Self-Proclaimed Hacker Demands $1,500 From Me!
About a week ago, I checked my website email to find out what's going on there and guess what I found, "Your Site Has Been Hacked". What! Is this for REAL?
How did this happen? Questions started pouring in although I've not read the content. I didn't freak out though I was a bit shocked to have such an email. On the other hand, I had the conviction that WA support has got my back.
So I clicked on the email and here's what the person is saying:
Perhaps you're asking, did you pay?
NO! NEVER! I haven't paid any dime and my website is well and intact. The deadline the person gave to me is well over and my website is as it was.
After reading the content, I smiled especially this line: "This is not a hoax, do not reply to this email, don’t try to reason or negotiate, we will not read any replies."
The person made it so simple for me to know that it's a hoax. I don't have time for myself to even reply such a message. Hahahaha.
I waited till this time before I could share with the community just to see how things will pan out. It turned out to be empty threats. WA SiteSupport has been so helpful to ensure that my website is secured so I have no panics. WA SiteSupport Has Got Your Back Too!
Have you experienced such a thing before? If Yes, please do share in the comment below for us to know how you handled it.
If NO, follow the below tips when you get such emails.
WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY DECISION ABOUT THE DEMAND?
1. Don't click on any of the links you'll see in the email. Clicking on it may expose you.
2. Report to WA Site Support
3. Smile, WA has got your back
Thanks for reading and I hope you've learnt something from it.
Do share your experience too if you've been confronted with such threats before and I'll be glad to learn something from you.
Best Regards,
DerrAd
Recent Comments
28
Cheeky buggers, what I find incredible is they have obviously had some success from someone somewhere........who would do that?
but I guess if just one person in 10,000 responded then it’s a good strike rate what do they have to lose.....
Hats off to...and no surprise.... Site Support who are always there.
Great post
Thank you
WA always has 2 more mirror copies of your site in their system to help with down time and data loss. WA always takes care of you
Hi DerrAd, thank you for sharing. Yes this has happened once to one of my business sites (not here at WA) and I got a devil like figure on a black screen and a message saying your site has been hacked. I remember restarting the PC but nothing wild happened.
Every now and again I also receive heaps of scam emails in Russian in my inbox (100s in a day) and I just delete them. I just make sure I don´t open any of them.
Cheers! Marisa
Thanks for sharing your experience, Marisa. I guess they never get tired of sending those emails because some do fall prey for it.
Glad that you haven't fallen to any of them. Keep on deleting....:).
Hi DerrAd, thank you for sharing. Scammers are on the loose more so now with the isolation rules.
Best wishes,
Michael
See more comments
Ha! Ha!
Yes, there are a lot of spammy scammy emails like this going around. They're no hackers, just scammers hoping to find an easy mark, someone who is not tech savvy.
B$%tar^ds.
Hard to believe thjat anyone who has actually built a site would fall for it but really, really great to be hosting with WA and know Site Support has us covered.
Ian