Jonathan Kamens 86 472d ago
Looks like the bad guys are using the email addresses harvested from the #CondéNast / #WIRED #breach. I just received this #phishing email on an #Addyio email address I've never used for anything else. I'll be deactivating the email address, of course.
I like #Addyio, but there's one important feature it's missing: I really wish they would implement an integration with #HaveIBeenPwned.
Ref: https://haveibeenpwned.com/Breach/WIRED
FYI @troyhunt @zackwhittaker @briankrebs
#spam #infosec #privacy
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 47
Oh, interesting. There doesn't appear to be any way to change the email address associated with an account on #WIRED's website. 10/10 WIRED, no notes. /s
Mar 25 at 7:00pmWeb
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 472d ago
#TechIsShitDispatch I emailed WIRED support and asked how to replace the email address on my account.
They wrote back: "I have removed the old email address from your account and successfully updated it to …. This means your account is no longer associated with the compromised email address."
They lied.
I just logged in with the new email address, and it created a new account for me rather than logging me into my old account.
Such frustrating incompetence.
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 471d ago
After this happened I emailed #WIRED customer service again, told them they lied to me when they said they had updated the address on my account, and asked them to fix it.
I just got back a second response in which the rep claimed that they were unable to locate an account under either of the email addresses I provided. 🤦
Fucking unbelievable.
I just replied again, with screenshots showing me logged into both accounts and asked if I could get help from someone who wouldn't lie to me.
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 471d ago
I can't tell whether I've been lied to repeatedly because the people #WIRED has answering customer service emails are completely incompetent, or because they haven't been provided with the tools and access they need to do their jobs properly, or because it's actually hallucinating AI chatbots rather than people that are responding to the emails.
Regardless, the outcome is the same: I had been considering renewing my subscription, but after this that's exceedingly unlikely.
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 4720h ago
#TechIsShitDispatch
This morning I got back a third response from #WIRED's customer support claiming once again that the problem was fixed, when once again it is not fixed and in fact nothing has changed.
At this point, I'm not sure whether it makes a difference whether it's human beings or a chatbot that is lying to me; the outcome is the same.
Below are the email I received and my response to them.
Also below is a separate email they sent me which I believe they intended to send elsewhere. 🤦
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 4720h ago
lol #WIRED just sent me a customer satisfaction survey asking me to rate one of my interactions with their customer support people. I usually trash these surveys, but you bet filled this one out.
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 4711h ago
If you took 4 in the betting pool of "How many emails will jik have to send to #WIRED asking them to remove his leaked email address from their systems?" I'm afraid you've lost. I just got a fourth useless email from them and send them back my fifth email in this correspondence. Email from them below. Reply to them is in this thread <https://federate.social/@jik/116303833640569297> because it's too long for a screenshot.
Show threadChris Adams11h ago
@jik my assumption is that it’s like three separate groups whose IT people all refuse to talk to each other.
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 4711h ago
@acdha I can fully believe a territorial dispute between WIRED and the larger Condé Nast organization is a contributing factor toward why WIRED's customer support representatives can't solve this problem for me.
However, in that case the right thing for them to do would be to say, "Sorry, we can't do what you're asking us to do."
Instead, they've sent me four emails (so far) all of which displayed at best incompetence and ignorance and at worst intentional lying.
That's inexcusable.
Show threadChris Adams11h ago

@jik yeah, it’s absurd. That said, I remember years ago trying to cancel Verizon cell service and having these kafkaesque conversations where they insisted I had to pay an ETF years outside of the contract.

I got an exec office contact and some guy took care of that quickly, and mentioned that the regular call center staff literally didn’t have permission but weren’t allowed to tell me that, so they were evading hoping I’d give up. He said it so casually, too.

Show threadcaoimhín o'cuilleain1d ago
@jik I battled Condé Nast for a couple years trying to once and for all to stop emails and terminate the handful of accounts I had with them, WIRED being one of them. What a loathsome customer unfriendly company. A neverending horror story.
Show threadJonathan Doughty1d ago
@jik I try to reduce my blood pressure by reminding myself that customer service staff are probably among the lowest paid, required to stick to script, complete X number of tickets per shift, deal with annoyed anonymous people all day workers I encounter. I’d like them to care about their job but suspect their evaluations don’t prioritize that.
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 471d ago
@jwd630 I don't blame the customer service reps for being put in the position of being unable to actually help people.
I do blame WIRED for putting them in that position.
Show threadbanderkat11h ago

@jik I left a message in my subscription cancellation yesterday making it clear it was because I was now getting spam on the email address I could not change (an address I don't use otherwise).

Unfortunately I think a lot of online publications use email as a primary, unalterable identifier. Hopefully they'll learn from Conde Nast and move away from that in future.