Attention: Public Service Announcement -- Recovering from a Hack Panic!
Yesterday, I saw an announcement for a poetry competition on a reputable account that shares such things.
It said to select up to 5 lines from a favorite poem, explain why you liked them, and become a member.
"How do I become a member?" I asked.
"Head to your wallet, and get your Private Posting Key then login" came the reply.
Idiot that I am, I did as I was told.
Few hours later returning from a doctor's appointment, my pupils dilated, I snuck a peek at my account.
Turns out that an hour earlier, when I was getting my eyes checked and navigating a weeks-long migraine, I'd upvoted around 23 inane posts...
My heart sank. Just the other day, a friend on Steemit, digital artist @nonameslefttouse, had warned me not to click on an unknown link, and instead hover over it first (with a mouse, apparently, as I don't think iphones 'hover').
Had I been the victim of a phishing scam (I had to look that word up) was my identity hacked, my wallet depleted?
The nausea that accompanied my migraine these last days worsened as I contemplated these dark possibilities...
I reached out to people I trusted on this platform through the haze of panic, blurry vision, dizziness and nausea. @Acidyo got back to me, at once. @Kevinwong reassured me that if it was my posting private key, then all was fine. The most they could do was vote/post. @Carlgnash, kindly, walked me through what I needed to do—change my password, generate new posting/active keys—and he even shared a link, penned by @Geekpowered about the offending account: @Shadowbot A Bot as Shady as its Name
You have been warned, dear friends!
Please, be safe out there & feel free to resteem if you feel it would be helpful to others ♂️
PS - If you’re interested, here’s my entry (favorite poem excerpt) for the shady contest:
ShadowBot is a community of steemians that pool their Steem Power to make votes on your behalf. Your account was not hacked and we never ask for anything but your Posting key which has no access to your funds. You can read through our FAQ to understand everything about ShadowBot: https://shadowbot.us/shadowbot/faq.php
Fortunately it was your posting key and not your active key, but a dishonest and low act none-the-less. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, as vigilance is always required. I hope the initial shock has subsided, and you feeling a greater sense of calm.
Thank goodness, yes. Will try to pay better attention moving forward & hope you never find yourself in a similar (or worse) situation.
Thanks, too, for your concern. All is well that ends well and I’m breathing easier, now 🙏🏼
I don't think you really understand @shadowbot do you?
This project and it's developers have been working hard for around 8 months to build and improve a system that gives back and rewards people on a fair basis. It is getting bigger each day and has a solid amount of members. @bigdeej is one of the developers and I know for a fact he is working tirelessly (and without payment) on improvement's with this and upcoming project's.
It's a huge shame to see someone like yourself posting what is essentially 'nonsense' just through a pure lack of understanding.
I suggest you go back and read this https://shadowbot.us/shadowbot/faq.php before you start throwing around accusations.
Shite.
So did you successful change your keys and get everything back in proper order...?
Tell me about!
I was finger-typing, furiously, on my iPhone to try and resolve the problem — frankly, I thought my days on Steemit were numbered.
Mercifully, I changed my keys in time and lucked out this time. Will be more vigilant in the future!
Many thanks, @rok-sivante, for your concern & support. (Do let me know if you’re up for collaborating & wish to see more poems?)
Cool, glad to hear it.
Still interested, yes, though haven’t sat down to make any music since you last sent - though they’re in the queue...
Really encouraging to hear that my poems are in the queue. When you’re ready, I can send you a voice recording of the poem you prefer...
I fully understand that the creative process cannot be forced. Thank you, for the update, @rok-sivante ✌🏼
I was thinking I'd probably send you the music first - so you could match the vocals to the vibe of the track - then you send that back which I could overlay, add effects and such...
(perhaps even add my own reading overtop, to share whatever idea might be in mind for how it'd fit, and to gauge the approximate timing needed for the whole thing)...
Wow, I’ve never done it that way before, but I’m game, man!
Sounds richer and more of a true collaboration that way...
Gimme the signal when you’re feeling it & I’m wide to receive 🤩
That is scary! I'm glad you recovered quickly.
But I just wanted to say that this story in combination with that poem... it's almost as if fate exists.
Wow! I did not make the connection with the poem... ‘open doors, invisible guests, negativity’. And I do believe in fate, in a Big Way.
Thanks, for pointing that out & your kind words. 🙏🏼
Glad to hear you got your account back. Stay safe out there!
Much appreciated, brother! You, too ✌🏼
The title of this post is spot on. Thanks for the public service announcement Yahia. Hopefully this will help spread the word about this shady account. I'm glad you sorted it out and have your posting rights back and private :-)
Thanks, man! I suppose we're all learning together -as folks I mentioned this account to, mid-panic, were unaware of it.
Relieved it ended well and hope you never have to encounter anything remotely disturbing yourself. Peace
I'm so sorry this happened, and relieved you were able to recover with help from a great group of people. I will definitely be sharing this with my readers, and will try to remain vigilant for new scammers in the future.
It was an honest mistake on your part, my friend, and the good you do far outweighs this oversight (that's why I did not mention your name, here).
I hope your linking to my post helps others _/|_
I hope so as well.
Im happy you posted this. Its too tricky for anyone to escape without warning. Thank you
I didn’t have the presence of mind to post until the issue was resolved. Then it occurred to me, it might be helpful to others, too.
Good luck out there!
So wait, you made a post to complain about "you" not reading about a service "you" singed up to and because it didn't do what "you" wanted it to do "you" decided to make a bash post on that bot that you blindly trusted with your key?
Good thing for you that bot is legit. All because "you" didn't want to own up to "your" mistake. My bet is you wont even fix your mistake and explain it was "your" misunderstanding.
Own up to your own mistake. Go back and read up on it and if you're lucky they might let you back in. "You sir are a troll" the FUD is real in this one.
I just joined steemit and I was looking around trying to learn about everything then I see this post about shadowbot. So I do what everyone else would do (research the service) and found it was really trying to help the members. Then I re read this and think wtf is wrong with this guy lol is it like this all the time?