One MySpace Hacker Goes To Jail As Another Comes To Light

from the perhaps-they-need-to-fix-some-stuff-up dept

Mon, Oct 17th 2005 10:50pm — Mike Masnick

When Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace earlier this year, perhaps he didn't realize some of the problems the site has. Last year we wrote about someone who was arrested for spamming MySpace users and then trying to extort money from the company. Well, it now comes out that the guy in question has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for the little scam. However, the story also reveals some other facts that hadn't come to light before. First, the company had hired him to come up with a system to spam all MySpace users. He then created 27,000 fake users, and proceeded to spam all of them (it's not clear why). Following this, he asked the company to be hired permanently, or said he'd reveal to the world how to spam MySpace users. Something doesn't seem right in this story -- as it's not at all clear why he created all those fake users or why the company hired him to spam in the first place. However, it appears that hacking MySpace isn't all that difficult at all, as many, many people are talking about a recent hack by one MySpace user that quickly (and hilariously) made one user the most popular guy on MySpace in less than a day.

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24 Comments

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Spartacus, 18 Oct 2005 @ 1:02am

27,000 fake accounts
Just wanted to let you know something I noticed. He didn't create 27,000 fake accounts and then spam those accounts. He created 27,000 fake accounts and spammed THROUGH those accounts. Myspace apparently only allows people to recieve email from other Myspace users, so he created those accounts as the SENDERS of the spam. That's the reason for all those fake accounts (I think).
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Boilerbob, 18 Oct 2005 @ 8:08am

What exactly was the crime?
The article is vague but it sounds like an intellectual property case not a spam case. If he was hired and tried to sell his gained knowledge of the company's software or processes that sounds like a crime. Spammer makes for a more sensational headline.
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- Anonymous Coward, 7 Jun 2006 @ 3:55pm
  
  Re: What exactly was the crime?
  It sounds like an extortion case, actually...
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rabidearz, 18 Oct 2005 @ 9:10am

heh
I've read an article or two on people criticizing MySpace's flaws. Apparently, it's not to hard to mess around with. Out of curiosity and because I know a person or two on there, I've checked it out and found a bunch of things about the service that bothered me. Some things are somewhat unnecessary and flashy, which I guess normal people love, some quite frankly are annoying, like musical ads with no mute control, and other things that bother me are UI bugs, like redundant buttons. It'd be nice if they would overhaul the service, not only to avoid mischeif makers, but for the sake of their non suspecting users as well. If anyone does create an account, I wouldn't recommend using any information that could be used to your detriment (name, email, info...). Of course, this can be said about many services (even the internet experience).
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- Anonymous Coward, 18 Oct 2005 @ 9:14am
  
  Re: heh
  MySpace is the result of every teenager and twenty-something with too much time on their hands vomiting onto a web page and passing it along to their friends. Nobody said utility had to be pretty.
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  - Autumn, 18 Oct 2005 @ 10:42am
    
    Re: heh
    I'm one guilty sicko using xanga and myspace. Question: is there a site out there to education young and old people about phishers??
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    - rabidearz, 18 Oct 2005 @ 2:02pm
      
      Re: heh
      Hey Autumn - A good site to check out what phishing is, and more, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing
      
      They also have external links for more information.
      
      anonymous, true, doesn't have to be pretty... but it can be less annoying and easier to use. :)
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  - ken, 3 Jan 2010 @ 1:07pm
    
    Re: Re: heh
    Thought I asked you to stfu crybaby
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Orakio, 4 May 2006 @ 1:15am

Stuff
Hah, I got the login emails and passwords for 100000 myspace accounts, and they haven't given a shit about it.
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- Brittney, 27 Nov 2006 @ 6:58am
  
  Wondering if you can help
  Hey I saw a comment you posted back in may about hacking myspace passwords. I want to hack one but cant figure out what opening a proxy means do u have and easier way for the more computer illiterate people, or can u explain that any better like where i can open a proxy or etf it is thanks
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amanda, 27 Jul 2006 @ 10:02am

someone hacked my myspace
this myspace URL - http://www.myspace.com/xiloveyou_x3
has been hacked and its mine
and the person who hacked it left messages to all of my friends i had on myspace and said "my friend is sick, i need 500 dollars by the end of the week"
and im afraid i am going to get into trouble for something i did not do
and they also changed my password
is there a way i could get back on my old myspace???
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- morg, 26 Jul 2007 @ 10:44am
  
  Re: someone hacked my myspace
  amanda spmeone hacked into mine 2 and they also changed my password 2 i have no clue how to get back either!
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Janay, 14 Aug 2006 @ 6:57pm

Myspace bulletin
This is a bulletin that is being posted around myspace......interesting.....

~I've noticed this happening a lot lately
THIS BULLETIN IS LONG BUT YOU MUST READ IT.
To my friends... please pass this on when you are done reading.

There has not been a power outage at MySpace Data Centers (they are avoiding telling us the truth)... but there may indeed be some database problems because MySpace is being Hacked hardcore.

I've been seeing a lot of bulletins supposedly posted by my friends that I KNOW my friends would not send.. and those of you who have had it happen to your account know what I mean.

IF YOU SEE a bulletin from a friend that says "Check out this link" or "Look at this video" anything like that... BE CAREFUL. Your friend might not have sent it. If you click on the link in the bulletin and a page comes up that looks like the MySpace login screen. Don't assume that "Oh crap.. I guess I have to log in again". Look up at the address in the address field at the top of your browser (you know.. where you type them in). If it does not say MySpace.com or bulletin.myspace.com then DO NOT put in your email login and password.

What is happening is this... a hacker has mirrored the MySpace login page by duplicating it in every detail... which means he has Web design skills. Then he/she hosts it on a fake server somewhere... maybe at home... or stealing space from one somewhere else. When you enter in your login and password again.. it is being saved straight to the hacker's database or server. All they have to do is get a few real users (your friends) info... and then it starts a chain reaction.

Many of you use your same email and password info on other sites.. maybe even for online banking.... if you think you have accidentally logged into one of the fake MySpace pages... go change your password everywhere you use it... !

If you don't believe me.. ask some of your friends that you thought were sending out stupid bulletins with links to porno sites or links to things that weren't even there... and I'll bet they will set you straight.

Also.. here is an article I found today after I got pissed that the site was down again. I Googled "MySpace" and "Hacked" and found this from 12 days ago.

http://www.tmz.com/2006/07/16/myspace-hacked/

Please repost this because what your friends don't know may affect you.~
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mary, 1 Sep 2006 @ 7:48pm

yea my myspace got hacked too
my myspace account had got hacked about a month ago it was used with the keystroke virus that was how they got my password and went into my account and posted a bullitin sayin add my other account and delete the one i was using......i contacted myspace about it and never heard anything from them.......i've changed my password since then and ain't had no problems out of it since
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Sakura, 28 Jan 2007 @ 1:03am

i wanna be a hacker x]
yeahi didnt read a shit of those things chu all wrote x] but i kno' i want to be a hacker, but i dont kno' how x] if sm1 know how to pls pls pls tell meh x] ill give chu a cookie just write meh in : http://www.myspace.com/sakura_channn
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2007 @ 8:16pm

hacks
ya i wish i could hack just to mess with my friends not to ruin someones cyber life lol
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KAITLYN, 14 Apr 2007 @ 4:41pm

HACKERS
HACKERS ARE SO ANNOYING. I CHANGED MY PASSWORD BUT IM STILL HAVING PROBS.
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rumpa, 9 May 2007 @ 5:59pm

someone hacked myspace and changed my email addres
someone hacked myspace account and changed my email address and my picture.what should i do? i have been using that account for two days.help me!!!
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YOUR FRIEND, 15 Jul 2007 @ 9:59pm

TRUE!
THOSE MYSPACE HACKER PEOPLE ARE STUPID, THEY DONT HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TOO DO BUT FUCK OFF
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courtney, 24 Aug 2007 @ 6:18pm

Hakers
they send ring tone webs through your account!! the two web sites it gives you is www.COMPCELLRINGTONES.COM & PIXILIVE.COM!!!!! they will not leave my site alone!
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kiana, 12 Nov 2007 @ 2:48pm

thank jesus!
he hacked my myspace and its really bad because i lost all contact with my old friend that i used to live with ;[
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Alana Marvin, 18 Jun 2009 @ 12:37pm

hacker problem
Someone just hacked into my myspace profile and
I need help with this problem.
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jgu, 24 Feb 2010 @ 10:29am

i was just ondering what was the guys name ?
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newest jordan shoes
I dont know what to say. This blog is fantastic. Thats not really a really huge statement, but its all I could come up with after reading this. You know so much about this subject.
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