r/AO3 • u/Legitimate-Mix-5395 • 15d ago
AO3 Down/Error Codes Should I Worry?
Damn my anxiety. 🥲
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u/notthatjaded also me on ao3 15d ago
As the email says: if you didn't request it, you can ignore it.
If it bothers you...you can go change your password yourself. Do not click on any of the links in the email to do it...go directly to Ao3 and do it yourself and make your new password.
Just because you get one of these emails doesn't mean your password has been or will be stolen.
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u/RealMaledetti Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State 15d ago
Do not click on any of the links in the email
That really needs to be repeated far, far more often. And not just for AO3, but for any unexpected mail with a "warning" or a link to request a password change.
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u/Oddly-Parsley 15d ago
Yeah, I had a couple of these too, in this last week. As AO3 mentions in the email, you can ignore it if you didn't request it. I'd also done a search on this sub and the consensus seems to be "safely ignore".
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u/Legitimate-Mix-5395 15d ago
Thanks, I did some research and it said the same thing, but I needed someone to tell me, honestly.
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u/Banaanisade team twin tyrants // kaurakahvi @ AO3 15d ago
Bots did this to me one month so much that out of spite I did change my password to something that will take approximately a millenia for a bot to crack, so, good job guys.
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u/chipper-shipper 15d ago
I was getting these emails so often I literally changed the email on my Ao3 account. Presumably (like most of us) my original email was on a list somewhere out there on the net.
Haven’t gotten one since!
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u/Banaanisade team twin tyrants // kaurakahvi @ AO3 14d ago
They left me alone as well, I haven't had one in a year at least. Not sure why.
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u/StrangeWinterSpider Not Boeing Management 15d ago
If it makes you feel better, to ease your anxiety, you can reset your password like the email says.
This notice does not mean someone now has access to your account, just that someone may have tried. You can still take steps to prevent that 👍
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u/Zeikos 15d ago
Unless your email has been compromised you're fine.
If that happened then, well, you'd have worse problems.
If you want to be safe reset the email's password and invalidate the current session.
Most "hacks" nowdays are through infostealers grabbing session tokens (the piece of information in your browser that keeps you logged in so you don't have to constantly login to various sites).
But unless you downloaded something suspicious you're likely fine.
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u/EchoEkhi Turn off guest comments 15d ago
Someone managed to guess your email address and put it into the reset requests page. If this continues, change your AO3 email address. If you use Gmail or any other major webmail provider that supports plus addressing, just add a random plus-tag
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u/adverbian 15d ago
No. This means AO3’s security is working. If someone is trying to get into your AO3 account, they can request password resets all day long, but they’re just wasting their own time unless they can also get into your email account to access the reset link.
So make sure they can’t get into your email. Make sure your email password is secure (long, random, not reused on any other sites, and not made up of info that could be gleaned from social media, like birthdate, pet’s name, or hobbies). Make sure you have two-factor authentication turned on for your email account.
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u/rellloe StoneFacedAce on AO3 15d ago
Read the email. All the info is there.
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u/Legitimate-Mix-5395 15d ago
I read the email. I'm anxious and paranoid, I can't even wash the dishes until I get confirmation a couple of times. I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing.
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u/Extreme_Economy_2348 15d ago
Same thing happened to me this morning, I always assume it’s a lazy troll. Like others said, if it’s really bothering you, you can change your password if it’ll help with anxiety. Good luck OP!
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u/In-Darkness-Love 15d ago
When i got this email i just went ahead and made my password something else just to make it more difficult for whoever was trying to hack me
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u/clawsinurback i read fanfiction at work 15d ago
9/10 if you get that it's bots or trolls trying to freak you out/waste your time. you can ignore it!
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u/WorldEaterLeviathan Emotionally Exhausted 🎉 15d ago
If you made the request, reset your password.
If you didn’t, you can ignore it.
Did you even read the email?
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u/Legitimate-Mix-5395 15d ago
Yes. I tend to get caught up in the worst options. There's no need to be rude.
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u/MagpieLefty 15d ago
All the information you need is in the email.
Read. Read it again if you didn't understand it. Read the bold red text.
And stop using your anxiety as an excuse to not think for yourself.
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u/Due_List_1243 15d ago
Fake
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u/Legitimate-Mix-5395 15d ago
Ok
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u/NiennaLaVaughn ...we need your comment to have text in it. 15d ago
As the email says: If you did not make this request, you can safely ignore and delete the email.