UPDATE: Resolved If you’ve ordered the Essential PH-1, do not reply to any email asking for extra personal info

[D13H4RD]

UPDATE: Andy Rubin has apologized for the colossal screwup, claiming that an error caused this whole debacle. A snippet of the blog post can be found below;

 

"Yesterday, we made an error in our customer care function that resulted in personal information from approximately 70 customers being shared with a small group of other customers. We have disabled the misconfigured account and have taken steps internally to add safeguards against this happening again in the future. We sincerely apologize for our error and will be offering the impacted customers one year of LifeLock. We will also continue to invest more in our infrastructure and customer care, which will only be more important as we grow.

Being a founder in an intensely competitive business means you occasionally have to eat crow. It's humiliating, it doesn't taste good, and often, it's a humbling experience. As Essential's founder and CEO, I’m personally responsible for this error and will try my best to not repeat it.

I remain heartened and motivated by the groundswell of support that Essential has experienced since unveiling the company on May 30th. We continue to believe deeply in our vision and the innovation we are bringing to life via our Home, Phone and 360 Camera products. I humbly thank our customers and channel partners for your patience and understanding as we proceed with the launch of our first products."

 

Not mentioned in this was that affected customers will also get their PH-1 for free.

 

Well done Andy.

 

ORIGINAL POST

Well, it’s not been great for Essential Products, Andy Rubin’s new company.

 

From a missed launch date to missed shipping deadlines and nightmares faced by customers when trying to cancel their orders due to that, there is another issue that is becoming quite the sore thumb.

 

Those who ordered the phone recently received an email which looks to come from Essential asking for extra personal info such as a photo of their ID along with a signature and address. To add insult to injury, the email was chained, meaning that those who received it can see what others have replied.

 

The email address which sent these have since been taken offline by Essential, and the company put out a statement saying that it is aware of the situation and that it will keep users updated.

 

Though to me, this is a major blunder, and things need to be rectified soon. Honestly, if this wasn’t run by the Father of Android himself, we’d have already turned a blind eye after this.

 

Source: https://www.xda-developers.com/psa-potential-phishing-alert-essential/

[PlayStation 2]

We're still gonna turn a blind eye to it.

[The Benjamins]

I never knew the Essential Phone has been having suck a rough start.

[dizmo]

There's email scams like this all the time. I get many from many different banks, for example. 

I can't believe anyone who would buy that phone would be stupid enough to send that information. They should know there's no need. 

[RadiatingLight]

3 minutes ago, dizmo said:

There's email scams like this all the time. I get many from many different banks, for example. 

I can't believe anyone who would buy that phone would be stupid enough to send that information. They should know there's no need. 

but this seems like it actually came from essential themselves.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

but this seems like it actually came from essential themselves.

Doesn't matter. There's no need for that transaction to require photo ID. 

[NumLock21]

Want a phone, buy from a reputable retail store or your mobile carrier store.

[dalekphalm]

26 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

but this seems like it actually came from essential themselves.

Which is all the more ironic - anyone who's looking to buy something like the PH-1 should know better.

[D13H4RD]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Doesn't matter. There's no need for that transaction to require photo ID. 

That should’ve been an obvious red flag

[SpaceGhostC2C]

1 hour ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

If you’ve ordered the Essential PH-1, do not reply to any email asking for extra personal info

 

And if you haven't, don't reply either

 

[D13H4RD]

Welp, the saga continues.

 

Apparently, those who bought the phone are now reporting fraudulent transactions made on the card that they used to buy the phone.

 

What an absolute shitshow.

[imreloadin]

11 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Welp, the saga continues.

 

Apparently, those who bought the phone are now reporting fraudulent transactions made on the card that they used to buy the phone.

 

What an absolute shitshow.

Were they by chance the same people who replied to the email lol?

[D13H4RD]

52 minutes ago, imreloadin said:

Were they by chance the same people who replied to the email lol?

By the looks of it, no.

 

The email didn’t exactly ask for credit card details 

[TVwazhere]

Never heard of this phone until now.... First impressions: Looks very meh for the price, and thats assuming it had none of the issues the company is having. Glad I have my S8+

[SansVarnic]

Bummer for all those involved. I hope works out for the best for Essential Products. To get hit like that can kill a fledgling company.  

[dizmo]

7 hours ago, NumLock21 said:

Want a phone, buy from a reputable retail store or your mobile carrier store.

Essential isn't a disreputable company...nor is there anything wrong with buying online.

3 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

Never heard of this phone until now.... First impressions: Looks very meh for the price, and thats assuming it had none of the issues the company is having. Glad I have my S8+

It's a purists dream, give or take a couple of features. For the materials used, it's a steal of a deal.

If they fixed the camera (easy with updates) then it'd be a really solid device.

I can't wait of next years iteration.

1 hour ago, SansVarnic said:

Bummer for all those involved. I hope works out for the best for Essential Products. To get hit like that can kill a fledgling company.  

I'm pretty sure a company with over a billion dollars won't have too much trouble surviving

[D13H4RD]

Nope.

 

It was not a phishing attack. It was actually a colossal screwup.

[Jito463]

I've never heard about Essential until now.  I'm kind of glad, given the circumstances.  It's entirely possible this was just a small number of people directly affected, but I'd hate to be one of them.

On 8/30/2017 at 0:25 PM, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Welp, the saga continues.

 

Apparently, those who bought the phone are now reporting fraudulent transactions made on the card that they used to buy the phone.

 

What an absolute s***show.

I'd suggest updating your original post with this new info, presuming you have a link to information about it.

[D13H4RD]

Just now, Jito463 said:

I've never heard about Essential until now.  I'm kind of glad, given the circumstances.  It's entirely possible this was just a small number of people directly affected, but I'd hate to be one of them.

I'd suggest updating your original post with this new info, presuming you have a link to information about it.

The issue is actually resolved. Updating...