IDENTITY UNDER ATTACK · EPISODE 08

The Recovery Number Nobody Checked

An hour before a launch post, the page asked Jordan to prove it was him. The code went to a phone nobody on the team had ever owned.

Identity Under Attack, episode 8: The Recovery Number Nobody Checked. Fragment 08, the recovery number.

The company's most public account asked Jordan to prove who he was. As far as the platform knew, the answer was nobody who still worked there.

10:05 AM. Wednesday.

The launch post for Maya's brand refresh was scheduled for eleven. At five past ten, the company's main social page signed Jordan out and asked him to confirm it was really him.

No problem. He tapped send a code.

Two account recovery screens: a code sent to a phone number ending in 47, and an alternative link sent to an email address at a design agency that has since closed.

The code went to a phone number ending in 47. Nobody on the team had a number ending in 47.

He tried another way. That sent a link to an email address at the design agency that had set up the page six years earlier. The agency had closed two years ago.

The rest of this episode is for members. Membership is free.