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Reminds me of harvesting ICQ numbers. There was a time when you could search 6-digit ICQ numbers for expired freemail addresses like Hotmail (they deleted your
by WA 13y ago
Reminds me of harvesting ICQ numbers. There was a time when you could search 6-digit ICQ numbers for expired freemail addresses like Hotmail (they deleted your account after a while), register that freemail address and reset your ICQ number password to get a brand "new" 6-digit number. I think this doesn't work anymore, since most freemail hosters don't "free" expired email addresses but keep them locked.
It still works if you find an expired domain name, register the domain name and then do the whole password-reset procedure. Might be cheaper to buy a 6 digit number on eBay though :)
- fredsted 13y agoMaybe I'm missing something, but who uses ICQ still? And why not focus on 3-digit numbers? There's a million 6-digit ICQ numbers; not that unique.
- WA 13y agoThis was ~10 years ago. 3-digit numbers were all gone. Having a million 6 digit numbers increases chances to actually get one by registering an expired domain/email address. In times of 9 digit numbers, 6 digit numbers were still sufficiently unique :)
- lurkinggrue 13y agoI still use my ICQ account.... Mind you it's combined into trillian.