Just been hacked, lost access to public mobile account need help!

[user14182]

Hi  everyone,

I've lost access to my email account and also to my public mobile account.  I noticed when my I lost service this evening, I was able to login and see that my plan and sim had changed.  I changed the password, but the person locked me out of my email so I can't recover anything.  Can anyone please help me with this!!!!

[LurganIeUk]

I don’t think that will happen. That onus is on each individual.  On my generic emails....use a generic name and don’t identify gender, age or location is my agenda.  

Ps. But it I do like the sites that won’t let you use any part of your username as password or won’t let you reuse any of your last 10 passwords and force upper/lower case, numbers and special characters. 

[Anonymous]

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@LurganIeUk wrote:

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It could be no one has explained why, these people haven’t read about it or seen on TV, or don’t think it will ever happen to them!!!!

If that is how you want to handle your affairs.....be aware!

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But the people that aren't aware aren't going to read this. Hmm ...should I use my real name here or my phone number? With all the information that people are willing to post publically, it's no wonder identity theft happens. Those that are aware won't anyway.

It has been suggested to the company that they should have a pop up during account creation to explain to new arrivals that "hey have a second look at your username and here's why". If you're fine then click ok. If not then click edit.

That could be the same with their first couple postings. Hey have you written anything private here and here's why that's important. Ok Edit.

But we all know how fast this place operates.

[LurganIeUk]

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@Anonymous wrote:

May I recommend NOT bringing them to everyone's attention. We just had another username with what appears to be a phone number. It could of course be a random set of numbers. Not likely. When the customer starts saying they've been hacked then I offer my opinion. But that's just me. Obviously everybody can do whatever the heck they like.

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It could be no one has explained why, these people haven’t read about it or seen on TV, or don’t think it will ever happen to them!!!!

If that is how you want to handle your affairs.....be aware!

[Anonymous]

May I recommend NOT bringing them to everyone's attention. We just had another username with what appears to be a phone number. It could of course be a random set of numbers. Not likely. When the customer starts saying they've been hacked then I offer my opinion. But that's just me. Obviously everybody can do whatever the heck they like.

[LurganIeUk]

See any poorly chosen user names?

Hint hint.....look in red boxes. TMI!!

[LurganIeUk]

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@user14182 wrote:

Thanks!  I don't want to say too much more, just in case the nefarious one is watching but I believe everything is taken care of to secure my accounts.  

Looks like I'll be changing a bunch of email addresses.

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You need to first change the very important ones. I have a bunch of Gmails that I duplicated in Outlook. Then I started looking at my HUGE list of where I used the Gmail....WOW no way will I do it. (<= change all Gmail to Outlook and cancel the

Gmail   accounts) 

I have most emails set up as POP but like I said Gmail on POP settings is totally unreliable. So I have forwarded those Gmail accounts to my new Outlook accounts. It is unbelievable how many Gmails don’t show in Gmail......but ALWAYS show in Outlook. So if you don’t know what ones to use....I would use Outlook.com. 

Also never use your real name in a blog, or for your eBay name etc.  When a retailer asks for your email and you want to give it.....make a junk email that you and wife both use....like your old address like 6560DoeRoad@outlook.com  (<= not valid). For my VoIP Account I have  a business only email account to login in but another specific account for voicemails to be emailed to both my wife and I using POP settings. My 5 Craigslist accounts all have separate and very generic email addresses......so my name never shows while emailing.  

You can have one email account for your and your wife’s Public Mobile accounts ONLY by using aliases. Ie. create an outlook.com account with two aliases and use the aliases for each account...not the main email. 

Ps. Any one with Telus email........will be changed Gmail  this year. Your email address will remain the same. 

Pps. I don’t recommend using Shaw, Telus, or other carrier branded emails for account logins or for a business etc to contact you. REASON...look at how many places you use your email...what if you change your internet from Shaw to Telus? YIKES!!!! And be careful what email address you use for second factor. 

[darlicious]

@user14182 

You can easily start a new community profile with a new email but only the moderators can change your account email/username and your pin #.  Yes Oana is a gem!

[user14182]

Thanks!  I don't want to say too much more, just in case the nefarious one is watching but I believe everything is taken care of to secure my accounts.  

Looks like I'll be changing a bunch of email addresses.

[user14182]

Hey, I'll try to respond to all the messages.

Yes, I'll definitely be doing a better job changing my usernames etc.  Can I do that in the self-serve, or is that only the mods?

I don't think I know the person who did it, all the information I've found is coming from another province.  I've been in contact with the RCMP who opened a file.  I was able to get the shipping address etc and passed it along.

I think everything is fixed up now, Oana was very helpful!  But I will try to change my username as well....all great suggestions!

[darlicious]

@user14182 

Wow you've been thru the wringer but it sounds like you've reigned most of it back in. I'm surprised it took so long for moderator support. There's a possible work around but i would want go run it by the oracles first.....

To change your account email you must create the email (make it solely for public mobile). Then create a new community account/profile and keep your identity secret (you can tell us via Tony Ford is now defunct and you have a new profile and thx everybody all fixed!) Contact the moderators and ask them to change the email on your account to the new one. At the same time change your security question and answer, password and pin #.

To help prevent porting fraud change either the spelling of your name or change you middle name on a regular basis or change your name on a regular basis you could go thru the avengers team one by one or all of the Osmond or Jackson family siblings.

Recent simjacking cases have occurred through data breaches and hacking reportedly thru PayPal and bitcoin. Check all accounts of this nature using a variety of different emails so they all don't link together and different passwords. Then make the calls to Transunion and Equifax. Finding the correct phone number to call can be a bit difficult I'll see if I can dig them up for you ! Putting a fraud alert on your file can be a bit of a pain when you need to apply for credit but will save much grief if your identity gets stolen. Do a social media review and remove personal identifiers like birthdays, schooling, employment histories as these all become personal identifiers liabilities.

You have a little more work to put in but you'll be safer and more secure for your future!

[cyorke452]

i too, was hacked in the last 24 hours, lost cell service.  my email was used to subscribe to a tonne of wacked websites.

google account says the data breach was through public mobile.  waiting on a reply from moderator team

[LurganIeUk]

@user14182 

Finding an email with second factor.....I suggest outlook.com and secondly gmail.com

gmail is also POP friendly but flaky 

outlook is also POP friendly an reliable

[LurganIeUk]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You can ask the moderators to change your community username for a restart. It will change all of your posts. Not sure about any quotes.

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Wouldn’t it make much much more sense for @user14182 to create a new email address and have mods change his My Account to that new address. I would suggest that @user14182  create a new email for “business” only (not to be used for personal stuff) with a password with upper, lower, and special characters. Worry about the Community name and email for later on. 

I suspect.... @user14182  knows the person who hacked his account...but “who” is the question. 

[Jukebox]

contact the Moderator Team

Here’s how to contact the Moderator Team (Public Mobile representative) for assistance:

• Get help with your account the easy way by starting a conversation with our virtual assistant, SIMon. It’ll take you to relevant help articles, or if it’s something more urgent, it can help you submit a ticket to the Moderator Team. Click here to get started.

• Alternatively, you can send a private message to the Moderators by clicking here. You’ll need to be logged in to your Community account for the link to work.

In case it was a breach

Here are some simple security tips

Long Length - At just 14 characters, random strings are extremely secure.

Password complexity - different letter cases, numbers, and symbols but not like this – Password1! , which is technically “complex” example of a good password 9LV9m7GG^33m*q

Random - frequently re-use of that password. Try to avoid having a one key to open them all

A password manager or simply writing your passwords in a book are easy ways to remember.

[LurganIeUk]

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@user14182 wrote:

Hi  everyone,

I've lost access to my email account and also to my public mobile account.  I noticed when my I lost service this evening, I was able to login and see that my plan and sim had changed.  I changed the password, but the person locked me out of my email so I can't recover anything.  Can anyone please help me with this!!!!

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Sounds suspicious to me. Who would know your PM account email and password AND your email password??

Does you email have second factor to allow you to reset it...like another email address or phone number?

Are you needing to sharpen up of protecting your online accounts. 

If this is legit......put a new SIM card in your account also. 

How are are you paying for your account....put stops on that too. 

[Anonymous]

You can ask the moderators to change your community username for a restart. It will change all of your posts. Not sure about any quotes.

[user14182]

Just want to say thanks to you all for your help.  I really appreciate it, this is been terrible, never had it happen before.

[JoyLuck]

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@user14182 wrote:

Is there are special way to get a hold of the mods?  I sent them two messages and didn't get a response yet, I was hopeful that this might be prioritized. 

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You can try going to the Community homepage and go to users online and try to message a moderator online. It will look like this.

[Anonymous]

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@user14182 wrote:

Is there are special way to get a hold of the mods?  I sent them two messages and didn't get a response yet, I was hopeful that this might be prioritized. 

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There is no openly known special way to get a hold of them.

Maybe they can credit back the cost of the SIM. I'm sure they can get you back to where you were and credit you back the extra charge for the changed plan. It would go into your Available Funds.

While we're talking about being hacked...maybe don't use what appears to be real information online...anywhere.

[Jb456]

@user14182 unfortunately the only two ways to reach them are.

 

Or via private message at link below

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

Standard response time is 24/48 hours but they are usually quicker.

If you had a previous ticket open with them that received a response maybe write back to that one.

[user14182]

Is there are special way to get a hold of the mods?  I sent them two messages and didn't get a response yet, I was hopeful that this might be prioritized. 

[Jb456]

@user14182 you'll have to ask moderators about that.

[user14182]

She just sent me the new sim number, so I was able to get my account moved to that.  Here's the thing, the person locked me out, but then switched my plan to a more expensive one.  Is it possible that a mod can switch me back or did I just lose everything? 

[Jb456]

@user14182  yes get a new sim card. Then in your account click"Change sim card" green arrow on picture below.

 

[user14182]

I appreciate that, I'm running on about 2 hours sleep but I think I stopped the bleeding.  I have control of most things except a for a few.  The issue with Public is that I can't change their sim card number back to mine as it says that mine is still in use...which it isn't, unless they linked it to another account?

I still waiting to hear back from the mods, my wife is running in to walmart to get my a new sim card and hopefully I can switch it out with that one. 

[esjliv]

@user14182 ,

So very sorry to hear this. 

If I could send an emotion other than the Bravo, it would definitely be 😡😡.

I hope you were able to stop or at least minimize the damage done by this fraudster.

[user14182]

I appreciate the input, I was actually able to cancel everything except for 1 purchase.  It was sizeable so I'm still working on it. I was able to get back my email for now, but I can't login to public mobile as it's been locked.  Scariest experience ever.

[gpixel]

@user14182 contact customer support mods to fix your account

click on the question mark chat bubble to the bottom right of your screen
type "locked out of self serve"
(use the chat bubble options, then click "submit a ticket, click me" option)
*login using your community account

make sure to check your inbox(top right corner envelope icon) periodically, for a response

start trying to cancel as many accounts as you can because they will be creating accounts under your name and I'm not talking about public mobile. you need to immediately cancel all your cards and notify your bank. stop wasting time in here. we can't do anything for you. I'll tell you right now your phone number is the least of your worries. 

call Equifax and TransUnion and do something before you lose your identity. they've progressed way too far. call the police or someone to help you 

[mm80]

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@user14182 wrote:

I literally cannot login to my account.  The password is changed and without access to my email.  I can't changed it back

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Ok, so they changed that one too. I thought hat you could still get in because you said sim card was changed. They must have changed it after you looked.

[user14182]

I literally cannot login to my account.  The password is changed and without access to my email.  I can't changed it back