> 4. Customer found that the account was apparently unused and empty

Empty does not equate to unused. This was their old account that they definitely used.

He said in the article that he guessed maybe he used a different account.

This is a lot more believable (esp since he said it) than a conspiracy that PB deleted all photos and built this whole system just to steal $5 a pop -- especially considering how few people must be trying to get back into their 2-decade-old PB accounts in 2026. Hardly seems worth the effort for a scam.

	▲	lutr 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yes. I don't think I'd uploaded anything on that specific account that I recovered.

▲

nekusar 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They were underage when they made the account. That's a whole different and big fucking deal. Means any TOS and contracts and shit are basically null and void.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48571946

	▲	xp84 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		? What's your point here? And almost everyone born after 1980 created their first online accounts while they were a minor, including I'm assuming 70% of Photobucket users.