IMPORTANT! Have you received an email to your forum username?

meher

And this is also why it's best not to allow people to start websites in moneysavingexpert name - recently someone started a website in this site's name and I thought, how weird. What happens is that this site users join that site in this same username, presumably same email id as well. And you don't know it's probably them that's compromising on these email id's. What I thought was really creepy was that despite requests to change name, they merely changed it to unofficial status, still latching on to this sites name. I'd really object to that kind of behavior if it were my site because I know, a fool like me would rush to join anything if it were connected to this site. That's by the by, but not one that can be dismissed.

wirehair

I just got one .

herbiesjp

Yep got one in my spam filter

laurenjs88

I got one too. Bummer

tanith

No just the usual Martins e-mail...

ManAtHome

I haven't had one - I changed my email address 07/07/10 so may well be an old breach (I have no accesss to the old address, so can't check further).

PhylPho

Every door can be forced open by brute force or with an unauthorised key. Software's no different. vBulletin has been amongst the best forum platform software for donkey's years but over that time, vulnerabilities have been found and exploited. (Commendably, vBulletin has always moved fast to issue patches.)

What's weird about the current mass posting of emails to MSE members is that the message text deliberately brings the almost-but-not-quite similarly named Moneyexpert.com into this by quoting every word of that website's 'About Us' page.

Although I'm a little sceptical of Moneyexpert.com's claim that it has been in the advice business for 20 years, I can't see those who run it being so utterly bonkers as to be behind today's escapade where Moneysavingexpert.com is concerned.

Much more likely is that someone, somewhere, is deriving malicious glee from the idea of setting two UK financial advice websites against each other.

Either way, although the concern of MSErs who've received these emails is understandable, for anyone to start accusing MSE of selling data is the kind of over-reaction hackers adore.

It's probably going to take a while to figure out if a vulnerability has been exploited in vBulletin or if the problem lies closer to MSE itself. But the fact that only MSE user names and their registered email addresses have been harvested shows that those responsible for today's continuing activity have *not* been able to penetrate any further than online IDs (as distinct from matching 'em to real-world identities.)

It'll be interesting to hear from MSE's Web team as and when their work is finished as to what they believe has happened here (and in the meantime, to be patient as well as watchful.)

Good luck to Dan and the rest of the webbys.

bengalknights

Had an email, kaspersky went crazy now saying mse website infected and not letting me browse properly!!!

xmum2threex

I only recieved the usual weekly one x

epsilondraconis

Why didn't I receive anything????

I feel left out now.

Having said that, I did recently receive an e-mail telling me how I can enlarge my *****. I'll let you know whether or not it works.