Around 10 years ago, Yahoo! used to have this email program for minors that my mom signed me up for. Since then they have discontinued the system, while I was still a minor. Because of that, I have been unable to access my email for about 5 years, and I stopped caring about the email. But today, I got an email from no-reply@cc.yahoo-inc.com
saying
It looks like you haven't signed into 2*****************************b3 for quite some time. Please sign into your account on Yahoo! within the next 60 days if you'd like to keep your account active.
I noticed one main thing:
- My Yahoo! email wasn't
2*****************************b3
But I still decided to try to get my account back, and resetting my password I got it.
I checked my settings, and all the information from my old email is still there (like my name and a few other small things). So I tried to check my mail to see if it kept anything, but it redirected me to another page with a header of
Add a Yahoo! ID and email address
Upgrade your account by choosing a new Yahoo! ID / email address
Then requires that I set a new email address.
But now I am confused, why is my account name this long string of random characters, and not my old email?
Best Answer
> We have confirmed, based on a recent investigation, that a copy of certain user account information was stolen from our network in late 2014 by what we believe is a state-sponsored actor. The account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (the vast majority with bcrypt) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. The ongoing investigation suggests that stolen information did not include unprotected passwords, payment card data, or bank account information; payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system that the investigation has found to be affected.
Was my account affected? We are notifying potentially affected users by email and posting additional information to our website. Additionally, we are asking potentially affected users to promptly change their passwords and adopt alternate means of account verification.
Is the state-sponsored actor still in Yahoo’s network? The ongoing investigation has found no evidence that the state-sponsored actor is currently in Yahoo’s network.
What information was stolen? The stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (the vast majority with bcrypt) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. The ongoing investigation suggests that stolen information did not include unprotected passwords, payment card data, or bank account information; payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system that the investigation has found to be affected.