Internet Someone tried to hack me today, need some advice

[Juicewrldfan]

Hi Everyone,

So, someone tried to hack me today. I think I pissed someone off on Reddit and I shouldn't have allowed myself to get into a heated debate on a social media outlet. Anyway, I got an email from them and then I blocked it, didn't click anything in it. This was all on my phone by the way connected to an ASUS router with the firewall turned on. However, when I was out and about I then got a text message from an unknown GMAIL account which further identified themselves as the same person and blackmailing me to sell my information. So I didn't click anything or even respond to the GMAIL to text, text message. I just blocked them again and reported it to my service provider.

So, my question is this: Can someone find my phone number just with my email address? My email was not hacked. I use GMAIL with 2-step authentication and am behind a firewall. I googled my email plus "phone" and my phone number was not listed by my name. My email was though. Or are people able to use "Email to text" from GMAIL if they just have your GMAIL address? It seems like everything is safe, because that was about 5-6 hours ago and all of my financial accounts are accurate. Then again, I have 2-step verification on every single account I have, even steam.

Next question, I factory reset my phone just in case to get rid of malicious software. I don't think I have a virus, but just in case. I have a newer iphone by the way. I don't know if that matters, but they are supposed to be very hard to hack. I reset my ASUS router and changed all passwords to very very difficult and long passwords, enabled DoS protection and made sure my firewall was still up and it is. I am kind of not super tech savvy when it comes to security though. Are there any options that I should adjust on an ASUS router for added security beside DoS protection? My biggest question is I read that it is very difficult to put viruses on routers and requires a very skilled hacker which most hackers are not skilled enough, at least the ones that target residences. How true is this?

I think I may be overreacting changing all my passwords to everything and stuff. I am guessing they are just fishing. Any tech savvy security pros on here, or laymans that are good with security? Please advise if you can. Thank you

 

[Shady's Fox]

what was the ASUS router in cause main proxy shift then? something not the botattack caused a DNS leak therefore no need to change proxy.

You gotta use GlassWire to monitor the settings within router.

mine has a setup since years but not because of cybervictim, ISP. So I did another network IP for my fiber optic to be able to use 2Gbps constantly, and basically you can do same.

go to router > ipv6 leave it enable by default, disable v4 and qos, then make another set IP see on status if it does send/recieve MTU's ( datapacket, or in out — as average joe has call it)

then re-route it to Quad9 DNS which you can find it by a simple Google search.

Block ports, every 8xxx you find. Turn off Remote Registry/Shadow Copy/Remote Assistance. To block port, my advice is that every decent ASUS router from up 2012 has firewall settings not like Huwaei or other no names.. mine has, RT-AC68u. I dunno your model, you can search even if router was legally sold by ASUS with series number back of mothership(router). So go there and create this fake setup if allows, if not.. at very least your chance is to create IP then block ports through firewall, use it at discretion. Bitdefender has a giveaway for Total Security, 6 months try it.

if not other advanced firewalls also available but you need to document beforehand. (1hr or so, is easy but bc u didn't need one until now isnt, Wikipedia is on to check.

And yes, they can. Do noy bother to insert your email/gmail home on ihvbbeenpwned.. is fake everything isnt airlock. Mine is also there but bank account ok, personal life too.

They can because of Google tracking, sue an ad company, only thing u can do is to read above.

and please read. Also state your OS.

 

[Shady's Fox]

you cant permanently disable IPv4.. thats why everyone gets their pipe sugary.

98 of internet is based on it and other 2 are Google cloud armors.

until they allow us to use it universally not much we can to do defend our internet identity.

 

[alasdairm]

@Juicewrldfan et. al.

while there are a very few things in the above replies that make some sense, i'd suggest that you take pretty much everything shady posts with a large pinch of salt. a lot of it is just nonsense littered with jargon.

for example: "Block ports, every 8xxx you find."

why just that range? assuming the user has a pretty straightforward setup and is not running, say, some ftp server or such, why not just block every single port against incoming traffic?

and then this: "you cant permanently disable IPv4.. thats why everyone gets their pipe sugary."

the first part is pretty much true. for now. the second part is absolute nonsense.

alasdair

 

[Juicewrldfan]

@Juicewrldfan et. al.

while there are a very few things in the above replies that make some sense, i'd suggest that you take pretty much everything shady posts with a large pinch of salt. a lot of it is just nonsense littered with jargon.

for example: "Block ports, every 8xxx you find."

why just that range? assuming the user has a pretty straightforward setup and is not running, say, some ftp server or such, why not just block every single port against incoming traffic?

and then this: "you cant permanently disable IPv4.. thats why everyone gets their pipe sugary."

the first part is pretty much true. for now. the second part is absolute nonsense.

alasdair

Thanks all.

Yeah. I just added Mcaffee virus protection in addition to my windows defender. They don’t seem to interfere with each other. So I now have three firewalls and a vpn.

All my accounts are accurate so doesn’t look like they got very far.

 

[Shady's Fox]

I work as IT, I myself have a Hybrid Cloud Security for a scar of 1k euro montly.

You can dice the trust level how you want.

unlike ali who is a rudimentary internet user with nothing to do at home.

List of TCP and UDP port numbers - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

read. You need to document for those 3 shields you got strategically planned.

 

[Shady's Fox]

Again, list doesnt offer insight informations in IT industry, but for someone with a laptop streaming films or uTorrenting, is mors than enough.

What this list does is a simple guide at how a port might behave in certain environment, port 68 could randomly disconnect you from internet because you didnt do the credentials part, are you using PPPoE or 1500MTU? ppoe is 1492.

but you think then port 68 was hacked because you setup internet or "Magic Packet" scheduled automatic login within startup of OS.

So you see, ports are like trashbin bags, one could slide along and when you throw trash doesnt get inside bin but bag, and other side could fit your bin but you get trash in both outside and interior.

8000 ports are know for being vulnerable and by denied traffic request you dont get any security layer with generic firewalls nor selling flowers, is about creating them, you do not want to sell them. There's certain technologies that apply in cyberworld, our business computer from work use "Catclaw" port scanning, most firewalls simple do marketing by stealthing ports, I can't hold paper on how many times I footballed between legs within PowerShell Bitdefender Total Security firewall...

8072, again port 122 wearks makeup.

So you need to test each of them by requesting a demo PurpleSec Hawk level.

but for average user this isnt available therefore I cant tell you what port to block because am not there with you and two, you need to ping ports from CMD, at very least you'll see a message "Listening". Don't alarm, see how much kbs gets, if over 0.40 means you ok, below this number your ports are anvil over a kitchen plate.

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

Can someone find my phone number just with my email address?

Depending on level of experience; yes. And vice versa.
The data is out there the question is who can gain access and what is the intent.
Doesnt take a hacker to do damage hell an unhappy or strapped employee could sell of millions of account info.
The rest... best of luck trying to stay "hidden"; there is just too many tentacles that need cutting to do this... no one is willing to give up their device(s) or stay offline.
Whataya do? I just make em work for it not gonna make it easy.
Peace

 

[Juicewrldfan]

Btw, I use win11. I know that Linux is supposed to be better but I game and used to be most game I play aren’t compatible with Linux and it’s what came with my laptop. I have a MSI laptop with win11 and ASUS RT-ACRH17.

What do you all think the safest browser is? Chrome is supposed to have great protection from malware/viruses but also the most sharing of personal information.

Firefox is supposed to be pretty good and then I thought about TOR but don’t know much about TOR only that it’s great for encryption.

 

[Juicewrldfan]

Again, list doesnt offer insight informations in IT industry, but for someone with a laptop streaming films or uTorrenting, is mors than enough.

What this list does is a simple guide at how a port might behave in certain environment, port 68 could randomly disconnect you from internet because you didnt do the credentials part, are you using PPPoE or 1500MTU? ppoe is 1492.

but you think then port 68 was hacked because you setup internet or "Magic Packet" scheduled automatic login within startup of OS.

So you see, ports are like trashbin bags, one could slide along and when you throw trash doesnt get inside bin but bag, and other side could fit your bin but you get trash in both outside and interior.

8000 ports are know for being vulnerable and by denied traffic request you dont get any security layer with generic firewalls nor selling flowers, is about creating them, you do not want to sell them. There's certain technologies that apply in cyberworld, our business computer from work use "Catclaw" port scanning, most firewalls simple do marketing by stealthing ports, I can't hold paper on how many times I footballed between legs within PowerShell Bitdefender Total Security firewall...

8072, again port 122 wearks makeup.

So you need to test each of them by requesting a demo PurpleSec Hawk level.

but for average user this isnt available therefore I cant tell you what port to block because am not there with you and two, you need to ping ports from CMD, at very least you'll see a message "Listening". Don't alarm, see how much kbs gets, if over 0.40 means you ok, below this number your ports are anvil over a kitchen plate.

I read the wiki but man that shit is over my head. Like I get the idea. What your saying is most 8xxx ports aren’t needed. Yet I don’t know how to ping a port. Apparently you can check what ports are open using your firmware for the router but still doesn’t tell me what ports I need.

I think ASUS router I have has something built in to protect at least against port scanners. I could be wrong but was sure I read that somewhere.

 

[alasdairm]

unlike ali who is a rudimentary internet user with nothing to do at home.

no need to get personal shady. i have only ever commented on your posts, not your person. i invite you to do the same. thanks.

i don't have to justify myself to you but, for anybody that is interested, i've been working in technology for about 30 years and, far from having "nothing to do at home" i work full time for a software company.

you may well be the smartest it guy on the planet, but your posts are not designed to help a guy like juice. he's obviously just a regular windows user and, aside from the fact that many of your sentences make little sense, the information you're providing is very confusing. it's possible you're not a native english speaker. if so, apologies.

let's talk specifics. perhaps you could answer the question... why just that (8xxx) range? assuming the user has a pretty straightforward setup and is not running, say, some ftp server or such, why not just block every single port against incoming traffic?

what does "thats why everyone gets their pipe sugary" mean in simple language?

alasdair

 

[Shady's Fox]

whatever, and that's where our port convention ends.

Nmap: the Network Mapper - Free Security Scanner

Nmap Free Security Scanner, Port Scanner, & Network Exploration Tool. Download open source software for Linux, Windows, UNIX, FreeBSD, etc.

nmap.org

as far as browsers, sure. Mozilla sold Firefox way back when they abandoned "Quantum" project, now uses "Fenix" with F, i dunno if means pheonix or anything because is a disaster.

destroyed by Google. I'd recommand LibreWolf which is FF derivate.

or impenetrable "Lynx" but is more of a Linux type because it displays text only.

 

[alasdairm]

whatever

q.e.d.

alasdair

 

[Shady's Fox]

I used Edge until they also mopped floor with to much tile chemicals, "Edge HTML", nowadays I sail water with Lynx for business computer and Libre for personal use.

 

[Juicewrldfan]

no need to get personal shady. i have only ever commented on your posts, not your person. i invite you to do the same. thanks.

i don't have to justify myself to you but, for anybody that is interested, i've been working in technology for about 30 years and, far from having "nothing to do at home" i work full time for a software company.

you may well be the smartest it guy on the planet, but your posts are not designed to help a guy like juice. he's obviously just a regular windows user and, aside from the fact that many of your sentences make little sense, the information you're providing is very confusing. it's possible you're not a native english speaker. if so, apologies.

let's talk specifics. perhaps you could answer the question... why just that (8xxx) range? assuming the user has a pretty straightforward setup and is not running, say, some ftp server or such, why not just block every single port against incoming traffic?

what does "thats why everyone gets their pipe sugary" mean in simple language?

alasdair

Yeah. I am just a typical windows user/gamer. I don’t have the education for IT so there’s alot I don’t know/understand and a lot didn’t make sense to me because I just don’t understand the technical jargon.

 

[alasdairm]

@Juicewrldfan you can find plenty articles online about basic precautions you can take to secure your home pc. here are a few examples:

• Protect Your PC: How to Work From Home Securely
• 8 easy steps to secure your computer
• 6 Tips to Keep Your Home Computer Safe and Secure
• 5 Easy Ways to Secure Your Computer in Less Than 5 Minutes

you'll notice that none of these mention sugary pipes, mopping the floor or sailing

all the best,

alasdair

 

[Juicewrldfan]

@Juicewrldfan you can find plenty articles online about basic precautions you can take to secure your home pc. here are a few examples:

• Protect Your PC: How to Work From Home Securely
• 8 easy steps to secure your computer
• 6 Tips to Keep Your Home Computer Safe and Secure
• 5 Easy Ways to Secure Your Computer in Less Than 5 Minutes

you'll notice that none of these mention sugary pipes, mopping the floor or sailing

all the best,

alasdair

Thanks! I’ll check it out. Probably not much I haven’t done yet since I went down a cybersecurity rabbit hole this past weekend and did a ton of research. The only thing I didn’t do was block ports because I game on multiple devices and have other devices hooked up. I don’t want to block some ports that I may need up needing but like I said I have a fire wall in my router with updated firmware and I have two separate firewalls as well now. I even set up a proxy server that is not at my house with a guide I found online.

And speak of the devil, I met another redditor this time it wasn’t over an arguement but Reddit personals and they asked me where I’m from. I lied and said Cleveland because I don’t know this person and I didn’t initiate contact with them (red flag) well they then said they were from Cincinnati ohio too. And it was clear they looked up my location from my IP address dumb asses told on themselves. I never said I was in Cincinnati so that’s the only way they could know. By the way I’m just throwing cities out there on here. I’m not really from these cities.

So they clearly found my proxy server but I dont think they got further than that.



Well, maybe I should just stop using Reddit lol. So many scammers/hackers

 

[PioC]

I think I pissed someone off on Reddit and I shouldn't have allowed myself to get into a heated debate on a social media outlet.

More likely they found out your personal info from previous reddit posts you would have made and some basic googling than hacking your computer.

 

[Juicewrldfan]

More likely they found out your personal info from previous reddit posts you would have made and some basic googling than hacking your computer.

Well, I think they just tracked my IP for my location. I do not think this person hacked me but was starting to do suspicious things like looking up my IP and location.

This is an anonymous Reddit account I use. I don’t use ANY real personal information on it. Everything from the username and even the name I used/email I used to set up this Reddit account are dummie names. I created a dummie email just for this purpose. Again, I didn’t use any real info on my dummie email either. And I do not post ANY identifying information in posts either so they had to have looked up my location using IP.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Well, I think they just tracked my IP for my location. I do not think this person hacked me but was starting to do suspicious things like looking up my IP and location.

This is an anonymous Reddit account I use. I don’t use ANY real personal information on it. Everything from the username and even the name I used/email I used to set up this Reddit account are dummie names. I created a dummie email just for this purpose. Again, I didn’t use any real info on my dummie email either. And I do not post ANY identifying information in posts either so they had to have looked up my location using IP.

No usernames in common?

The reason I ask is they shouldn't be able to see your IP address on Reddit, unless Reddit posts it.

Just like here on Bluelight. We are posting to their server. Unless Bluelight posts IP addresses, or someone gets access to server logs, nobody should be able to get your IP address from a post.