People Accessing Download Page Without Paying

[maryann_shank]

I have an issue with dozens of people who have accessed one of my products (Item 180315) without paying. Most did not download the ebook; several did. This all happened on one date: April 3, 2009. I noticed in my StatCounter logs that two people were listed who weren't familiar to me. I discovered that slews of people were listed in the "Free Download" log. Nobody odd is listed in the "Paid" log.



I have never made that item a free download for any reason. I have expiration times on it of 5 downloads. (I just added 72 hours as well).



I don't understand what is going on. How did these people get access to a free download that never existed? And how were some able to actually download it?



Thank you for your help.



(Incidentally, I have over 60 items listed for several months now, and this is the only troublesome one.)



MaryAnn

[E-junkie_Guru]

The downloads listed in your Free Downloads log are downloads that occurred because of links sent manually using the "Send free download link" function in your Seller Admin. I think that also logs any links sent using the "Send Updates/Newsletter" function as well -- basically any links issued which were not sent as a result of a buyer taking a regular order to checkout.



If you are seeing downloads logged there when you know you did not send any free download links, then it sounds like someone hacked into your E-junkie account and issued some free links without your knowledge. If you did not have any difficulty logging in around that time, they may have guessed your E-junkie password somehow. If you couldn't log in around then and needed to reset your password, they may have actually guessed or hacked your Email account's password, so then they could receive the reset-password messages we send to your email address when using the Forgot Password function. It would be a very good idea to change your E-junkie and Email account passwords now.

[maryann_shank]

Yes, Tyson, that is exactly what I told you this morning. It was an issue with my not understanding your instructions for the email send and how the links worked.

[E-junkie_Guru]

Ah good, glad to hear you figured it out. I didn't see your email reply earlier because the staff working our Helpdesk this morning saw it first and, determining your issue was resolved, closed that ticket before I had a chance to see your reply myself. :^)

[maryann_shank]

What is so embarrassing is that I actually wrote an instruction book on how to use EJ, so you'd think I'd have a better idea of how it works. Oh well. Thanks for checking into it.