Akigumo said:

I didn't remember the password

Pretty sure password recovery is a standard feature in websites these days

oracle135 said:

Pretty sure password recovery is a standard feature in websites these days

But this is her earlier work so it's possible it was before that little feature became standard

oracle135 said:

Pretty sure password recovery is a standard feature in websites these days

It she still has the email address they're using for it. If that provider still exists and still has email functionality. If she remembers the secret question to prove her identity at that site. If she even can get into that email account.

Ah, denial. When everything else fails?

You saw nothing.

There's usually a way. Even if, horrors, one has to write a snailmail letter to the site administrator.

Claverhouse said:

There's usually a way. Even if, horrors, one has to write a snailmail letter to the site administrator.

How do you prove it's you instead of someone trying to steal your ID and online presence? And the legal implications of complying when it was someone else?

It's better to ignore those, especially when she can pretend it doesn't exists and doesn't advertise it.

Jarlath said:

How do you prove it's you instead of someone trying to steal your ID and online presence? And the legal implications of complying when it was someone else?

It's better to ignore those, especially when she can pretend it doesn't exists and doesn't advertise it.

The answer is that if you get on the phone with someone and keep trying over and over with guesses, the service rep will just give you access to get it over with. This includes banks. Also, if someone has a Facebook page, then Facebook has the answers to nearly every possible security question either publicly available or for sale, since selling user information is Facebook's business model.

NWSiaCB said:

The answer is that if you get on the phone with someone and keep trying over and over with guesses, the service rep will just give you access to get it over with. This includes banks. Also, if someone has a Facebook page, then Facebook has the answers to nearly every possible security question either publicly available or for sale, since selling user information is Facebook's business model.

So it's better to get sued, then get charged criminally and be fined by the government (if you're in the EU) for breaching privacy and identity protection laws than it is to follow them and ignore possible phishing. I'm so glad most banks don't follow your advice.

I don't think that Pixiv or its equivalents are that willing to get nailed when it's easier to ignore it. Or, in this case, when Akigumo is willing to pretend those don't exist instead of raising them to someone's else's attention.

Jarlath said:

So it's better to get sued, then get charged criminally and be fined by the government (if you're in the EU) for breaching privacy and identity protection laws than it is to follow them and ignore possible phishing. I'm so glad most banks don't follow your advice.

I don't think that Pixiv or its equivalents are that willing to get nailed when it's easier to ignore it. Or, in this case, when Akigumo is willing to pretend those don't exist instead of raising them to someone's else's attention.

That's not advice, that's what happens; See the article I linked, your bank accounts can be compromised by a simple phone call and looking up your account on Facebook (which sells all your private information to the highest bidder). And no, they don't get fined by the government.

NWSiaCB said:

The answer is that if you get on the phone with someone and keep trying over and over with guesses, the service rep will just give you access to get it over with. This includes banks. Also, if someone has a Facebook page, then Facebook has the answers to nearly every possible security question either publicly available or for sale, since selling user information is Facebook's business model.

The 'blagging' thing for banks in the UK isn't that common, I used to work for a bank myself and I can guarantee it is not worth a £5000 fine and potentially up to 2 years in prison just to get a persistent arsehole off the line. The Data Protection Act (1998) and consequences of breaching it are drummed into you regularly in training, reviews and even as far back as secondary school IT classes (for myself anyways).

The way we used to handle those was to say 'I'm sorry but I do not believe that you are the person that is named on this account and as such I am terminating this call and will be passing this to our fraud prevention department for investigation' and hang up, leave a note on the account (if they provided sufficient details and pass it on to fraud. Then they would check my call log and get any contact details such as the number they dialed from and follow it up. Been on the receiving end of that too from my own bank because I forgot my login details for online banking.