Nemom Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 I googled my name a couple of weeks ago in quotation marks for a homework assignment for an online class I am taking. I was shocked when three "hits" (sorry, don't know the technical term) came up from Bright Ideas Press for some orders that I had placed. These hits showed all of my personal information including name, full address and phone number. It also appears that all or part of my PayPal account information is showing. I contacted BIP immediately and let them know. They sent me an email back stating that they took their security seriously and would look into it. Two weeks later and all of my personal info is still there. I realize my personal info is out there for the world to find and not really "personal" anymore but my PayPal info should not be. I will contact PayPal later today. You may want to try googling your name if you have bought from BIP. Be sure and use quotation marks and Bright Ideas Press after your name. Curious if I am the only one with this issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 That is terrifying :( I am so sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 I would call BIP this time and complain again, preferably to someone higher than the rep who initially answers your call. Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 Wow! That’s pretty creepy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 @OP I strongly suggest that you do not wait to "call PayPal later today". CALL PAYPAL IMMEDIATELY! Sadly, there is probably no way for you to get the information you found removed from Google or other search engines. You will probably need to change your PayPal account and should check on FTC.GOV if you also discover that you have been the victim of "Identity Theft". Huge corporations and government agencies have been hacked. A small company is at much bigger risk of having their "Secure" data stolen. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 Wow! That’s pretty creepy! Yes, it feels pretty creepy! Especially since all of the info is right there on the search engine page. You don't have to click on the BIP link to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 @OP I strongly suggest that you do not wait to "call PayPal later today". CALL PAYPAL IMMEDIATELY! Sadly, there is probably no way for you to get the information you found removed from Google or other search engines. You will probably need to change your PayPal account and should check on FTC.GOV if you also discover that you have been the victim of "Identity Theft". Huge corporations and government agencies have been hacked. A small company is at much bigger risk of having their "Secure" data stolen. You are probably right Lanny. I hope it can somehow be removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 I called PayPal and they didn't really say much other than the problem was with Bright Ideas Press. I haven't had a chance to reach out the them again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 I called PayPal and they didn't really say much other than the problem was with Bright Ideas Press. I haven't had a chance to reach out the them again. I strongly suggest that you call PayPal again. Ask to speak with a Supervisor, or someone in their Fraud Department. Yes, they are correct the problem was caused by Bright Ideas Press. However, I believe that you should be changed to a NEW PayPal account, with a different email address and a different password. With regard to non-Internet, non DirecTV, PayPal has probably the best customer service I have ever contacted for help. My problem was in 2016 when I couldn't log into my PayPal account. Their people litterally stayed on the phone with me for 1 or 2 hours. It was awesome. Your problem is FAR more serious than mine was. If it involved a Credit Card or a Debit Card, your bank would have stopped your card immediately, when they knew your data had been compromised. PayPal, IMO, should do the same and migrate you to a different PayPal account. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Is there any way that it could be in your cache? Or tied to your Google account? Have you tried searching incognito? Just curious. I get different result when I go incognito. I was going to suggest this also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) Is there any way that it could be in your cache? Or tied to your Google account? Have you tried searching incognito? Just curious. I get different result when I go incognito. I haven't ordered from them in years and have a completely different computer so it shouldn't be in my cache. Right?? I'm not the least bit computer savvy. I have no idea how to tell if it is tied to Google or to search incognito. Edited February 15, 2018 by Nemom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 I tried the search and got absolutely nothing. Only 4 pages total and none of them had anything to do with Bright Ideas (and I've bought from them too). Even if the computer is new, if you transferred files and your bookmarks you could still be transferring over some of your personal information. I'm not discounting Bright Ideas but my first guess is it's being pulled from some of the saved information in your browser. Did you try the same search with a browser you wouldn't have used there before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) In the first sentence of post #1 the OP states that she Googled for her name and in the Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) she saw the thing involving the purchase she'd made from that company. IMO, that company had been hacked and her personal data was compromised when that happened and ended up on the web. PayPal is not responsible for that happening. However, I believe PayPal should migrate the OP to a new PayPal account, with her using a different email address and a different (very strong) Password. I also would suggest not giving that company any personal information... Edited February 15, 2018 by Lanny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 I tried the search and got absolutely nothing. Only 4 pages total and none of them had anything to do with Bright Ideas (and I've bought from them too). Even if the computer is new, if you transferred files and your bookmarks you could still be transferring over some of your personal information. I'm not discounting Bright Ideas but my first guess is it's being pulled from some of the saved information in your browser. Did you try the same search with a browser you wouldn't have used there before? I went from a HP PC to a MacBook. I did not transfer any files or bookmarks from the PC to the new Mac. I just tried the same search on my daughter's Mac and the same information came up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) The results that showed up when I followed your suggestion informed me that my father-in-law and the VP of BIP were listed on the same donor page for "Hillary for America." Edited to add that the info on mylife.com was a bit eerie at how much they know (and what they are wrong about). That showed up with a search on just my name in quotes. Edited February 15, 2018 by RootAnn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 I found absolutely nothing when I searched my name, well I found a bunch of people with the same name, but nothing on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 I went from a HP PC to a MacBook. I did not transfer any files or bookmarks from the PC to the new Mac. I just tried the same search on my daughter's Mac and the same information came up. From what you have written in this thread, I do NOT think this has anything to do with bookmarks or cookies or anything else on your local machine. You can probably do that same Google search on your cell phone or a Tablet and get exactly the same results. Please do that, to confirm my theory. I believe that Brig Ideas Press was hacked and that your information then ended up on the web which you found by Googling, and, also, more dangerously for you, on "the Dark" web. You are IMO extremely fortunate that they have your PayPal account email address and NOT your credit card or debit card information. If that were the case, you would be in much deeper trouble. Much safer that you are behind PayPal and the criminals do not have your Credit/Debit card information and your Billing Address, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 From what you have written in this thread, I do NOT think this has anything to do with bookmarks or cookies or anything else on your local machine. You can probably do that same Google search on your cell phone or a Tablet and get exactly the same results. Please do that, to confirm my theory. I believe that Brig Ideas Press was hacked and that your information then ended up on the web which you found by Googling, and, also, more dangerously for you, on "the Dark" web. You are IMO extremely fortunate that they have your PayPal account email address and NOT your credit card or debit card information. If that were the case, you would be in much deeper trouble. Much safer that you are behind PayPal and the criminals do not have your Credit/Debit card information and your Billing Address, etc. I searched on two android phones, a third MacBook, and an old iPad. Information came up on everything except the old iPad. The iPad uses Bing not Google. I then tried searching under Yahoo and nothing came up again. Looks like it is somehow tied to Google. So, now what do I do?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 The results that showed up when I followed your suggestion informed me that my father-in-law and the VP of BIP were listed on the same donor page for "Hillary for America." Edited to add that the info on mylife.com was a bit eerie at how much they know (and what they are wrong about). That showed up with a search on just my name in quotes. I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Do you have a Google account? Are you logged in to it while searching? Gmail? Did you use a Gmail account for these purchases? Is your Gmail account also your PayPal account? If so, what I’m wondering is if your Google search results are pulling in results from your email. In other words, this is information available to you and only you, but not to the greater public. There have been times that I have been logged in to my Gmail account and when searching for something, that information pops up in the Google search results. Without seeing what results you’re getting, it’s tough to tell for sure if this is the case, but since it’s only coming up on Google and not on other search engines, that’s my suspicion. If in fact you are logged in to Google while searching, then I’d log out, clear your website history and search again. If it dosn’t show up, then it’s unlikely that the information is public. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) Do you have a Google account? Are you logged in to it while searching? Gmail? Did you use a Gmail account for these purchases? Is your Gmail account also your PayPal account? If so, what I’m wondering is if your Google search results are pulling in results from your email. In other words, this is information available to you and only you, but not to the greater public. There have been times that I have been logged in to my Gmail account and when searching for something, that information pops up in the Google search results. Without seeing what results you’re getting, it’s tough to tell for sure if this is the case, but since it’s only coming up on Google and not on other search engines, that’s my suspicion. If in fact you are logged in to Google while searching, then I’d log out, clear your website history and search again. If it dosn’t show up, then it’s unlikely that the information is public. Yes, I have a Google account. I am logged into google on my computer and phone while searching but I searched on two computers and one phone that are not logged into my google account. Same results on those. I did not use a Gmail account for these purchases. I do not use gmail. I do not have a gmail account linked to my PayPal account. ETA: Logged out of google. Same results with all my info. Edited February 15, 2018 by Nemom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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