Warning Email - then no access to LDS.org Account Page

[chanaoleary]

Hello -

I'm sorry to be reaching out here - but perhaps once I explain it will be understandable.

At 11:26 am today, I received an email from ldschurch.org (this resolves to lds.org) - telling me my email address had been changed and that if I did not initiate
that change, I should log in, change it back and then change my password. (As an IT security architect, I understand that things can "happen", so I jump on these things right away.)

I attempted immediately to log in. I can log in successfully - and can reach almost every page on the site - but I cannot reach the Account details page. It gives me only a blank page with a spinner in the middle of it. The same happens when I click on the suggested link to the Support site mentioned in the email.

It seems almost like a DDoS attack - but, there is nothing trending anywhere that would indicate that was going on - and since most of the site is up - that seems unlikely.

It has been almost 12 hours now and I still cannot access my account to see what is going on.

Can anyone from the tech side of things tell me what's going on - and how I can access my account? I have never had any problem accessing any section of the website - and this is a little unnerving, especially after receiving the email I did. I doubt my machine is compromised, I work for an IT security company - and it is tightly locked down.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

Kind regards,

Chana

[jonesrk]

From this post https://tech.lds.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=92&t=25017 it looks like an internal test server has sent emails out. Did the warning email you received refer to the ldsaccount-int.lds.org server like that post did?

[chanaoleary]

Yes - it did. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one...

However, I can't tell if this is the same issue with no email change actually taking place because I still can't get into the Account Details page. I am still getting just a blank page when I try to access it. Also, when clicking on the "if you have problems, contact Support"-link, I am getting a "ldsaccount-int.lds.org refused to connect." error.

If this is a glitch, it's a pretty serious one...

Thanks for your response...it's very appreciated.

[eblood66]

However, I can't tell if this is the same issue with no email change actually taking place because I still can't get into the Account Details page. I am still getting just a blank page when I try to access it. Also, when clicking on the "if you have problems, contact Support"-link, I am getting a "ldsaccount-int.lds.org refused to connect." error.

What is the URL of the page you are trying to access for Account Details? I don't see anything labeled Account Details. Do you mean Account Settings? In either case, can you go directly to https://ldsaccount.lds.org?

From what one of the employees has said, ldsaccount-int.lds.org in an internal test server and should not be accessible to the public. So you shouldn't be able to reach it.

[chanaoleary]

Well - the link to the internal server is what they used for the Support link in the email they sent me.

And, yes, Account Settings is the page I can't access. I can see other pages, i.e. Directory, etc. Account Settings is not displaying. The link you mentioned for ldsaccount.... Displays a blank page. No success trying it directly.

Thanks -

Chana

[eblood66]

Well - the link to the internal server is what they used for the Support link in the email they sent me.

It sounds to me like the church was doing some sort of internal testing and a bunch of test emails were unintentionally sent.

And, yes, Account Settings is the page I can't access. I can see other pages, i.e. Directory, etc. Account Settings is not displaying. The link you mentioned for ldsaccount.... Displays a blank page. No success trying it directly.

I can access that page and I'm pretty sure others can too. So there isn't a general outage. The question is whether this is a problem with your account or with the network.

What happens if you close down your browser, open it back up and immediately go to https://ldsaccount.lds.org? Does it show the blank page or does it ask you to log in? If you get the login page then click the Help link and look for the link to select your question from a list. Look through the questions to verify none of them apply and then select the 'I didn't find an answer to my question' link. It will refer you to these forums (which you have already done) so select the 'Additional Support Options' and after confirming that you've already checked for an answer it will provide a form to ask for support.

Another alternative is to ask your ward clerk to call Local Unit Support on your behalf and have them check your ldsaccount for problems.

[russellhltn]

And, yes, Account Settings is the page I can't access. I can see other pages, i.e. Directory, etc. Account Settings is not displaying. The link you mentioned for ldsaccount.... Displays a blank page. No success trying it directly.

Some pages won't work if you have private browsing/incognito turned on.

[chanaoleary]

I don't have private browsing or incognito turned on - thanks, though.

[jonesrk]

I am getting a "ldsaccount-int.lds.org refused to connect." error.

You have to be VPN'n in or connected to the internal networks to get to those internal servers.

[thinwinters]

I too have had a similar experience. Unfortunately I cannot log in to change the password back. Nor can I report the activity to "Support Center". However I can access my donations records which appear to be undisturbed and I can access my Ward Directory which also appears undisturbed except their appears to a non-current (Over 8 year sold) email assigned as my personal email address, which I cannot change.
When I attempt to log in directly to My Account I get the ever spinning search icon.....with no connection.
What next?

Sincerely,

Terence Campbell
thinwintersslc@gmail.com
Georgetown Ward
Kearns, Utah