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Internet Security Breach Alert - Avatar Hijack PLEASE READ, WAITING ON RESPONSE

Started by rbrown4,

34 posts in this topic

rbrown4

rbrown4

Posted
Posted

I have sent posts to NGC but wanted to let everyone know that somehow, a couple of posts ago, my avatar got switched to a black one with "come to the dark side" which I never authorized nor have seen before. Somehow my avatar has been hijacked.

 

Rey

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MunkyMan95

MunkyMan95

Posted
Posted
Cookies My @#$#%#, not cool no matter what the source.

 

Rey

 

Rey, did you notice that munkyman and me responded to this thread but now those posts are gone?

 

That is very strange.

 

We posted in the other forum :baiting:

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rbrown4

rbrown4

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I have left messages and tried to contact NGC tonight but of course it is after hours. To me this is unacceptable and if I can not get resolution within 72 hours and an explanation as well as the one that did this, I will remove myself from these boards. A total lack of security, respectability and unbelievable in my opinion.

 

Rey

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bsshog40

bsshog40

Posted
Posted

That is strange Rey. I don't see how that could've happened without someone being able to log in to your profile. Have you changed anything in your profile today or possibly hit some sort of default option in your profile? Just a couple suggestions to help!

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TomB

TomB

Posted
Posted

Howdy Rey. What I think happened is that the URL address that hosted the image of your father was inadvertantly overwritten and this image is currently at that address. Contact Arch and he might be able to help you.

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MikeInFL

MikeInFL

Posted
Posted

Rey,

 

Your avatar looks fine to me. Did they fix it?

 

One possibility is that your browser is confused and nothing is wrong with the forum -- you see most of the graphics on a webpage are downloaded into what's known as a cache, then reloaded from this cache which is stored on your computer rather than the website so as to speed up web page loading. If somehow these files got messed up, or the browser got confused with the filename, or a number of other computer related snafus could have caused what you are describing.

 

If you are using Internet Explorer, I suggest that you flush your cache ("Tools"..."Delete Browsing History"..."Delete files"), and restart your computer, and see if this solves your problem.

 

Hope this helps...Mike

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bsshog40

bsshog40

Posted
Posted

His avatar has definitely changed. I was wondering if something didn't default in his profile and that may have been the next avatar in line or something.

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gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
Posted
His avatar has changed on my computer, too, and I always delete all files, cookies and even clear history each time I use my computer.

 

Afraid your wife might find out what sites you're surfing? :baiting:

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TomB

TomB

Posted
Posted

My wife doesn't even use the computer. I not only clean out the cache, but also do a complete spybot and virus scan several times each week as well as having custom internet security options on the computer. This is just the way I have always used my computer.

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robec1347

robec1347

Posted
Posted
I not only clean out the cache, but also do a complete spybot and virus scan several times each week as well as having custom internet security options on the computer. This is just the way I have always used my computer.

 

Oh, the joy of Windows. :wishluck:

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MikeInFL

MikeInFL

Posted
Posted

I just cleaned out my temp internet files and I see the "dark side" icon now.

 

Arch should be able to fix it, but have you tried to delete and reload your avatar? That might do it without Arch having to get involved...Mike

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kryptonitecomics

kryptonitecomics

Posted
Posted

Dang....I see his original now.......what a cluster.....I am on my work computer so maybe it's pulling from the cache again... :frustrated:

 

 

Here is the image I am seeing.....I saved it to my hard drive just in case you don't still have it Rey (shrug)

 

10969.jpg

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James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

Posted
Posted
Dang....I see his original now.......what a cluster.....I am on my work computer so maybe it's pulling from the cache again... :frustrated:

 

 

Here is the image I am seeing.....I saved it to my hard drive just in case you don't still have it Rey (shrug)

 

10969.jpg

This is the one I'm seeing also.

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pendragon1998

pendragon1998

Posted
Posted

Those of you who are still seeing the original avatar are just pulling up your cached version. His avatar is different. Good job to kryptonitecomics for saving it.

 

I don't think this is anything to get worked up about. I doubt that anyone's "hacked" his account - why would they? More than likely, TomB is correct that it's just a software glitch. No need to panic. Just swap your avatar back and you'll be fine. Change your password if you feel the one you're using is easy to guess.

 

If someone was "hacking" the boards, there'd be more evidence of mischief than a single switched avatar, I'm sure.

 

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  • Administrator
Architecht

Architecht

Posted
  • Administrator
Posted

 

==========================================

Originally Posted By: spiny

I'd guess that Rey was previously member 10969 and now he is 8000 something due to a purge. I went from 1816 to 921. Anyway, it looks like the old icons file names (which were the same as the member #) were just linked to the changed member #s. So when new member 10969 (Count) uploaded his user icon, both new member 10969 and old member 10969 got the same icon.

 

Rey, just upload the picture again, if you still have it, and will coincide with your changed member number.

 

==========================================

 

 

Check out the big brain on spiny!

 

This is exactly what it is. When the new board software was installed many people had a change of user ID#. This has caused a bug in the avatar assignment.

 

rbrown4, all you need to do is re-upload your avatar. Once you do that it will now be in place with the correct user ID on the NEW boards, and this won't happen again.

 

We're looking into fixing the glitch over all, but the bottom line is that in the meantime it can only happen once to you, and if it does you just re-upload your avatar and you'll have fixed it for yourself permanently.

 

Sorry for the inconvenience. Just to be absolutely clear, no one ever had access to your account or anything in it. What happened was that the user who got your old user ID uploaded a new icon and that replaced your old icon. They did this from their own account with no access to yours whatsoever. The only thing affected by this is old avatars only for those users who received a new user ID.

 

Regards,

Arch

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rbrown4

rbrown4

Posted
  • Author
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Thank you Arch. I have deleted the darkside avatar. I want to apologize to NGC and the Boards for reacting the way I did. It just hit me wrong. I have experienced severe computer issues both personally and with business. Again my apologies for what I now realize was an over reaction and not professional.

 

Rey

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