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jamesd

sarah1972 wrote: »

I wasn't and I filled out the survey

You might want to check that the address you used for that can get email from MSE. There are some addresses that MSE just won't send email to even if they are valid. If you get PM notifications or responses to post reports then the address shouldn't be one of those blocked addresses because you'll have confirmed that MSE mails to it work.

jamesd

badmemory wrote: »

I have to wonder if any of us actually care that our account has been hacked. I mean who on earth would know that my previous name & my current name actually referred to the real me?

My account here was compromised many years ago, possibly during a trip to Germany some years earlier.

It's not just the poster who can be affected. Since I'm a well respected poster it's also possible that a compromised account could be used to try to harm others here financially. Didn't happen that time.

While it's been my practice to use credentials that aren't used elsewhere the MSE login system has been vulnerable to eavesdropping for a long time and one other result was my account having its password change interval set to be shorter than most.

While the accounts here might not be linked to other identities - though they can be - the individuals behind the accounts do have reputations that they and others can value. There's more to an identity than just whether the name is on a passport.

Since around 2000 it's been my usual practice to use a different email address form for every person and place that I use email with. As well as making it easy to identify fraud attempts it tells me when places sell my data and blocks attempts to log in at one site with details from another one using purely automated attacks and simple rules.

DoaM

Long thread which I haven't read, so this may already have been addressed ... I've just received the notification email, and one of the statements is that spaces are no longer allowed in forum names - any such accounts will have spaces changed to underscores.

What if there are already 2 users ... User 1 and User_1? What will User 1 be changed to?

(I know this doesn't affect me - I'm just curious).

ortolickus

This is a great forum that i have used to much advantage over the years and no doubt it needs a technical update. But I've read of this 'improvement' with a heavy heart.


I assume the appearance will follow the trend to a smartphone-friendly interface with endless scrolling. Those of us who still use desktops or laptops will be faced with half a dozen lines per page and buttons the size of saucepan lids.


I do hope not.

redux

Please stop putting the pop-up about email address across every single page, including obliterating the log-in page when arriving with a device that hasn't been on here in a while.

Seeing then clearing it once is enough.

Deptfreemoneytart_2

Is the e-mail I was sent today a genuine e-mail? Or a scam to get me to click on the attachment (You must take action now: Click here to check and update your email address before 3 February 2020). If this is a genuine e-mail it is not good for my security, you could have waited until you normally send me a weekly e-mail on Wednesday to tell me about this impending change. This would have stopped me sending this e-mail, so saving both you and I time none of us can afford to lose.
Deptfreemoneytart, ANNOYED!!

[Deleted User]

Deptfreemoneytart wrote: »

Is the e-mail I was sent today a genuine e-mail? Or a scam to get me to click on the attachment (You must take action now: Click here to check and update your email address before 3 February 2020). If this is a genuine e-mail it is not good for my security, you could have waited until you normally send me a weekly e-mail on Wednesday to tell me about this impending change. This would have stopped me sending this e-mail, so saving both you and I time none of us can afford to lose.
Deptfreemoneytart, ANNOYED!!

Stop ranting it's genuine

tommix

Is the forum going white again then? Hope not.:(

jamesd

Deptfreemoneytart wrote: »

Is the e-mail I was sent today a genuine e-mail? Or a scam to get me to click on the attachment (You must take action now: Click here to check and update your email address before 3 February 2020). ... you could have waited until you normally send me a weekly e-mail on Wednesday to tell me about this impending change. This would have stopped me sending this e-mail, so saving both you and I time none of us can afford to lose.

MSE is contacting some people but this is an ideal time for attackers to send fake emails. We can't tell from your post whether the one you're looking at is genuine.

The place you visit to change email is:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/profile.php?do=editpassword

I suggest that you copy and paste that or navigate yourself from here to ForumCP then to change password. Both are correct and safe, aside from the risk that I might be an attacker lying to you. Use the navigate to ForumCP approach if that concerns you, it's safer.

It asks you to click on a link and fake links that look like they take you to a safe place are a common attack method. It would be disappointing if MSE was training users to act in an unsafe way by using a link instead of telling people to use copy and paste.

People using the forum don't necessarily get the regular email or might use a different address. It's also possible that the email system for forum emails is different from the others and for this purpose it's desirable to know that email via the forum system works. Otherwise someone could get this email but still not get the new password email from the new forum.

Farzackerly

Having been through a number of webforum updates and shifts to new platforms in the past couple of years, I can say I don't much like them when the organisers adopt a take-it-or-leave-it approach to the new look. Often the new look is dreadful to my eyes. The most successful approach is to allow a few elements of the old look to carry on, or adopt a classic skin as an option for those who like the old one.
Just a heads-up. If the new look is awful, I won't be sticking around much.