TMP email hacked?

[Ray Rivers]

I would like to explain what happened to me and it could very well be a coincidence, however, I think it is worth mentioning.

Last night, I visited The Miniatures Page and noticed I had a Personal Message which asked me to verify my email account. I clicked on the link it provided and I was told an email was sent to my email account, which I need to click to verify my email address.

After doing that I went to my email address and there was no email from TMP. This morning I went to my email to check again and there was an email from TMP. I clicked the email and then my email account closed and I received a message that the account was receiving too many login attempts. I can open my email account, but within a few seconds, it closes, tells me the problem and then says try again later.

From what I can understand, someone is trying to hack into my email account and it will be at least 24 hours before, with luck, I will have access once again to my mail.

Is this a coincidence? I don't know. I did look around on the TMP forums and noticed that the owner has recently changed his email service. You can see his remarks here:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=584892

Just a heads up. Have no clue what is actually happening, but thought folks here should know.

I'll report back when I have more information.

[fred]

We?ll skip past the many reasons for avoiding TMP

Who was the PM on TMP from, the Editor? If so seems a complex method of attempting to hack your email.

Did you click any of the links in the verify email? From your description it sounds like you didn?t. If you didn?t click a link then its unlikely to have triggered anything.

How do you normally access your email account? Can you access it a different way - eg web browser?

Have you contacted your email provider?s tech support?

[Ray Rivers]

As far as I understand, verification of your email address is an automated system. No one person is sending and verifying email addresses, I believe.

As for the email itself, no, I didn't have a chance to click on any link that was in the TMP email.

I scanned my computer for viruses. Nothing.

As I wrote above, these kinds of hacking attempts usually resolve in 24 hours, from what I understand. I would imagine the provider will eventually close down the IPs being used to try to gain access to my email.

Not sure what is going on, but I believe there is a possibility that someone has gained access to the TMP automated system and when it sends out an email to someone, they then attempt to gain access to that address.

I'm going to wait it out for a day or so, before trying to login to my email account and we'll see what happens then.

[Doug ex-em4]

Thanks for the heads-up. It may be nothing but best to tread carefully.

Another issue with TMP is actually getting on it. My browser is very keen to stop me going there. It?s annoying so I?ve just stopped visiting.

Doug

[modelwarrior]

Thanks for the heads-up. It may be nothing but best to tread carefully.

Another issue with TMP is actually getting on it. My browser is very keen to stop me going there. It?s annoying so I?ve just stopped visiting.

Doug

Mine is the same, says its dodgy with a capital,"D",

[Citizen Sade]

TMP's still an http site rather than an https one. For some reason, the powers that be there are unable or unwilling to upgrade to the more secure option.

[Ray Rivers]

Okay, so here is my update.

Logged onto the internet and went to my email. Was prompted to enter my password and everything is now fine.

Again, I say this could be a mere coincidence. However, the last thing I did, email wise, was to ask TMP to send me a verification of my email address for my account there. I was then locked out of my email account for 24 hours.

It could be nothing, but just want to give folks a heads up that it possibly could be a problem.

[anevilgiraffe]

do change your password anyway to be on the safe side...

[Ray Rivers]

do change your password anyway to be on the safe side...

Sounds like good advice.

Cheers!

[Grimmnar]

Ray, just saw this on TMP.
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=585390
Does it help in any way?

Grimm

[katie]

Comedy gold.

Of course the emails are being filtered out by services; they're full of links to an insecure website..

[bluewillow]

TMP's still an http site rather than an https one. For some reason, the powers that be there are unable or unwilling to upgrade to the more secure option.

In the EU we are locked out of HTTP sites now, been trying to tell Bill that, dropped our advertising even, he still has not listened?.

[carlos marighela]

Well TMP is a notoriously creaky and insecure site. The idiot that put it together did so on the basis of a programming course at a community college back in the 1990s and has changed sod all since. So surprise should not be a factor.

The upside is that if you do get phished or scammed, the liklihood is that the money is going to some deserving family in the Philippines, whose laptop was wrecked in a typhoon and who urgently need dental work.

[Westfalia Chris]

I would like to ask everybody not to turn this into another TMP-slogging extravaganza (Lord knows we had enough of these).

[Ray Rivers]

I would like to ask everybody not to turn this into another TMP-slogging extravaganza (Lord knows we had enough of these).

You can lock the thread if you wish.

It was just an advisory and I have no way to confirm the information I posted.