I think my account was hacked and I need help

[Eli Vieira]

I need help.

I own two networks, humanismo.ning.com (ligahumanista.org) and evolucionismo.ning.com (evolucionismo.org).

Someone hacked my account and changed my email to "[e-mail]", so that now I can't access my networks.

This person tried to delete ligahumanista.org - this network is an electronic see for the secular humanist association of which I'm president.

Through cookie login I managed to tell Ning I had been hacked, but now that I deleted all information from my browser, I can't login through my original email.

Couldn't find any way of reaching Ning help, the email sent to me notifying my email had been changed was no help at all about what procedure I should follow to restore control over my networks.

Very worried! Please help!

[Eric Suesz]

Hey, Eli. If you have questions about your account that involve your email address, you'll need to contact our team directly. 

[Eli Vieira]

Thanks, Eric. I opened a request. But I'm still worried the invader has my account, he can do a lot of damage. There should be a way to freeze it. :(

[Eric Suesz]

A way to shut down a network by someone who isn't able to sign in as the Network Creator? That sounds like it could be abused by someone other than the Network Creator. Email addresses and passwords are excellent barriers to entry — unless they are shared with someone else, which is why we recommend never sharing that kind of information with anyone. (BTW:  Passwords are encrypted; even Ning employees aren't able to access those.) If you've shared this type of info with anyone and you're the Network Creator (and if you have access to your account) you should change your password immediately. This type of situation is not something we can solve on Creators. It requires a one-on-one verification of your identity by someone on our support team. As you can imagine, we can't simply take someone's word for ownership without carefully investigating and confirming that information. I hope we can get this cleared up for you. 

[Eli Vieira]

Eric, when I said freeze the account, I was thinking about how facebook does it. It has a system of account freezing until the identity is checked.

If you would be so kind as to check it, you would see I am a member of this creator network for years. So it's not simply "someone's word", it's the creator of these network's word.

It seems to me some more security is not unwelcome in a situation like this, my critique concerns a trouble that could be faced by other customers of Ning.

And no, I haven't shared my password and have no idea how this person hacked into my account.

I am not pleased the title of my post was changed without my consent here, it really doesn't help when I fear for the imminent loss of years of work in the association and the science popularisation networks I own.

[Eli Vieira]

Furthermore, it is not so difficult to see how a change in the email of an account soon followed by a request of deletion is a suspicious activity.

[Eric Suesz]

I know that this is probably a difficult situation. I want to help you directly, but I don't have the power myself to make decisions like this. I'm appreciative that you've been a Creators member for years, but there are policies and procedures in place that have to be followed. No exceptions that allow me to change that. 

I'll change your title to something resembling its original title, but to be honest, Creators isn't a great place to post about issues like this. I often change titles of discussions by people who aren't able to access their network because it's simply not an issue we can solve here; it can be a distraction for other members. In essence, almost every "I can't access my network" discussion has to end up being solved one-on-one and not here.

[Eli Vieira]

The only reason I came to Creators is that I couldn't find easily the link you've sent.

So, I think you have done what you could do for me.

Thank you for your time.

[Eric Suesz]

I'm very sorry Eli. Do you have a ticket number? If I can speed this through to the right people, I'll do that. 

[Eli Vieira]

The help is still including the invader's sock puppet email "[e-mail]" in the replies.

The number of my ticket is 
ref:_00D80cCLt._50040Jr9bW:ref

Tell them the only safe email is the one belonging to elivieira.com

Thank you

[Eli Vieira]

Problem solved. Thank you for your attention!