NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Anything and everything about Thailand
Post Reply
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by Gaybutton »

Folks,

All of a sudden Photobucket wants to charge US $400 for us to be able to share photos. At the moment, anything any of us have posted will only appear as a notice to go to http://photobucket.com/p500 .

Obviously, I'm not going to pay $400 to Photobucket when all these years it's been free.

But WAIT A MINUTE. It also just occurred to me that Photobucket may have been hacked and sending a payment might be a form of ransomeware. The more I think about it, the more this seems like something phony to me, and I'm not going to fall for it.

I see nothing on Photobucket's site about having to start paying them and there was no prior warning that they are going to start charging.

I'm convinced this is some sort of a hack. I'm going to give it a few days and see if Photobucket returns to normal.
fountainhall

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by fountainhall »

I'm sure it's a hack! The notice says to go to P500. Go there and you are into a member's page!! My library is still fine but all my photos on all my posts here were deleted over a period of about 30 minutes.
fountainhall

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by fountainhall »

I notice aussie's photos in the Nanjing Shanghai thread are still up. I assume he used a different way of uploading
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote:I assume he used a different way of uploading
Yes. There are several photo hosting sources besides photobucket that work for including photos with posts on this board.

See: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2489

That is another reason I believe this is a hack aimed at profiting from gullible people. I can't imagine Photobucket truly believes people who have been using their system free of charge, along with the fact there are plenty of other free photo hosting sites, are going to be willing to fork over $400.

Even if this actually is Photobucket's doing, $400 ?!?!? Get real! If they're going to get that much money from people, I will not be among them. I'll be sorry if this board ends up losing all the photos that have been posted via Photobucket over the years, but I'd rather see that happen than succumb to a ripoff.
fountainhall

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by fountainhall »

What is curious is that whilst most of my photos have been deleted, a handful in various threads remain. Yet all are from photobucket.

My photobucket library remains intact. After I emailed photobucket to find out why this is happening, I received this email notice by return -
WE NOTICED THAT YOU HAVE BEEN USING PHOTOBUCKET FOR THIRD PARTY HOSTING
TO RESTORE YOUR THIRD PARTY HOSTED IMAGES,
PLEASE UPGRADE TO A PLUS 500 PLAN.
A link is provided but I am not opening it in case it contains a virus.

If photobucket was changing its policies to charge users, I would expect it to mail users some time in advance so as to make copies of all photos if they did not wish to pay whatever fee individuals were to be charged. But I received no advance notice. An indication of a hack?

Interestingly, on the blocked images it requests photo owners to go to http://www.photobucket/P500. Yet I went to that site and was automatically directed to the page of another member. So something is very weird with the site.
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote:What is curious is . . .
To me this whole problem is curious. It also is not curious. I believe we know exactly what is going on. Everything points to only one thing - hack. If this is some kind of a hack, I hope Photobucket can get things back to normal soon.

Whatever you do, do NOT open any emails you might receive from Photobucket. Simply delete it. If the email came from a hacker, God knows what it might contain.

If anyone did open a recent email from Photobucket, my recommendation is to first delete it and then run whatever malware and virus detection software you have - before doing anything else with your computer. I also suggest backing up your important files and documents onto a flash drive. Reading further news about Mr. Trump can wait until after you do what you can do to make sure your computer is cleaned of any detectable viruses . . .
User avatar
Moses
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:41 pm
Has thanked: 31 times
Been thanked: 15 times
Contact:

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by Moses »

It is not a hack...

They just changed terms and conditions since June 28
http://photobucket.com/terms
Types of Accounts, Pricing and Limits

Visiting : There is no cost to visit the Site or to register as a Member.

Free account : Each individual Member gets one free account that provides 2 GB of free storage or space available for your original photo files, or videos under 10min. The free account does not allow any image linking or 3rd party image hosting. If a free account Member exceeds their Content Limit, their account will be immediately suspended and they will need to become a “Paying Member” (defined below) in order to continue accessing their account. You can upgrade to a Plus account at any time.

Ad-free Account : The Ad-free Account offers Members the ability to use the Site without seeing any third party banner advertisements when logged into your Ad-free Account (note, viewers of your images within Photobucket will see ads unless they, too, have Plus accounts and you will continue to see Photobucket offers and announcements). This account level is available for $2.49 / month, payable by the Member on a monthly recurring basis.

Plus Account : The Plus Account offers several paid options that may give the Paying Member more storage, bandwidth, 3rd party image hosting, image linking and/or other services as outlined below. Once and during such period of time in which you subscribe to and pay for a Plus Account, we will consider you a "Paying Member." Please note that all Plus Account subscriptions are billed annually at the commencement of the service. Photobucket may also offer a monthly billing option for its Plus Accounts (see terms and restrictions, below).
Available Plus Account Plans : Photobucket offers the following Plus Account Plans:
  • o Plus 50 Plan: 52 GB of Storage for $59.99 / Year. The Plus 50 Plan does not allow any image linking or 3rd party image hosting.
  • o Plus 100 Plan: 102 GB of Storage for $99.99 / Year. The Plus 100 Plan allows for unlimited image linking but does not allow 3rd party image hosting.
  • o Plus 500 Plan: 500 GB of Storage and unlimited bandwidth for $399.99 / Year. The Plus 500 Plan allows for unlimited image linking and unlimited 3rd party image hosting.
Local private gay guides and companions
[*] in South East Asia http://siamroads.com
[*] in Thailand http://bkktour.info/
User avatar
Moses
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:41 pm
Has thanked: 31 times
Been thanked: 15 times
Contact:

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by Moses »

There is mob on their FaceBook page... ppl call that "ransom" and "shit" but changes are original - from Photobucket... I'm sorry for bad news.

Gaybutton, let's talk in PM, I may find solution for you.
Local private gay guides and companions
[*] in South East Asia http://siamroads.com
[*] in Thailand http://bkktour.info/
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by Gaybutton »

Moses wrote:I'm sorry for bad news.
They must be out of their minds. Ok, if anyone can find a solution, it's Moses. I hope so. I have 840 photos stored with Photobucket and every one of them are for use on this board.

Even if I could easily transfer all my photos to another hosting site, I would have to wade through, find, and edit every post that included a Photobucket photo to get the photos to appear again. Not only that, but I would also have to remember which photos go with the post - and then wade through all my photos to find the ones to link up. At the moment this board has 67915 posts. Obviously I can't wade through all the posts to restore the photos.

I didn't know Photobucket has a Facebook page. I just read it. People dumb enough to pay them are saying once they paid, their photos still don't show up on their web sites.

Also, since many photos on this board appear from the contributions of several members, then we would all have to give Photobucket their $400 - per year. From me they'll get nothing. Again, I'd rather lose all the photos than pay them so much as 1 penny. They betrayed their users.

In other words, Photobucket - you want to suddenly hold all of our photos hostage? You want us to pay a ransom? No thanks. Fuck you. Keep 'em.

I smell a class action lawsuit on the horizon for Photobucket.

Meanwhile, until Moses can find a solution, those of you who want your photos restored on your posts - since you can't edit your posts, don't forget that I still can. If you transfer the photos to another hosting site and send me, via PM, the information needed - I will try to restore the photos within your posts for you.
thaiworthy

Re: NOTICE - Photobucket Problem - READ THIS

Post by thaiworthy »

I read through the updated terms of service and it does indeed to be saying what is claimed, but all my photos are still there and it looks the same as it always has. The last photo I shared here is this one. So I don't know why I'm not having a problem. I am sure I have less than 2 GB of files there and my account is still free. But yet I still seem to be able to do image linking to my older photos.

My last shared photo was from the climate change thread, and it still seems intact. Maybe if I tried uploading a photo now, after the change in terms of service, the same thing will happen to me?

Image

Also, some news to verify what has already been reported here. It does not support the theory of any hacking but is a genuine change in terms of service.

https://www.ghacks.net/2017/06/30/photo ... ed-images/

Some more useful links on alternative sites.

https://www.lifewire.com/free-image-hos ... es-3486329

I sometimes use postimage.org, and last time I went there had a special section for "sexy" photos that would be a problem on photo bucket, if that's your bag.

http://postimage.io
Post Reply