Mablethorpe

Breach of member data

On August 30th The Freecycle Network /

Freecycle.org became aware of a data

breach on Freecycle.org. As local Town

group volunteer moderators we have been

asked to reach out to to you as as a local

group member to ask that you change your

Freecycle.org password as soon as

possible. We very much apologize for the

inconvenience.

Further information on the breach and on

how to change your password may be

found here:

https://freecycle.helpscoutdocs.com/articl

e/319-data-breach-august-2023

[and there is a "?" on that page if you

have further questions]

The breach of data includes usernames

User IDs, email addresses and hashed

passwords. Because of the exposure of

personal passwords we are taking every

measure to quickly inform members about

the need to change their passwords. If you

have used the same password elsewhere,

you are well advised to change the

password there as well. No other personal

information was compromised and the

breach has been closed and is being

reported to the respective privacy

authorities.

While most email providers do a good job

at filtering out spam, you may notice that

you receive more spam than usual. As

always, please remain vigilant of phishing

emails, avoid clicking on links in emails.

and don't download attachments unless

you are expecting them.

Here are some useful links to help keep

you safe:

https://haveibeenpwned.com/Find out

what past data breaches have involved

your personal information,

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-

recognize-and-avoid-phishing-

scams#report (U.S.) Learn how to

recognize phishing emails.

https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-

emails-websites-

phishing#: ~-text=Forward%20suspicious%

20emails%20to%620report,

(%620NCSC%20)%20will%20investigate%20i

t. Learn how to recognize and report

phishing scams in the UK

Again, we thank you for your generous

gifting locally and apologize for the hassle.

Sincerely yours,

Your Local Freecycle Moderators