Has this forum been hacked?

[luvforsun]

Has this site been hacked?  I received an extortion email mentioning they had my password (which I only use on this site). Below is a copy of that email.  Beware.  I thought it was bizarre.

 

"𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, #####, 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍.

𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝟸𝟺 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜, 𝚘𝚛 𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎.

𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝, 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝟷𝟺𝟻 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜.

𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐��, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚌 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚌𝚊𝚖.
(𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚞𝚗𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚝𝚠 𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚘)

𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝟹 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎.

𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚌𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚋𝚘𝚜𝚜, 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 (𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎! 𝙼𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚠��𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚜).

𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝? 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝...

𝙱𝚞𝚝, 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝��𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢.

𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛.

𝙶𝚎𝚝 $ 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟶 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜:

1PEDM9JszMervLkJsUT4*XJmGTbqn5VdWgC
[𝙲𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 * 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚝]

(𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠, 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗. 𝙳𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚊��𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎) "

𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 '𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗' (𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝?). 𝙸𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎��𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛.

𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝟸𝟺 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚜𝚘. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎-𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚚𝚞𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚝. "

[LauraS]

Hello: 

 

This really has nothing to do with Cruise Critic.  It's a scam.   Instead, you should report this to your email domain at which you received it.

 

LS

[Organized Chaos]

On 4/24/2020 at 9:28 AM, luvforsun said:

Has this site been hacked?  I received an extortion email mentioning they had my password (which I only use on this site). Below is a copy of that email.  Beware.  I thought it was bizarre.

 

Did they include your actual password in the email or did they just say they had it? If they didn't prove that they have your password, then it's just a phishing scam. They send out thousands of them trying to get someone to take the bait. If it makes you feel better, you can just change your CC password.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Organized Chaos

[luvforsun]

They included the password which I only used for this site. I've used the same one for the last 18 years. My bad. I have since changed it.  I received another email just like it today from a different person. I didn't share the the sender info because I'm sure they are innocent parties. 

 

I guess there are a number of victims out there:

 

https://wnyt.com/news/state-police-warn-of-new-email-scam-demanding-ransom-/5709498/?cat=10114&fbclid=IwAR0rz8mBMMR2GlF_qWYM-rzX6K1KithhMi7o04owQmCqP6whz2iPH2Yf358

 

Thank you for your quick responses.

[Kartgv]

Laura - 'luvforsun' is right.    We received the identical email and, like them, only use that particular screen name and password combination for Cruise Critic.   Yes, the letter did have the actual password.   Somehow the Cruise Critic database has been hacked and I suspect you will hear from others with the same problem.   

[gnome12]

3 hours ago, Kartgv said:

Laura - 'luvforsun' is right.    We received the identical email and, like them, only use that particular screen name and password combination for Cruise Critic.   Yes, the letter did have the actual password.   Somehow the Cruise Critic database has been hacked and I suspect you will hear from others with the same problem.   

@LauraS This seems to be a real problem.

[LauraS]

17 hours ago, luvforsun said:

  I received another email just like it today from a different person. I didn't share the the sender info because I'm sure they are innocent parties. 

 

 

Question for you @luvforsun   The second email you reference; did it contain the first password, or the new one you just reset.

 

Also, would you (or anyone else) please forward the email w/o making any changes to it to me at:  community@cruisecritic.com

 

Thank you,

 

Laura

[LauraS]

 

From the FBI, which released an alert on this on Apr 21:  Online Extortion Scams Increase during Covid19 Crisis

 

This has been a hoax for years, it seems.  We will look into it, but in the meantime here are a few more articles to read about this subject:

From CNBC:  Here's what to do if you receive a sextortion scam email

From NewsRadio 1290 NY:  NY State Police Warn of Email Extortion Scam

From AARP:  Extortion and Sextortion - Online Email Extortion Scams   Excellent tips here on what to do and what NOT to do

 

[Kartgv]

On 4/27/2020 at 6:29 AM, LauraS said:

...Also, would you (or anyone else) please forward the email w/o making any changes to it to me at:  community@cruisecritic.com...

I tried forwarding mine, but the originator has found a way to somehow block forwarding - just get an error code.   I could cut & paste, but mine is basically the same as the OP's.   A neighbor posted on Nextdoor receiving a similar message and when she tried forwarding, hers turned to unreadable garbage.   The people sending these are pro's, guess they'll continue as long as a small percentage of people panic and send them money.   

[mdj101]

So when did CC have a data breach. I'm being told by Google that the password on my account here has been compromised due to a data breach?

[Host Kat]

14 hours ago, mdj101 said:

So when did CC have a data breach. I'm being told by Google that the password on my account here has been compromised due to a data breach?

 

Howdy @mdj101 and welcome back to Cruise Critic!  I see it has been awhile since you have posted on the message boasrds.

 

To help you out, I have merged your thread into an existing thread titled Has this forum been hacked? located on the Need Help Using the Forums? Check Here! forum. I see that @CC Help Jenn is following this thread. Perhaps she can help you further. 

 

I sincerely hope this will be helpful and glad to have you back aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat 

[LauraS]

On 5/13/2020 at 7:29 AM, mdj101 said:

So when did CC have a data breach. I'm being told by Google that the password on my account here has been compromised due to a data breach?

 

There has been no data breach.  I have no idea why or how Google would know anything about a data breach anyway.   Did you receive an email from Google? An error message of some kind?  Browser popup?  I seriously think this outreach by "GOOGLE" is the scam.

 

If you did receive an email from google, or can screenshot the messaging, please either attach it here or email it to:  community@cruisecritic.com

 

LS