Ridiculously complicated security procedures on the web

document them here

flickr. since they became some yahoo rubbish, you need to have a yahoo account that is now the flickr username.

so now i have forgotten whatever crap yahooemail name i created with the account. flickr still sends me 93849 emails every other day saying "thisdude has just become your newest contact" and all that shit. but i can't fucking log in.

you click forgotten username or password, it asks you 9823948923492043 security questions one short of how many strands of pubic hair did you have at the time you signed up. ffs, this is for the USERNAME not even the cunting password. can you not email it to the registered address? like you do with every other details about what's going on on the flickr? fuck

c'mon Ken, it's not that bad...

...is it?

The harder they make it for idiots to use Flickr, the better.

fuck a t-mobile:

"click here to see if you qualify for this upgrade"
CLICK
"Thanks for that, now text UP to 150 to see if you qualify for an upgrade"
SEND
"lol u can has ugrade just go to t-mob web site you were already on lolol!1!"
CLICK
"you must login before you can do that"
FORGOT MY PASSWORD AND USERNAME
"click here to retrieve your PASSWORD and USERNAME"
CLICK
"operation timed out"
repeat 142 times
"Ah, you made it - stick you mobile number and email here and we'll sort you out"
CLICK
"operation timed out"
repeat 142 times
"here is your username as requested but we're not giving you your password or even resetting it for you lolz because that would be bad security. Click here to retrieve your password"
CLICK
"operation timed out"
repeat 142 times
"Ah, you're in! Well done. Now enter a shiny new password!"
CLICK
"operation timed out, you're gonna need to back up a few steps"
some time later...
"Password reset successfully (aren't you patient!), click here to log in"
CLICK
"Please answer these three security questions you answered in 2003 including the ridiculous 'What is your favourite place?'"
MIRACULOUS MEMORY RECOVERY ONIMO GETS THEM ALL RIGHT!
"operation timed out just for shits and giggles, you're a persistent fucker I'll give you that!"
CLICKETY FUCKING CLICK CLICK CLICK
"You did it! You're in! Finally! Oh wait...Please enter your PIN.
MY PIN? WHAT THE FUCK IS MY PIN? STICK YOUR PHONE UP YOUR ARSE ARGH!
Click here if you've forgotten your PIN"
CLICK
"operation timed out hahaha onimo you are a cunt and we are all laughing at you hahaha"

I finally got the PIN prompt to work and...

"A new PIN will be posted to your Billing Account Customer Address."

YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING SHITTING ME THAT'S HALF AN HOUR ONLINE AND YOU'RE SENDING ME A FUCKING LETTER?

The harder they make it for idiots to use Flickr, the better.

ban embedding images in comments imo

c'mon Ken, it's not that bad...

...is it?

it's not that bad to be totally unable to sign in with no way to retrive your details except to write them and hope for a useful reply tomorrow?

^that t-mobile thing was from months ago. I had a more recent run-in with them involving phoning "help" lines that was even worse. Their security questions are top-notch "name a year that isn't your birth year."

I prefer over-complicated to ridiculously easy... there's a certain banking thing that, every time I try to pay online, and I forget my password, it doesn't ask me any security questions or anything, it just asks me to type in a new one! Like... ANYONE could do that. how secure is that?

complicated is fine if the thing warrants complicated stuff. but one's flickr USERNAME is not the fucking address of bin laden.

it's not that bad to be totally unable to sign in with no way to retrive your details except to write them and hope for a useful reply tomorrow?

Ken, I've been stuck in that horrible horrible loop myself in the past. They do sort it out quickly if you submit a help request - but what a ridiculous system.

same with the fucking student loan website.

they have helpfully sent me a letter the other day saying "HEY KEN! HI DERE! YOU CAN CHECK YOUR STUDENT LOAN STUFF ONLINE BY TYPING IN YOUR USER NUMBER THING WOOOOO IT'S SO EASY" with the user number

you go to student loan website, type in the user number and what you think may be the password.. RONG.
ok.. forgot my password.. type in your user number for password.. ok type in the exact number on the letter you sent me RONG
ok wtf. and no combination of the options available would enable one to either reset your password or have it sent to your email

wonderful security why, so that no one can pretend to be me and pay off some loan for me?

one of the options is brilliant - you fill in all of the details they ask you, name, dob, postcode, email, your cat's favourite brand of cat litter, and it takes you to "PLEASE ENTER YOUR USER NUMBER"

i agree re: t-mob web site - it is the worst

i believe it even "locks you out" if you try the wrong password too often, and the only way to get it reset is to wait for it to be sent through the mail

halifax internet banking not sure if it's still the same - when you forget your password you phone them, they confirm all your security etc and then they will give you half the password, and the other half by post.

brilliant security, but if you were an imposter you could have just confirmed the exactly same security details with telephone banking.

i haven't been able to log into flickr since that dumb yahoo-syncing nonsense. and yeah it's the username i can't remember.

Halifax won't even *GIVE* me an internet option, and I've been trying for about 5 years. :-(

when you signed up you shouldn't have clicked the box that said "I prefer over-complicated to ridiculously easy... "

ticked, obv

Barclays PINsentry is the winner here,surely? A device I have to take with me all the time in case I want to check my balance online, put my card in, enter my PIN, and then enter the code it gives me into the online login screen. Fucking faff. And it costs about £7 for a new one, so I can't have one at work and one at home, I actually DO have to carry the pissing thing around with me.

(xpost) I think I can see where people are going wrong... you have to click the box in order to tick the box...

Yeah, pinsentry - kept on saying no to the "have you received yr pinsentry yet?" question & it let me use the old codes until yesterday. I am tempted to claim I still haven't got it in the hope they say "dearie me we'll send you another" which would solve work/home problem but more likely something more onerous would happen.

my payapl got hacked so i would welcome one of those.

How so Frogman? Was it by someone you know or just some random Hackz0r stealing your cash?

I agree somewhat, and I didn't mean to sound so shrill. It took me a couple of hours to figure it out. Basically, I had to set up a new Yahoo ID. Which was fine with me.

Barclays Pinsentry is alright. But I only do online banking at home so it's easy. It's faff having to get your card out and so on, but it's my bank account, a bit of faff for rockhard security is a fair swap, I think.

I go through this with Bank of America all the time. "Do you recognize this image?" Yeah, it's a fucking mountain top, here's my password. What school did you graduate from? Central. Little ROck Central. LR Central. Little Rock Central High School. Central High School. Central High. FUCK I"LL JUST USE MY DISCOVER CARD RIGHT NOW.

the second, Bateau.

fucking. rofl.

=========================================
Hello,

Thanks for writing to Yahoo! UKIE Customer Care.

A search for your Yahoo! ID using the alternate email address you
provided does provide a match.

We have reviewed the verification information that you have provided.
However, we were unable to match the date of birth that you provided
with the information that was entered during registration or when this
account was last updated. To protect the security and privacy of all
accounts, we are unable to provide login or other account assistance
without completely verifying the account.

Please resubmit your request, and remember to match the information as
it was entered when you originally established your account, or when you
most recently updated your information.

We look forward to assisting you with this account once the appropriate
verification information has been received.

Regards,

Customer Care - Yahoo! UK & Ireland

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachment is confidential
and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the named recipient
only.

Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

>>REDFRMCON Case ID: 77872888

Hiya, strange you cannot find my account even though your system can
send me
emails..
if it helps, it's this account. http://flickr.com/people/kenjuggle

if you can at least let me know which email that is associated with,
it'll
be great help - even better figure out why it's sending automatic emails
to
this email account.

Thanks
Ken

On Sat, Jan 31, 2009 at 9:26 AM, Yahoo! Account Services <
my-login-h✧✧✧@c✧.yahoo-✧✧✧.c✧✧> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Account Services.
>
> We understand that you have forgotten the ID and password of your
Yahoo!
> account asscciated with your Flickr account. We apologize for the
> inconvenience caused.
>
> We have manually searched our database for a Yahoo! ID associated with
> the alternate email address and verification data you supplied, but
have
> not found a match. We are only able to locate a Yahoo! ID by using the
> alternate email address currently listed on the account. Please
consider
> email addresses you have had in the past, and resubmit your request.
If
> there is no match for the alternate email address you provide and you
> can not remember your Yahoo! ID, then you will need to sign up again
> with a new account name.
>
> Moreover, Please provide us with the Flickr screen name.
>
> Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Account Services.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rhodes
>
> Yahoo! Account Services Customer Care
>
> For assistance with all Yahoo! services, please visit:
>
> http://help.yahoo.com/
>
> New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - better than ever!
>
>
>
> Original Message Follows:
> -------------------------
>
> Mail-Id:
> w11.help.sp1.yahoo.com-/l/us/yahoo/edit/general-01.html-1233315351-100
>
> 1. What is your name and Yahoo! ID?
> ------------------------------------
> Name:
>
> Yahoo! ID: don't know
>
> 2. What is the email address where we can contact you?
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Email Address: ****************
>
> 3. What is your date of birth? (mm/dd/yyyy)
> --------------------------------------------
> Date of Birth: ****************
>
> 4. What is your zip or postal code?
> ------------------------------------
> Zip Code: ****************
>
> 5. What is your alternate email address on file?
> -------------------------------------------------
> Alternate Email Address: ****************
>
> 6. What are you writing about?
> -------------------------------
> Subject: Sign in & Registration - Other not listed
>
> 7. Enter additional information here:
> --------------------------------------
> Hello, flickr keeps sending me messages to my gmail account about
> stuff happening on my flickr account, but i don't know what my
> username is and there appears to be absolutely zero way i can find out
> what this username is, as the form on the website asks me
> 9324903489023849023848902390848203 questions when really all you need
to
> do is email me my username that is linked to that gmail address,
> surely?? you're telling me every single detail about who has just
> become my contact on flickr, afterall. If you can email that to me,
> that will be great.
>
> Thanks
> Ken
>
>

>
> Date Originated: Friday January 30, 2009 - 03:35:51
>
> -------
>
>

I . JUST . WANT . TO . KNOW. WHAT . MY . USER . ID . IS .

WHAT . THE . F . U . C . K . CAN . I . DO . WITH . A . FUCKING . YAHOO . USER . ID???

I CAN EVEN NAME WHAT THE FUCKING URL OF MY FUCKING FLICKR PAGE. IT'S ME . FUCK OFF. YAHOO . IF YOU LET ME JUST HAVE THE SAME URL AS MY USERNAME INSTEAD OF INSISTING ON YOUR FUCKING RETARDED YAHOO ID THIS WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A FUCKING PROBLEM IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE.

not "ridiculously complicated" per se, but I get really annoyed by how frequently amazon.com requires me to reenter my password. I wish there were some option I could check to opt out of this -- "no, I don't care if someone steals my laptop, goes to amazon.com, and is able to see the things that I ordered six months ago."

same with the fucking student loan website.

This shit is beyond annoying, especially once a year goes by and you can't remember which of a dozen kind of similar federal government student aid websites has the exact piece of info you need. Basically you will give the same FOUR-PART login information AGAIN AND AGAIN until you find the right website.