[ApacheIndian]

I was in Manhattan over the weekend with my 8830 which is configured with my Gmail account. I accidentally left the bluetooth on. Monday morning I got an error message on my BB stating that there was a problem getting my e-mails. So I go to my PC to login to my Gmail account -- my username and password which I've used for years DID NOT MATCH -- that's when it hit me, my e-mail account had been hijacked. My e-mail account was chalk-full of sensitive information and passwords -- I checked other accounts and found that my credit card, debit card, and PayPal accounts all had unauthorized activity -- I froze them all immediately. Now I am royally screwed not able to access my lifeblood e-mail account, waiting for Google to get back to me.

I called a tech buddy of mine who has a particular interest in security and appraised him of the situation. He suspects that something went down via bluetooth in Manhattan.

What the heck is going on? Anybody have any advice for me? I could definitely use some help. Thanks very much

[penguin3107]

What planet do you live on? More importantly... what planet do you think the rest of us live on?

You expect us to believe that your GMail account was hacked and hijacked through Bluetooth on your BlackBerry? Get real.
Your "security buddy" needs to work on his skills a bit, and I advise you to not listen to him anymore.

Sorry to hear about your troubles... but spreading FUD such as this does no one any good.

[CanuckBB]

Penguin, you ask that from somebody who keeps sensitive personal info in a gmail account????

[Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by ApacheIndian

I was in Manhattan over the weekend with my 8830 which is configured with my Gmail account. I accidentally left the bluetooth on. Monday morning I got an error message on my BB stating that there was a problem getting my e-mails. So I go to my PC to login to my Gmail account -- my username and password which I've used for years DID NOT MATCH -- that's when it hit me, my e-mail account had been hijacked. My e-mail account was chalk-full of sensitive information and passwords -- I checked other accounts and found that my credit card, debit card, and PayPal accounts all had unauthorized activity -- I froze them all immediately. Now I am royally screwed not able to access my lifeblood e-mail account, waiting for Google to get back to me.

I called a tech buddy of mine who has a particular interest in security and appraised him of the situation. He suspects that something went down via bluetooth in Manhattan.

What the heck is going on? Anybody have any advice for me? I could definitely use some help. Thanks very much

Call your wireless carrier's Data Support department to troubleshoot your Blackberry to confirm whether or not you have a virus installed on your device. Obtaining one via Bluetooth is possible when the user accepts all sync connections via Bluetooth with out requesting to choose which one to allow. This is how cellular phones running the Symbian OS got a virus in the past.

You may have also be using a laptop/desktop which is running a trojan in the background uploading information to a third party that's cracked your system. This would mean that the third party could be reading all keys you type including credit card, banking information and yes when you log into Gmail.

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by Dark Knight

Call your wireless carrier's Data Support department to troubleshoot your Blackberry to confirm whether or not you have a virus installed on your device. Obtaining one via Bluetooth is possible when the user accepts all sync connections via Bluetooth with out requesting to choose which one to allow. This is how cellular phones running the Symbian OS got a virus in the past.

More FUD!
There is no virus that infects BlackBerry OS. The BlackBerry also can't be hacked through Bluetooth.
Calling the carrier to verify whether a virus is on the device is not a good idea, nor will it be productive in any way.

The GMail hack (if it even happened at all, since the whole original post sounds like a made up story) was likely the result of a weak password, which the user has already indicated that he uses for "everything" over the "past several years".
The BlackBerry had nothing to do with this at all.

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by penguin3107

More FUD!
There is no virus that infects BlackBerry OS. The BlackBerry also can't be hacked through Bluetooth.
Calling the carrier to verify whether a virus is on the device is not a good idea, nor will it be productive in any way.

The GMail hack (if it even happened at all, since the whole original post sounds like a made up story) was likely the result of a weak password, which the user has already indicated that he uses for "everything" over the "past several years".
The BlackBerry had nothing to do with this at all.

Agreed 150%

[ladydi]

Originally Posted by Dawg

Agreed 150%

+2. it is nearly impossible (nothing is ever completely impossible) that your BB was the culprit. You screwed up elsewhere. And gmail is NOT secure. I recently read an article about about a hacker extrodinaire at Defcon who was able to sniff out gmail passwords as they were typed. Apparently, it isn't that difficult and Manhattan is chocked full of clever people.

[ApacheIndian]

Ok, so y'all don't think my BB BT was the culprit. I just don't know what else could have happened though -- I did not login to my Gmail account from anywhere else all weekend -- i.e. there was nowhere else that I could've left myself logged in for someone to do this.

I am really shocked that this could happen. And no trust me this is not a joke of some sort. I suppose I'm glad to hear that this hasn't happened to anyone else -- otherwise I would be worried about this happeneing again -- maybe it is just some sort of fluke.

I sure wish Google had an 800 # for me to call -- still waiting to hear from them...

[John Clark]

I agree as well....I'd be very surprised if it got through the BB.

[John Clark]

What do you think Google is going to do?

[JSanders]

It is not a fluke, because the BT is not the culprit.

Sounds to me as if someone simply hacked your gmail account.

[ladydi]

You also need to consider soft hacking. I see it day in and day out. people writing down their usernames and passwords or using something common and easy to remember - well those easy to remember passwords are also easy to figure out. Or you logged in on an unsecure computer and left your cookies behind. there are a multitude of ways that accounts get compromised.

[Thatzmister2u]

Originally Posted by ApacheIndian

Ok, so y'all don't think my BB BT was the culprit. I just don't know what else could have happened though -- I did not login to my Gmail account from anywhere else all weekend -- i.e. there was nowhere else that I could've left myself logged in for someone to do this.

I am really shocked that this could happen. And no trust me this is not a joke of some sort. I suppose I'm glad to hear that this hasn't happened to anyone else -- otherwise I would be worried about this happeneing again -- maybe it is just some sort of fluke.

I sure wish Google had an 800 # for me to call -- still waiting to hear from them...

I would be looking at PC's where you access your Gmail account. Chances are that someone hacked your PC or wireless network. If they got into that much stuff I would say they didn't get all the information from your Gmail account.

My guess is you will find one of them has been breached. Turn your security friend loose on it.

[jonabyte]

My nephew recently got his hotmail account "hacked into" by one of his so called friends, I asked what his password was and it turned out to be way too easy. Any friend of his would be able to figure it out without much trouble.
It is possible that someone you know did this, if you have a weak or personal password.

[audit]

Your "security friend" must be from the school of antionline or some place like that to say that you were hacked via BT. You really need to come up with a better excuse next time.

[CRWJumper]

Originally Posted by Dawg

Agreed 150%

Where did that extra 50% come from?

[JSanders]

Originally Posted by CRWJumper

Where did that extra 50% come from?

I gave Dawg permission to use half of my opinion for the day.

[Reverend Beavis]

I thought this story sounded a bit like an urban legend, so I did a search for 'blackberry' on snopes.com. Didn't find anything resembling this scenario, but I did find another story that was amusing and appropriate for all Blackberry Addicts.

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Surgically Alters Thumbs to Better Use iPhone

[ApacheIndian]

Love the Stormtrooper GIF ha!

Ok guys -- I get the message -- it is virtually impossible that my BB was somehow hacked to get my e-mail info. But I assure you this is no urban legend. My life is in a serious state of disarray right now what with me not being able to access my main e-mail account.

Google has an avenue to contact them by e-mail if something like this occurs -- I have and am now waiting to hear back from them. Any other suggestions? Thanks

[jeremyckitching]

I don't think there will be any other suggestions as this isn't related to a BlackBerry issue. As stated before, it is likely that your e-mail account was hacked and the information pulled from there. So this has nothing at all to do with your BlackBerry. Sorry this happened to you, though...