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Account at freelancer got hacked

by Bai_Mike
6 replies
Anyone else had got this experience before?

I suspect it's one of the freelancers who is cross at me for not giving payment because he did not complete his work.
#account #freelancer #hacked
  • Profile picture of the author Damien Roche
    I have an account over at freelancer. Developer though. Never had *any* of my 100+ accounts at numerous websites hacked.

    If you believe a specific person targeted you who is operating on freelancer, I would definitely approach them and ask them to look into it. If it is true and he stumbled, they'll catch him out.

    Was your password secure? letters, numbers, case variation and at least a symbol?

    Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarah Russell
    Nope, never experienced that before. Have you notified their support desk to get it sorted out?
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    • Profile picture of the author ordinary
      Their service desk is like empty 24/7. I have sent few questions and received no replies.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bai_Mike
      Originally Posted by Damien Roche View Post

      I have an account over at freelancer. Developer though. Never had *any* of my 100+ accounts at numerous websites hacked.

      If you believe a specific person targeted you who is operating on freelancer, I would definitely approach them and ask them to look into it. If it is true and he stumbled, they'll catch him out.

      Was your password secure? letters, numbers, case variation and at least a symbol?

      Hope that helps.
      Thanks for the reply.

      It's really a bad first time experience on outsourcing. Now thinking back on it, I really should not have given my passwords on my hosting to the freelancer to get him to set up accounts and set up wordpress blogs. The hosting had the same password as my freelancer account.

      And he is the only freelancer that I had hired in freelancer.com

      Originally Posted by Sarah Russell View Post

      Nope, never experienced that before. Have you notified their support desk to get it sorted out?
      Yes, I have contacted them, but I feel that it is a long shot, because apparently, the email and profile details were changed, along with the password. And most likely the $100 on account is lost also.

      The good part was that I had discovered it earlier so I could change all the passwords on my accounts, including my paypal.

      Now I'm really want to see if support is able to reverse payments that were made during this period of time.

      Really bad experience with outsourcing. Never trust the outsourcers that much anymore.
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      • Profile picture of the author Damien Roche
        Originally Posted by magiangel View Post

        Thanks for the reply.

        It's really a bad first time experience on outsourcing. Now thinking back on it, I really should not have given my passwords on my hosting to the freelancer to get him to set up accounts and set up wordpress blogs. The hosting had the same password as my freelancer account.

        And he is the only freelancer that I had hired in freelancer.com



        Yes, I have contacted them, but I feel that it is a long shot, because apparently, the email and profile details were changed, along with the password. And most likely the $100 on account is lost also.

        The good part was that I had discovered it earlier so I could change all the passwords on my accounts, including my paypal.

        Now I'm really want to see if support is able to reverse payments that were made during this period of time.

        Really bad experience with outsourcing. Never trust the outsourcers that much anymore.
        Seriously, they actually had the cheek to change the account details and withdraw into their own account? Is freelancer MAD?!

        This should have been a MASSIVE red flag to them and they should have confirmed these changes with the current account holder - i.e. via the current contact details (email or phone etc.)

        Thing is, there will definitely be something which doesn't tick and freelancer will be able to see that if you raise this with them. For example, different name for the account this money has been withdrawn to etc etc

        I wish you all the best with this. Keep us posted.

        Oh, and you should NEVER just give out account details if you haven't worked with this person previously or they don't have people to vouch for them.

        It's a tough dilemma, because trust works both ways. From experience, there are times when I NEED very sensitive data to hosting accounts and I've never worked with this person before. Yet the work won't get done without these details...so...sticky situation. You have to know who you're working with and be 100% certain you can trust them.

        Works the other way too, I do most work up front and I have to be almost certain I can trust this person. Thankfully, nobody has tried to rip me off yet.

        Sorry for long post - just think people need to be aware of this. You should look for a guide on how to outsource.

        Hope that helps.
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        • Profile picture of the author Bai_Mike
          Originally Posted by Damien Roche View Post

          Seriously, they actually had the cheek to change the account details and withdraw into their own account? Is freelancer MAD?!

          This should have been a MASSIVE red flag to them and they should have confirmed these changes with the current account holder - i.e. via the current contact details (email or phone etc.)

          Thing is, there will definitely be something which doesn't tick and freelancer will be able to see that if you raise this with them. For example, different name for the account this money has been withdrawn to etc etc

          I wish you all the best with this. Keep us posted.

          Oh, and you should NEVER just give out account details if you haven't worked with this person previously or they don't have people to vouch for them.

          It's a tough dilemma, because trust works both ways. From experience, there are times when I NEED very sensitive data to hosting accounts and I've never worked with this person before. Yet the work won't get done without these details...so...sticky situation. You have to know who you're working with and be 100% certain you can trust them.

          Works the other way too, I do most work up front and I have to be almost certain I can trust this person. Thankfully, nobody has tried to rip me off yet.

          Sorry for long post - just think people need to be aware of this. You should look for a guide on how to outsource.

          Hope that helps.
          One thing to note about freelancer.com is that when you change profile details, the confirmation email is sent to the new email, not the old email to confirm the change.

          So as long as you have access to the account (even temporarily), changing the email to another one is possible. You don't need the old email to confirm.

          Which was why the account changes went pass without me approving anything. All there was was an email to my email stating a change in details.

          And yupz, will update more to see what is freelancer.com 's response.
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