Posted on 01/29/2014 12:17:48 PM PST by aimhigh
I had a rare Twitter username, @N. Yep, just one letter. I've been offered as much as $50,000 for it. People have tried to steal it. Password reset instructions are a regular sight in my email inbox. As of today, I no longer control @N. I was extorted into giving it up.
While eating lunch on January 20, 2014, I received a text message from PayPal for one-time validation code. Somebody was trying to steal my PayPal account. I ignored it and continued eating.
. . . . . . .
I tried to log in to my GoDaddy account, but it didn't work. I called GoDaddy and explained the situation. The representative asked me the last 6 digits of my credit card number as a method of verification. This didn't work because the credit card information had already been changed by an attacker. In fact, all of my information had been changed. I had no way to prove I was the real owner of the domain name.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
Saw an article about such theft many years ago (may have even been the late 90s or early 2000s). Courts ruled it isn’t property (no matter what financial values have been offered or transferred).
Also the fraud aspect doesn’t seem to impress the men in black dresses.
The public needs their own lobbyists. Legislators don’t work for us, apparently.
Someone needs to explain to us old geezers (you know...late boomer generation) exactly why the @N moniker is so valuable.
Haha. The @N twitter account was getting hammered by replies and has deleted all of their tweets. Just checked it. They had 4 tweets. I refreshed the page and they had zero.
It’s very easy to remember and it indicates that you were there at the beginning of twitter. Some enterprising people snatched up the really good handles at the beginning and made lots of money off them.
simple words, or letters are easy to remember. great for advertising, or spreading a message.
ab @n name???
I just figured out how to use an atm machine....
Excellent question, I’d be interested also.
I can see a popular, easy name for a website addy or email, but not so obvious for Twitter?
Do businesses do e-commerce via twitter?
That is messed up
‘extorted’ sounds like the wrong word: outright theft via a predatory hack is more like it. Twitter ought to be able to (a) recognize the rightful owner; and (b) restore it. Publicity like this doesn’t help them.
And I've never had an account with them . hmmmmm.
Old Uncle Warren is pretty tenacious, eh?
:: easy to remember and it indicates that you were there at the beginning of twitter ::
And some idiot will pay $50K for it. Maybe Obamugabe is right and opportunistic capitalism is effed up?
Don’t see why you would say that . . . anyone is welcome to pay $50K for it and take the hit. That’s capitalism.
I got one thing to say to someone offering $50,000. for a screen name....Show me the money!
Sort of like having an FR signup date of April, 1998?
If somebody offered 50 grand for your twitter handle the correct answer is YES. Everything that happened after then is just further mistakes.
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