November 2008 – Joyful Ploys

Here is another warning I received about Grouply:

FROM ‘THE YAHOO TEAM’
This is a new site which advertises they can make accessing your groups faster and easier. Most of us are too seasoned to fall for something like this, but I am posting this as CYA.

This is what happens when you join:

“First, when a member joins, it automatically changes their primary email address for the groups, giving them a @grouply.com extension.

This is being done unaware to those who are joining. Secondly, members who join the grouply website are having to give their member ID and password. This opens up a security issue for those members.

Thirdly, once a member joins grouply, it opens access to the files and posts of each group to the grouply website.

Grouply staff can then access these files. If they get hacked, then it opens the doors to the groups getting hacked as well. It has also been reported that it’s generating a lot of spam already.”

In other words, information from a group can be made accessable to everyone, and massive amounts of spam with your email address can be generated.

The following information tells you the steps which needed to be taken if someone has joined Grouply.com

IDENTIFY THEFT AT GROUPLY.COM <http://grouply. com/> There is a message going out to different Yahoo Groups advertising and suggesting that you join a new group called GROUPLY. This group claims to help manage all your Yahoo groups and you will get a summary, at the end of the day, telling you what is going on in all your groups.

IF YOU JOIN THIS GROUP, they use your Yahoo ID and password to post “mass mailings” (can be junk, can be porno) and send them to anyone, and since it’s YOUR ID they are using, others will think it is coming from you.

For instance, you could get an email CLAIMING that it came from “emagic2” Yahoo group and it really is not from this group. I could get an email, with this mass mailing, claiming it came from me, and it wouldn’t have been from me.

Again, IF YOU HAVE JOINED THIS GROUP called “GROUPLY” IMMEDIATELY leave Grouply. Then go into your account at: http://groups. yahoo.com/mygroups and change your password. Some groups have posted that this will help.

Unsubbing from that group won’t make a difference (but I think you will want to) so change your Yahoo Password.

By joining this group you have also exposed all your groups, group members and group leaders to hacking of their emails and group information.

Because of this problem, all members with a email grouply.com are being removed from the affected groups. This is the only way to protect all the members.

This is how Identity theft gets going. They now have your real email, your yahoo emails, any emails listed in your yahoo group and can mail as you in and out of the yahoo groups.

I hope you understand what is happening and will take precautions to protect your Yahoo ID.
Thanks;
The Yahoo Team