Impersonator Using My Name / Email Address - Help Appreciated!

[nicedomains]

Someone is using my email address (mike at nametalent.com) to leave derogatory and profane comments on domain industry blogs like DomainNameWire.com, ChefPatrick.com, DotSauce.com and several others. Several bloggers have contacted me to tip me off about this impersonator already, thank you. If I am an active commenter on your blog and can auto-comment please check your recent comments for really obvious, stupid, profane comments and delete them. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, this is not something I have dealt with and I don’t know why this person would have beef with me.

I have received an email letter from this person telling me that he thinks I hack “Steam accounts” and he’s going to turn me in… I have no idea what this means..?? Steam accounts? Below is the email letter sent from: michaellaw@live.fr the IP address is: 78.240.4.95 which resolves to: Country: France State/Region: Bourgogne City: Tonnerre Latitude: 47.85 Longitude: 3.9667.

Hello guy,

I know who you are … I’m giving your name and identification informations to Steam …

You’re nothing but a xxxx. You try hacking Steam accounts but your method looks so stupid …

I xxxx you and I xxxx you mother. I’ll use your name everywhere I will be able to, also giving the name of your web site, in order to ridiculize you.

[line remove, all insults]

Now, don’t try to answer, I don’t care about this mailing adress, I won’t read the messages you could send here. I will only use it to send messages =)

Just remember, I’m gonna use my free time to usurp your identity just like you do with honnest people.

You are a sh*t I will enjoy crushing everytime I will get the opportunity. And I sincerely hope you will be in trouble with justice.

This is the only time I contact you. Now I act x)

Bye little xxxxx ! Hahahahaha

Any advice in dealing with this kind of impersonator would be appreciated. Also, anyone know what he might be talking about hacking steam accounts??

[JB Lions]

Steam account - http://store.steampowered.com/

[nicedomains]

Thanks JB Lions

Ya, I sit around and try to hack into gaming accounts... LMFAO is this guy serious?! This nerd on a rampage is putting me though alot of BS right now..

[Gerry]

Obviously, you need to post behind him where ever he made posts (comments) on blogs.

Is the name and email he is using 100% correct and an exact match?

In other words, I don't see how someone can use the same email and user name on blogs (unless there is a huge security gap).

Is this an outright hack and takeover of your email account or someone pretending its you?


Look at each of the Characters he is using closely and make sure there are no character changes (like MlKE = mlke in lower case) that would make it appear to be you.

[nicedomains]

Doc - He's using my email address to leave comments on blogs that I am auto-allowed to comment on.. like domainnamewire.com, dotsauce.com, etc.. I am an active commenter on many domain blogs and used mike at nametalent.com to leave these comments. You see, he uses my email address, it shows my name, gravatar and url with his profane comments.

I have been looking on other industry blogs for comments that got through to have them removed... I've already made the warning blog post at nametalent.com as well.

Thanks for your inputs

[Gerry]

Then that seems to be a real problem with these blogs or scripts they are using.

If you leave comments, obviously there was a registration process - correct?

Then how can someone leave comments on those same blogs without logging in as you, the user?

If that is the scenario, then there are some serious security holes that need fixing.


Or am I missing something here...is he using all that info on OTHER blogs than the blogs you are on?

That I can see...he would have registered before you; already registered as a user using your details.

[nicedomains]

Not registration process, just moderation. In WordPress, if you approve a comment, by default (I think) you will auto approve future comments from same email address. There's no logging in to leave comments on most blogs. Yes, it is a big problem with the process. Pretty sure he's not registering using my info, so far he's just entering my name, email address and nasty comment into the comment field of these domain industry blogs, then submitting the comment.

Then that seems to be a real problem with these blogs or scripts they are using.

If you leave comments, obviously there was a registration process - correct?

Then how can someone leave comments on those same blogs without logging in as you, the user?

If that is the scenario, then there are some serious security holes that need fixing.


Or am I missing something here...is he using all that info on OTHER blogs than the blogs you are on?

That I can see...he would have registered before you; already registered as a user using your details.

[Gerry]

...he's just entering my name, email address and nasty comment into the comment field of these domain industry blogs, then submitting the comment.

Damn, who'd you piss off?

Seriously, its a shame the process (site) works that way.

I was totally unaware of once approved, always approved, and that someone could simply enter your info and get by!

That's why all comments should be reviewed before posting by the site admin...is this how they caught the person and notified you in advance?

[nicedomains]

Damn, who'd you piss off?

Seriously, its a shame the process (site) works that way.

I was totally unaware of once approved, always approved, and that someone could simply enter your info and get by!

That's why all comments should be reviewed before posting by the site admin...is this how they caught the person and notified you in advance?

Ya, I was notified by several fellow domain bloggers that this douchebag was doing this with my name and email.. Pretty much all the owners of the site he did this on knew it wasn't me and it was an impersonator.

I don't know what the hell this guys beef is.. he thinks I tried to hack some steam accounts and this is his retaliation. I haven't responded directly to him at all. This person also used my info to file false police claims in my city and county. I talked with an officer this morning that called and got it all settled with them. Also filed my own police report too documenting the incident.

[Gerry]

I haven't responded directly to him at all. This person also used my info to file false police claims in my city and county. I talked with an officer this morning that called and got it all settled with them. Also filed my own police report too documenting the incident.

Well, filing a false police report will be something he can get nailed on. Sounds like this has really gotten out of hand.

As for what to do, unfortunately your only option may be to change your identity on these forums.

It sucks for you but otherwise, you are going to spend countless hours running behind this jerk and trying to clear things up.

So, if he has your identifiable information then you need to create a new account.

And I think one that that may help is to OPT out of your user id and information NOT be saved.

[nicedomains]

Update:

Update:

Thanks to some help from a commenter in my blog post, I realized my site had been hacked and someone setup a phishing scam on the following webpages I did not know about: http://nametalent.com/www.steampowered.com and http://nametalent.com/Account-Steam.php. I contacted my webhost and had them remove these pages, and root out any other scripts, etc that these hackers may have implemented. The phishing pages were on my website for less than 24 hours.

As a result of all this, there is a man who’s steam account was hacked from by logging into his account from my site (I think). This is the person who is illegally impersonating me and created this mess with my email address. He’s upset at me and still (as of 10 minutes ago when I received his last email) believes I set up the phishing scam.

[Tia Wood]

Make sure to update your Wordpress install as well.

[Gerry]

Is wordpress easy to hack?

Could it have been something downloaded from a 3rd parties app or plugin?

Or is there really any way to know.

[Tia Wood]

Doc, there could be a number of reasons. Looking at access/error logs would help narrow it down.

here is a checklist for you:

_ Update Wordpress
_ Update any old plugins
_ Look over Hosting files to make sure there aren't any old files hanging around as well as to ensure the hacker did not upload other files
_ Review your access and error log files
_ Change your wp-admin password
_ Change your hosting password
_ If you are on a shared or virtual dedicated server: ask your host to do a security check to make sure it is not something on their end
_ Look over site forms and any input fields to make sure the data is properly escaped before sent

---------- Post added at 11:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:43 PM ----------

Is wordpress easy to hack?

As long as you keep it up to date (along with the plugins) it should be fine. Wordpress and Joomla stay on top of security issues and releases.

[Gerry]

]

As long as you keep it up to date (along with the plugins) it should be fine. Wordpress and Joomla stay on top of security issues and releases.

That is what I had the impression of.

The only time any of mine was hacked was when I gave someone my account information to upload a cron's job. He had obviously given me a few extra files for people to log onto and use my host, my site, and my email addresses for spam and phishing scams.

It was only when the host contacted me regarding account suspension did I find out about this.

[nicedomains]

Doc, there could be a number of reasons. Looking at access/error logs would help narrow it down.

here is a checklist for you:

_ Update Wordpress
_ Update any old plugins
_ Look over Hosting files to make sure there aren't any old files hanging around as well as to ensure the hacker did not upload other files
_ Review your access and error log files
_ Change your wp-admin password
_ Change your hosting password
_ If you are on a shared or virtual dedicated server: ask your host to do a security check to make sure it is not something on their end
_ Look over site forms and any input fields to make sure the data is properly escaped before sent[COLOR="red"]

Thank NameHoney for the checklist. I'd better go over it a couple more times (on all of my sites) to be sure.

[Acro]

Your WP security is as good as the server's it's hosted on.

[Maxwell]

Damn, who'd you piss off?
I was totally unaware of once approved, always approved, and that someone could simply enter your info and get by!

As was I. Spammers could utilize this by posting a perfectly legitimate comment and then exploiting the auto-approve to advertise at will.

[nicedomains]

^^ Yep, I think that WP will release something for this issue over the next year. Usually bloggers have a keen eye on their comments anyway and abuse doesn't get far on the most popular and active blogs.

[draggar]

Ya, I was notified by several fellow domain bloggers that this douchebag was doing this with my name and email.. Pretty much all the owners of the site he did this on knew it wasn't me and it was an impersonator.

That's not really hard to do especially if you're a regular contirbutor. If they see your IP is in Colorado (based on your location in your profile) and then see you posting form somewhere else, that's a red flag.

This person also used my info to file false police claims in my city and county. I talked with an officer this morning that called and got it all settled with them. Also filed my own police report too documenting the incident.

See if the admins can get the IP address that the impersonator is posting from and then hand it over to the police.

As was I. Spammers could utilize this by posting a perfectly legitimate comment and then exploiting the auto-approve to advertise at will.

You can set it up so that all comments need admin approval, but I don't think it is the default.