Wrong email in Norton 360 Backup settings

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
1

I have just completed a long on-line chat with Norton after having discovered someone else's email address in backup settings, It would appear that a product key can be used to register the product multiple times so I can only conclude that no on-line check is made when the key is activated, this does not seem very likely but I can't think of any other way that someone else's email address could be there. 

It gets a little more serious as I have now found out that my wife ran a backup using these settings and that despite the fact that no password was present or requested this backup was successful! i.e. it backed up to the other user's account! This is of course somewhat worrying, can someone out there please explain what is going on?

2

My wife installed Norton 360 yesterday for the first time on her PC, and reported that all was okay. I installed Norton 360 on my PC today and began to explore the available options. The first to interest me was the Backup facility, so I looked at the configuration options whilst discussing this with my wife, who told me she had already completed a backup. I asked her where she had backed it up to and she replied that she didn't know! 

I was a little concerned so looked at the options for an on-line backup, clicked on "Manage Backup Sets" then "Cick here to activate your secure online storage" the system then displayed something like "Gathering information" and then announced that it had found my on-line account and invited me to enter the password.

BUT! it had found someone else's account - this is where the email bit comes in - and where I started to get very very concerned, because it was not my email nor was it my wife's email address nor was it one I recognised.

My wife tells me that when she ran the backup she just took the default options, BUT as there are only three of them,

1. On-line

2. C: Drive - (What kind of idiot would back-up to the C: drive??)

3. D: CD/DVD Drive (Her PC Doesn't have a D: drive!)

I hoped it had not backed up to the other person's on-line location somehow having a blank password and allowed this person - presumably the seller of the product activation key - access to all her backed up data... eeek!

 

I contacted Norton support and had a lengthy and entirely futile on-line chat with two persons who were clearly following a script and hadn't a clue what to do or say.

 

No other people have had access to either of our computers.

 

I can accesss the correct account using our email address and password.

 

My wife has not tried to restore any files, when she realised that the on-line backup was poiting to a wrong email address she instigated a delete backup, which several hours later is still running.

 

My theory is that the seller has registered this product key himself and then gone on to sell the key possibly more than once, thus exploiting a vulnerability in the on-line validation of the key that allows the sysem to report that three licences are still available, so you'd only find out when you went to activate the secure on-line backup option.

 

I'm very concerned that this could have been allowed as:

 

1 The software was downloaded from a legitimate Norton site and

 

2 The software accepted the Product key supplied by the seller

 

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply - I would be most grateful for any help.

 

3

Hello again iangarth.

 

Shame about your wife deleting that backup it might have told us a lot. :smileysad:

 

When it has finished deleting, get her to go into N360: Backup: Manage Backup Sets (the place I would normally run a backup from) and see what it says by default under the "Where" tab. She should also look on her C drive and see if there is a folder in the root directory called N360_BACKUP.

 

If you log onto your Norton Account, how many licenses does it say you have used?

 

If you open N360: Backup: Manage Backup Sets; on your machine, where does it offer as the default backup location?

 

You say that the software was downloaded from a "legitimate Norton site" can you give us the URL?

 

Who was the seller and does the name or contact details appear to relate in any way to the e-mail address you see?

4

Thanks again for your interest, I cannot access mt wife's PC at the moment but will do as soon as I can, in the mean time I have logged into our Norton account and it is still saying only one licence used, however it still says "trial" despite activation earlier on two machines.

 

On my machine the default is option 1 - online

 

The URL was: http://us.norton.com/downloads-trial-norton-360

 

The seller was: "[Removed]" on Ebay UK with 100% positive feedback, nothing to tie them to email "[Removed]"

 

I've now been able to look at my wife's PC and it will not allow entry into "Manage Backup Sets" it says "already performing backup operation" or some such, so I can't say what her default location was set to.

 

She does have a C:\N360_BACKUP folder.

 

[Edit: Email address removed as per Participation Guidelines and Terms of Service ]

5

Hi iangarth.

 

First the good news.  The N360_BACKUP directory on your wife's C: drive indicates to me that she most probably backed up to the C: drive when she did her backup.  Not sure why it will not let her back in to the Backup but a reboot might be a good idea.

 

I am puzzled as to why your account is showing only "trial" when you think you activated two full licenses.  This is not an area I am an expert in so I will seek advice and hopefully someone will get back to you soon.

 

Thanks for posting the vendor name and the mysterious e-mail address.  The moderators here will probably remove the email address as it is technically a breach of the posting rules.  Do not worry about it.

 

So if you could let us know if your wife can get into her Backup options after a reboot it would be helpful.  In the meantime, let me check on the registration process.

6

A lot of dodgy sellers will take a 3-system version of Norton and sell the same key to more than one person.

 

The easy way to tell is if you do not get the full 366 days when you activate the first system.

Or when you click the button for your Norton account and see another email address filled in.

Note I am talking about the Norton account and not the online backup account, I'm not familiar enough with that.

 

The normal thing that happens with a new legitamate key is that the first activation gives 366 days and you are prompted to enter your email account and a password to your existing Norton account or to create a new one.

 

The second and third activations do not prompt for a Norton account email because it was already created with the first activation.

 

Whoever did the first activation should have made a Norton account and that person should be able to access that account and see the key listed.

 

Dave

7
iangarth wrote:

Thanks again for your interest, I cannot access mt wife's PC at the moment but will do as soon as I can, in the mean time I have logged into our Norton account and it is still saying only one licence used, however it still says "trial" despite activation earlier on two machines.

 

On my machine the default is option 1 - online

 

The URL was: http://us.norton.com/downloads-trial-norton-360

 

The seller was: "[Removed]" on Ebay UK with 100% positive feedback, nothing to tie them to email "[Removed]"

 

I've now been able to look at my wife's PC and it will not allow entry into "Manage Backup Sets" it says "already performing backup operation" or some such, so I can't say what her default location was set to.

 

She does have a C:\N360_BACKUP folder.

 

[Edit: Email address removed as per Participation Guidelines and Terms of Service ]

When you activated your products did you enter the product key on either or both computers? There is a difference between activation and registration. That could explain why your account still shows Trial.

 

What security software did you have installed before installing 360? If it was not already 360, you will have to fully remove that software with the appropriate removal utility for that software.

 

 

 

8

Follow DaveH's suggestions to verify your Norton account, not your backup account.  Make sure that it is showing the product key that you just purchased and activated (your old key will be listed too, but it should not be the latest one showing), and that the subscription period and number of available installs is correct. 

 

You wrote: "I can accesss the correct account using our email address and password."  Is this an account you created using a previous Norton product, or one you created with this version of Norton 360 that you just purchased?

9

The product key was enetered on both computers.

 

Previously both had Norton Inernet Security installed, this was removed prior to installation of Norton 360 using Norton's removal tool.

 

The Norton account was created with a previous version of Norton.

 

I have two questions:

 

1 What is the difference between registration and activation?

 

2 Does the process by which the product key is activated check that the product key is valid and has not been used to activate a product previously?

10

I can confirm that my wife's backup was to her C:\N360_BACKUP folder. Phew!

 

When I click on "Access Norton Account" in Norton  360 it takes me to our correct on-line Norton account, it's only the on-line backup that contains the wrong email address.

 

 

11

My wife's PC says 369 days remaining

My PC says 370 days remaining

the online account says "trial", one licence used and a different product key to the one used to activate the product.

12
iangarth wrote:

The product key was enetered on both computers.

 

Previously both had Norton Inernet Security installed, this was removed prior to installation of Norton 360 using Norton's removal tool.

 

The Norton account was created with a previous version of Norton.

 

I have two questions:

 

1 What is the difference between registration and activation?

 

When you install Norton products for the first time, you enter an email address to register the product with Norton. When you enter the product key, you are activating your copy of Norton.

 

2 Does the process by which the product key is activated check that the product key is valid and has not been used to activate a product previously?

 

The key is checked for previous activation, but as long as there is still time left on the subscription, there would not be an error created.

 The correct number of days showing on your 2 computers indicates they have both been successfully activated with your new key.

 

The different email address showing in the backup section is still puzzling. Have you tried clicking on the Sign In link at the top right of the main 360 screen? Then see if you get the correct email showing in the backup.

 

 

 

13

I Have clicked "sign in" on top ridght of maib screen and logged in with correct email address, the backup email address is still wrong.

14

I do not use 360, so @Andmike  may be able to say if this can be done.

 

Is there some way to sign out of the email account in the backup section?

 

Maybe another try with Norton chat can help. A different set of eyes can make a difference some time.

 

 

 

15

I can see no way to change the email address in the "Activate Backup" box, yet if I click "Help" in the top right hand corner it takes me to the correct Norton Account and even logs me in if I have just logged out.

 

The people on the Norton on-line chat support seemed to be reading from a script. The first one said "I can definitely help you with this problem" before transfering me to another person who asked all the same questions then told me they could not help and told me to contact the vendor, which I had already done and got no response whatsoever.

 

I would like to place a bet that if I were to initiate another chat session I would get a similar fob-off.

 

How does Norton get the account details for the backup, and why are they different to the account details it gets for my account?

I.e. How can it find the wrong account for backup yet the correct account for help?

Is it possible to register the installed and activated Norton 360 in order to correct this?

I can't find anything that says "Register" or similar anywere in any of the screens.

16

Hello again iangarth.

 

Sorry that the others have not been able to get this sorted.  I suspect I am not going to be able to either, as it looks to me as if you were sold shares of someone else's package.  I hope I am wrong but it does look that way.  Under these circumstances even the fairly generous Norton refund policy does not help as they have nothing to refund.  :smileysad:

 

I hope you hear back from the vendor and that I am proved wrong.

 

However, a few more thoughts, that may be worth pursuing.  

 

As I understand it you have still not activated your online backup, as you have not entered the password.  If that is correct, I had wondered whether you could just change the email address that appears in the prompt, to the correct one, and then enter your own password and see what happens.  However your latest post of "I can see no way to change the email address in the "Activate Backup" box." seems to block that.  Are you saying that even if you click on the odd email address it does not allow you to alter it at all?

 

I am slightly puzzled by your " if I click "Help" in the top right hand corner it takes me to the correct Norton Account and even logs me in if I have just logged out".  If I go to the top right and click on "Support" and then "Help" it takes me to a general Norton support page.  I assume you mean the "Signed in as."?  Can you actually sign out from there?

 

I am also puzzled as to why you see around 360 days of license showing in N360 (which shows your correct account email at the top right), but not when you go into account management for that same email address.  Like you, I find this most odd.  Which is why I recommend that you once again contact Norton Chat on this link (it might be interesting to know what link you previously used).  Explain your problem and also let them know that you have beaten the Forum Gurus (hopefully that will give them a challenge).  They have the power to change some things and check data behind the scenes.  They should be able to explain why there are these oddities, and advise you if it does appear to them, that you have been sold a share of someone else's product.  There may be some way that they can peel the your two licenses away from the other subscription.  Keep a note of your exchange and the reference number you are given, in case anything needs to be followed up further.

 

I look forward to hearing back from you and hope that the news will be more encouraging.

 

Good luck.

 

 

17

Thank you for all your help, I also suspect that there will be no resolution of this. I have tried to explain what happens regarding logging in as well as I could, but there's no substitute to watching over my shoulder - I've just tried to find out if it's getting the wrong email from my system or the Symantec server by disableing my internet connection and can confirm that it is unable to gather the data without the internet connection and is therefore definiteley getting this from the Symantec server, so it must be using a different method to gather data when connecting to a Norton account for backup as opposed to normal account access.

I will psych myself up for another battle with Norton chat personel when I can make a bit of time after Easter and will report back.

 

I'm thinking "What's to stop the scammers from selling multiple versions of a product key, without a penny of the revenue getting to Norton?" maybe that will get there attention! After all no-one will know unless they try to activate the on-line backup...

 

I've just had a look on ebay UK and there are some sellers on there who appear to be doing just that - they even say that the on-line backup is not supported!

 

Happy Easter to All

18

And a Happy Easter to you inagarth.

 

I hope that after you and Norton staff have had a break over Easter, your next contact with Chat will be a bit more productive.  :smileywink:

19

I have just completed a long on-line chat with Norton after having discovered someone else's email address in backup settings, It would appear that a product key can be used to register the product multiple times so I can only conclude that no on-line check is made when the key is activated, this does not seem very likely but I can't think of any other way that someone else's email address could be there. 

It gets a little more serious as I have now found out that my wife ran a backup using these settings and that despite the fact that no password was present or requested this backup was successful! i.e. it backed up to the other user's account! This is of course somewhat worrying, can someone out there please explain what is going on?