Guest Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 I've suddenly started getting spam sent to email addresses I set up specifically for photo net; I changed it several times because reasons and ended up with four different addresses (though only one should've been active at any given time). I haven't even used the site in years but now all four addresses submitted here at one time or another are suddenly receiving spam over the past few hours. The same spam isn't being sent to any other email address I use which suggests a likely data breach at photo.net's end. Just FYI, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 I can confirm this. Photo.net has definitely been hacked. The only way that the spammers could've gotten the email they're spamming is by dumping the photo.net DB. It's also not an abuse of photo.net's mail servers. An examination of the email headers confirms that the spammers sent the message directly from their own mailservers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 4 minutes ago, Duncan Townsend said: I can confirm this. Photo.net has definitely been hacked. The only way that the spammers could've gotten the email they're spamming is by dumping the photo.net DB. It's also not an abuse of photo.net's mail servers. An examination of the email headers confirms that the spammers sent the message directly from their own mailservers. Yeah, in my case they all came from gmail.com addresses so unless photo.net uses Google for mail, someone out there has their user registration details. I haven't reported them to Google, last time I attempted that they made it as inconvenient as possible and then announced they didn't intend to follow it up. Which I suppose is no less than I'd expect of them. 😐 Oh yeah, the spams don't contain anything much, just plaintext "it's your new friend, hi", so I guess they seem to just be testing them out to see what bounces. I've since disabled them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_Light Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Not seeing a thing! Checked my SPAM filters with the ISP and there's nothing there either. Not sure if they've just not gotten to me yet, but nothing so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) Could be a partial breach, or perhaps an old backup; my email addresses were all set up before ~2014-ish so it's possible that has some bearing on it... Actually, just double-checked, all my addresses have been spammed except the most recent (the 2014 one), so unless they simply haven't got around to it yet, there could be a cut-off point between Jan 2012 and late 2014. I always wondered why I kept a note of the date I set them up, maybe it'll finally be useful! Edited February 26, 2023 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) 29 minutes ago, Phil_Light said: Not seeing a thing! I’m not seeing any new spam in my PN associated email either. There are many ways and reasons for spam to show up in emails, not all related to sites that email is used to sign up to. These are anecdotal reports. They bear no actual causal evidence. Admin has confirmed in other Site Help threads that PN has not been hacked. Believe that or not, as the weight of speculation allows. Edited February 26, 2023 by samstevens "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 18 minutes ago, samstevens said: There are many ways and reasons for spam to show up in emails, not all related to sites that email is used to sign up to. That's not how email works. Do you have any experience with things like these? I've been operating my own mail infrastructure for 15 years. Receiving mail on a custom-made single-use address is strong positive evidence for a hack. 25 minutes ago, samstevens said: These are anecdotal reports. They bear no actual causal evidence. Admin has confirmed in other Site Help threads that PN has not been hacked. Believe that or not, as the weight of speculation allows. That's what everybody says up until the moment they're convinced otherwise. There's no downside to denying it until the evidence becomes incontrovertible, which it certainly is at this point. Exactly how they got hacked may take a little longer to come out, but that Photo.net has been hacked is evident. 28 minutes ago, samstevens said: I’m not seeing any new spam in my PN associated email either. Just wait. There's a rate limit to how many emails spammers can send. Also it may be the case that your mail provider blocked the mail at the edge. Judging from the messages I've received so far, these spammers aren't very sophisticated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 40 minutes ago, vometia said: Actually, just double-checked, all my addresses have been spammed except the most recent (the 2014 one), so unless they simply haven't got around to it yet, there could be a cut-off point between Jan 2012 and late 2014. I always wondered why I kept a note of the date I set them up, maybe it'll finally be useful! That is likely very relevant information. WW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ghost Of Phils Society Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Yes, it appears there was an issue. It has been dealt with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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