What Else Can They Hack?

[BobKamman]

What's behind all the spam messages that appear here overnight (deleted when the monitors come to work in the morning)?  Is it just idle play by a teen-ager in a basement?  Or is it a message to Intuit that other systems are vulnerable, but for $10 million ransom the problem will go away?  

[PATAX]

@BobKamman Well said Bob.

[IRonMaN]

No hacking involved.  Since Intuit doesn't have any requirements for entry (you don't even have to wipe your feet on the welcome mat on your way in), it leaves them wide open for spammers.  The only folks that are ever denied entry for posting are regular posters when they are deemed to have made Santa's naughty list 😬

[BobKamman]

@IRonMaN I thought they at least required an account with Intuit -- even if just TurboTax, QuickBooks or maybe CreditKarma.  Maybe not.  I'll have to try starting an anonymous account some day.  What's your explanation for what is happening?  

[IRonMaN]

You need nothing, other than the ability to create a username to get into this place.  For those of us that have been here since dirt, that has been the number one complaint since dirt.  Intuit doesn't like to potentially offend a potential new customer by locking the door, so they say "welcome" to anybody passing through -------------- including spammers when they want to flood the system.  This has happened before and it will happen again.

[BobKamman]

Most spammers are trying to direct traffic to a product they are promoting.  I don't recall any spammers trying to direct traffic to train schedules and airline contacts.  The only money I can see being made from that is being paid to stop it.  

[IRonMaN]

I can’t explain the things Intuit does so don’t ask me to go beyond that and start explaining spammers.

[sjrcpa]

@BobKamman 

"I'll have to try starting an anonymous account some day. "

Technically, having more than user name here violates the terms of service. But as Jeff said, Intuit doesn't enforce much of anything except against  regulars they perceive to be out of line.

[rbynaker]

I'm assuming this is just a way to get the bogus phone numbers "out there" so they can be picked up by search engines.  Then when someone calls, the "helpful" person on the other end will email them a convenient link [to malware] they can click on to "submit" their information to Quickbooks, Amtrak, JetBlue, etc.

The barn door has been wide open long enough that most of us have stopped bothering to ask for a lock on the door.  AFAIK anyone can create a new account and immediately post with no moderation.  Every other tax forum I'm on has some sort of front-end verification (either that you're a client of the software vendor or that you're a tax professional) or at the very least a short period where a moderator must approve new posts from new users.

But I think they would sell more tickets if the flights/trains took you to see the Mumbai dancing girls.

[BobKamman]

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@sjrcpa wrote:

Technically, having more than user name here violates the terms of service. 

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Did you mean more than ONE user name?

[BobKamman]

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@IRonMaN wrote:

You need nothing, other than the ability to create a username to get into this place.  For those of us that have been here since dirt, that has been the number one complaint since dirt.  Intuit doesn't like to potentially offend a potential new customer by locking the door, so they say "welcome" to anybody passing through -------------- including spammers when they want to flood the system.  This has happened before and it will happen again.

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What this place needs is some experience volunteer monitors!

[IRonMaN]

That's impressive.  Do you have a badge to go with the shirt? 😀

[BobKamman]

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@IRonMaN wrote:

That's impressive.  Do you have a badge to go with the shirt? 😀

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I think B. Traven answered that question in a novel, later made into a movie with Humphrey Bogart.  

[IRonMaN]

Who is B Traven and Humphrey Bogart?  

I thought I would throw that out there to help some of the young tax preparers just starting out.