening. I used to enjoy the reactions I'd get from store clerks and telephone reps when I give them my email address. "Oh, how you have an email address with our company name in it?" In recent year…

I just tell them it makes it easier for me to find their e-mails.

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#104

Post by driverdan » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:34 PM UTC

I suspect this is a MUCH larger problem than people realize and not Dropbox's fault.

I've noticed in the past few months I've been getting spam to a lot of site specific emails I've used under my Gmail catch all. It's as if a spammer had access to all email addresses I've used for incoming mail. I've talked with friends and found some have had the same problem.

So where are spammers getting the email addresses we've received email from?

1. There's a vulnerability in Gmail / Google Contacts.

2. Some widely used app I've allowed to access my email has been hacked or has been selling email addresses.

3. An Android app that requires access to my email is compromised, either intentionally or unintentionally.

The least likely one I haven't mentioned is that many independent companies have sold my emails which I find very unlikely.

So what's causing this to happen?

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#105

Post by inovica » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:34 PM UTC

ISL wrote: post #74

tjbiddle wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you'd truly get a faster response being a Pro member, then it might be worth a shot to purchase Pro again - then when they respond, have them refund you and reset your account back to it's previous time left for your membership.

Or, have one of your other Pro accounts raise the alarm for you.

Thats a great idea. I've been too close to this (stupid?) to even think of that. I'll get them to do that. Fingers crossed that will help, but I also feel the damage has been done in terms of my feelings towards them. I have spent part of today looking at alternatives. Thanks again

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#106

Post by rhizome » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:42 PM UTC

res0nat0r wrote: post #56

georgemcbay wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IOW, they work for Dropbox, they just don't get paid for it.

That's why they are volunteers.

That didn't work out so perfectly for AOL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_Community_Leader_Program

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#107

Post by scarmig » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:43 PM UTC

res0nat0r wrote: post #56

georgemcbay wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IOW, they work for Dropbox, they just don't get paid for it.

That's why they are volunteers.

Wait, what? Volunteering in general or even open source or community software projects makes plenty of sense, but why the hell would anyone volunteer for a private for-profit like Dropbox?

Is it some kind of internship scam?

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#108

Post by Angostura » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:44 PM UTC

mnicole wrote: post #61

res0nat0r wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those mods don't work for Dropbox, they are community volunteers who've just been given mod permissions.

Yikes. What a terrible idea to place your brand's reputation in the hands of people that don't hesitate to make assumptions about your customers' intelligence. Adobe allows certain users to speak as "Pros" on their help boards based on their past helpfulness, which has gotten out of hand before, but they certainly make the distinction between staff and user in the nameplate so people know not to associate them with t…

It's pretty much how the Apple support forums work.

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#109

Post by CWilliams1013 » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:45 PM UTC

jimktrains2 wrote: post #25

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" These aren't just lucky guesses. " How did you rule that out?

He doesn't run a spam filter and he's using a catch all, therefore any email sent to any address on his domain will get to him. If someone was just trying things to see what worked he would see those emails.

This is not entirely true. A very large percentage of spam (70-90%) is stopped at or before the banner, at a layer he probably doesn't control (unless he runs his entire email infrastructure).

Re: Why was my email leaked?

#110

Post by laumars » Thu, Feb 28, 2013, 9:46 PM UTC

jewel wrote: post #3

I also give out a separate email address to every service I sign up for. So far geico, mint, and dyndns have lost or sold my email address. I haven't gotten any spam on my dropbox account, but I've only had an account since 2012-10-02. I don't run any spam filtering, at all, and my email box is the catchall for my domain. These aren't just lucky guesses.

I like that idea. I might start doing that.