The answer from RS was something to the effect of, "We're not sure, so check your security log and it will say something like 'Failed attempt to login using Garb******' " (using your example as I don't recall it verbatim either)
He posted their full password, with no ******'s.
The ***'s is a recent thing he switched over to today only.
You may have been lurking for a different conversation than the one I refer to.
Other people who were there will remember.
One password was like monkeynuts or something. But I can't remember exactly.