Houzz--Data Breach Notification

I didn't, but sounds like a phishing email. Houzz has nothing to do with Equifax.

I thought so too, but I went to Houzz.com separately and it required me to reset my password.

I didn't get that email either and agree with golfergirl, sounds like a phishing scam.

Anything like that I delete without opening it. Why did you have to reset your password? Are you saying that email was legitimate?

Since houzz has no personal info about me, except a gmail address that I seldom use except for messages here, I'm not sure what "data" could be accessed?

irma, below is the message. I thought it was "phishy" too, so I opened another window and just went to houzz.com directly rather than using the link in the email. Houzz had me reset, so I assumed it was legit.

Olychick--I agree. Houzz itself didn't particularly concern me, but I'm a bit more concerned about the "data breach from another service" mentioned in the email. What 'other service'? If not Equifax, then where, and is there a way to look further?

Sounds like a phishing email to me. Did you hover over the sender's info?

I got it too, but before I read it, I noticed I was logged out of Houzz and my password was wrong when I tried to log in. This was before I even read the email so I think it's legit.

Why does it have to have anything to do with Equifax? It's not like databases of customer information and other files aren't being hacked pretty much all of the time now.

There are plenty of ripe plums out there waiting to be picked. I've even had a department store chain that wanted me to sign up with it ask me for my social security number, as apparently the principal customer identifier.

It boggles the mind. I wonder how many other shoppers were mindlessly coughing that key identity theft information up.

No, Houzz and Equifax are not related, but the Equifax data breach exposed email addresses AND PASSWORDS associated with the email addresses. So, if your email is on the dark web (mine is, and has been since the Adobe hack several years ago), so is your password that was associated with the email address at the time of the breach.

It's always a good idea to change your password regularly, not to use the same email address/password combo on more than one site, and to use a password manager.

Must alert Wabbit and Daffy Duck

Well, I guess my underlying question is this: can I look somewhere to find out what of my data, passwords, etc. is out there and available for ne'er-do-wells to enjoy? If Houzz knows that my data is out there, how is it that they know this and what data is it? I'm aware of the Equifax breach and, at least according to them, I wasn't impacted; if there's a new breach somewhere else that I'm not aware of yet, I'd like to know.

Maybe contact Houzz and ask for more details. The email was very vague, I'm sure purposely. They should tell us what was impacted, it's only right.

I emailed them. I'll let you know if I find out anything.

AvatarWalt - yes. https://haveibeenpwned.com/ 

If that isn't a phishing scam, there are so many breaches it would be hard to pinpoint which one it is referencing, but my first guess would be Yahoo's.

That could be. This is the only thing I use my very old Yahoo account for.

My nom de plume for this site and a few others (just a few) uses an old Yahoo account too but I haven't received a notification.

I haven't received any notifications from Houzz.

I have no idea what my password is for this forum. I have the forums that I visit bookmarked and that's how I get in.

They responded to me. It was a legitimate notice and they said they regularly search the web to protect users and noticed my email and password from this site was posted on the web somewhere from another breach. They reset the password as a precaution but have no indication anyone has accessed the Houzz accounts.

These breaches are so frustrating.

Hi everyone,

So sorry some of you were impacted by this, but glad you found the notification useful to secure your accounts here and elsewhere.

There is no indication that your accounts here were impacted, and unfortunately, we don't always know which site was breached - only that the specific combination of email and password that you also used here was vulnerable.

If you use the same email and password on other sites, it is a great idea to update those as well, and to update all your passwords regularly to help keep your data safe on the web.

Hope that helps!

@AvatarWalt - check out https://haveibeenpwned.com/
The fact that your email is in the list of breached password doesn't mean all your accounts are accessible, it only means that one or more of your previously-used passwords has been made public. I would just make a habbit of using unique passwords across different websites that are important for you, and resetting them occasionally.

I got the Houzz message in my Yahoo mail. Later I got another claiming a hack of my Apple account. Apple uses 2-factor verification. When I opened my Apple account nothing seemed amiss so I logged out.

Could this be yet another problem for Yahoo?

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