[bowlofpetunias]

Here's what may have happened: when you go to LinkedIn, you regularly get shown a box (inline) inviting you to do something, like endorse people's skills.

One of those boxes invites you to "grow your network". It's not all that explicit as a call-to-action, as in the text may just be a slogan. The main focal point of that box is a login & password form, which looks exactly like the regular login form that users get when they want to do something that requires explicit re-authentication.

In other words: it's common to have to enter your login/password on LinkedIn, this looks a bit like one of those cases, so users will blindly start typing. If they use the same email/password combo for their email account as for their LinkedIn account, then they've just given LinkedIn access to that email-account.

The box itself is quite deliberately misleading. Unlike the regular invitations to load your addressbook, there are no Google or Yahoo logo's, and no explicit descriptions.

I don't know whether there is a more explicit request for permission at the next step before it starts sucking in conctacts, I don't dare entering a valid password.

If there is a next step that requires explicit confirmation, than this "trap" (which it quite obviously is) is merely annoying and a bit scummy.

If there isn't, I think they have a good case, because this is would basically be phishing in reverse.

[obiterdictum]

I think it's more likely that LinkedIn mobile app grabs your phone contacts, if you happen to give it permissions to do so.

I've noticed that the "People you may know" section started to contain faceless placeholder entries with emails from my address book (though, I'm not sure if/when I've given the iOS app the address book access).

[christoph]

I noticed that recently as well. Some of them actually say "X shared contacts" below them as well. I know for a fact some of these people are not on LinkedIn, so it's essentially building up shadow profiles and trying to get users to "invite" them to the website for them.

[donohoe]

This is exactly what happened to me.

I thought it more of bad UI and lack of attention on my part. Everyone in my address book got an Invite.

LinkedIn need to address this but I think this lawsuit over-states the issue (still need to examine it in full but first impression)

[anodari]

I fell into this trap. Once, when accessing my account, I thought I had forgotten the password, but in truth they were asking for the password to my email and I inadvertently put. It is very common to reuse passwords, I bet they test for reuse and "invade" the e-mail account without permission.