Medium:
I had a rare Twitter username, @N. Yep, just one letter. I’ve been offered as much as $50,000 for it. People have tried to steal it. Password reset instructions are a regular sight in my email inbox. As of today, I no longer control @N. I was extorted into giving it up.
The article includes several good suggestions on how to protect yourself online. But the biggest thing that needs to happen is companies who need our sensitive information need to be more vigilant about keeping that information safe.
Hard to take all of this completely at face value. I mean, if this is true, wouldn’t Twitter just give it back to him? Twitter would be cool with someone taking their user names at gunpoint? Also, wouldn’t the FBI get involved? It’s extortion for property worth tens of thousands of dollars.
GoDaddy really really messed up. Taking the last 4 digits (which you can read off any receipt) and then allowing the guy to GUESS another 2 digits?! Just one more reason to leave their service.
This is what got me about the story. Maybe he’s doing this to get Twitter to take that action? Public outcry and all that.
And since it was the first two digits, he really only had to guess one and a half, since credit cards all start with the same number (AmEx 3, Visa 4, MC 5, Discover 6). And the probability is higher it’s a Visa or MC.
Not just that, but they dont keep logs of information changes… how can anyone ever dispute domain registration theft if they will always verify against the current information placed there by the thief?
GoDaddy is indeed, horrible. Not as horrible as PayPal was in this whole ordeal, though. Very glad I dont have a PayPal account.
I could see how he likely is tired of fighting hackers and just giving up. Twitter should investigate this regardless, but the FBI does not just get involved in this stuff unless you seek their help.
I can’t imagine turning down $50,000 for a free twitter account.
Very true. I guess that’s part of my incredulity in the story as it’s told. What would you do if someone was extorting you for $50,000 (his claim of the value)? My guess is contact the authorities, which is what I’d do, but there is no mention of that at all.
Heck, I’d have contacted Twitter and the authorities first, explained what was happening, and then proceeded with the transfer as they monitored everything to catch the guy. The very last thing I’d do is blog about it.