Remember the news reports this past week, an AOL employee
sold 92 million email addresses to a spammer for $100,000.
Even though they are under arrest, they had already been
sold and copied several times. AOL is not secure at all,
logon and change your accounts passwords, create a new email
address.
By the very nature of email, THEY will guess many addresses
and you will get spam that was computer generated to
"everybody@ msn.com " or "unknown reader @ yahoo.com" with
the real email address in a Bcc as a random generated
algorithm.
--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
| Moondove wrote:
| > Thank you so very much for all your sound advice. What
was
| > concerning me the most is that this is my private email,
one that
| > only family members know. But like you said if I put it
anywhere I
| > am sure they can snactch it.
| >
| > I do appreciate your taking the time to help.
| > Pilamayaye (thank you)
| > Moondove
| >
| >> Greetings --
| >>
| >> While it's not possible to completely eliminate
spam (unsolicited
| >> commercial email), there are some precautions and steps
you can take
| >> to minimize it's impact:
| >>
| >> 1) Never, ever post your real email address to
publicly accessible
| >> forums or newsgroups, such as this one. For years now,
spammers have
| >> been using software utilities to scan such places to
harvest email
| >> addresses. It's a simple matter to disguise your
posted email
| >> address so that these software "bots" can't obtain
anything useful.
| >> For example, insert some obviously bogus characters or
words into
| >> your reply address, for example: "(e-mail address removed)."
| >>
| >> 2) Never, ever reply to any spam you receive, even to
"unsubscribe"
| >> or "remove" yourself from the spammers' address lists;
you'll only
| >> compound the problem. If spammers had any intention of
honoring the
| >> your desire not to receive spam, they wouldn't have
become spammers
| >> in the first place. When you reply to a spammer, all
you're doing is
| >> confirming that he/she has a valid, marketable email
address.
| >>
| >> 3) Be especially leery of any offers from websites for
free
| >> software, services, information, etc, that require your
email
| >> address, or that require your email address so you can
"login" to
| >> access the offered service and/or information. Many
such sites are
| >> supplementing their income by collecting addresses to
sell to the
| >> spammers. (Of course, not all such sites have
under-handed motives;
| >> it's a judgment call. If the offer seems "too good to
be true," it's
| >> most likely a scam.)
| >>
| >> 4) DO forward any and all spam, with complete headers,
to the
| >> originating ISP with a complaint. Not all ISPs will
make an effort
| >> to shut down the spammers, but many will. One tool
that makes
| >> forwarding such complaints fairly simple is SpamCop
| >> (
http://spamcop.net).
| >>
| >> 4) Another useful tool is MailWasher
(
http://www.mailwasher.net).
| >> This utility allows you to preview your email before
downloading it
| >> from the server. Spammers can even be blacklisted, so
that any
| >> future emails from them will be automatically deleted
from the
| >> server.
| >>
| >> 5) Within Outlook Express, add any spammers to your
Blocked Senders
| >> list, so the their messages are automatically deleted
from the server
| >> without being downloaded to your PC.
| >>
| >>
| >> Bruce Chambers
| >> --
| >> Help us help you:
| >>
| >>
| >>
| >> You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever
count on
| >> having both at once. - RAH
| >>
| >>
| >>
| >>> yGreetings:
| >>>
| >>> In the last month or so I have been receiving spam
that is not only
| >> vulgar and disgusting, it is illegal!! No matter how
many times I
| >> have removed form email from their list, nothing works.
I do not
| >> know where these freaks get people's emails. I suppose
where any
| >> other spammer would. And this mail is just shy of
child
| >> pornagraphy. I have written to microsoft. No
response.
| >>> Their must be something I can do. I want to report
them, because if
| >> they are saying things such as "the "little girl" next
door. I am
| >> sure they will show pedifiles where to go to see that
horror!!!!
| >>> Please, help me.
| >>>
| >>> Thank you
| >>> Moondove
| >>> --
| >>> "I am building a road along side the clouds...."
| >>> Lakhota Prayer
| >>>
| >>>
| >>> "t.cruise" wrote:
| >>>
| >>>> If the amount of SPAM email messages has escalated to
the point
| >> where it's
| >>>> really bothering you: Get with your Internet Service
Provider and
| >> change
| >>>> your email address. Then take steps to use safe
email practices
| >> so that you
| >>>> might prevent or limit SPAM in the future, such as:
| >>>>
| >>>> 1. Get a free hotmail email account, and use THAT
account when
| >> registering
| >>>> software, or any online registration where your email
address is
| >> required.
| >>>> Lists are sold, so let those lists have your hotmail
account
| >> address. Don't
| >>>> use your real email address when posting to news
groups.
| >> Addresses are
| >>>> auto-harvested from these groups for SPAM.
| >>>>
| >>>> 2. Many of the newer viruses/worms seek email
addresses from the
| >> infected
| >>>> PC, and harvest them, and auto-send SPAM and/or the
virus/worm
| >> itself. So,
| >>>> if you understand how not to open unsolicited
attachments, and
| >> what file
| >>>> attachments to never open, to avoid infection on your
system, and
| >> use a good
| >>>> antivirus program and update your definitions
frequently: If you
| >> have
| >>>> people in your address book who don't practice the
same safe email
| >> practices
| >>>> that you do, when you get the hotmail email address,
give those
| >> people your
| >>>> hotmail email address.
| >>>> --
| >>>>
| >>>> T.C.
| >>>> t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com
| >>>> Remove [NoSpam] to reply
| >>>>
| >>>>
message
| >>>> | >>>>>
| >>>>> | >>>>>> /Will Sutton/ said:
| >>>>>>
| >>>>>>> I have OE and am now receiving obscene amounts of
spam
| >>>>>>> with Microsoft updates etc. These all have viruses
but my AV
| >>>>>>> program stops these but I want to stop the
messages. So
| >>>>>>> I have set up a filter that deletes any message
with
| >> Microsoft or MS
| >>>>>>> in the subject . Problem is that it wont stop
these messages
| >> so
| >>>>>>> does anyone know the problem or the solution ?
| >>>>>>
| >>>>>> If these are "Messenger" pop-ups, they can be
banished by
| >>>>>> enabling the XP built-in firewall (which should be
done anyway).
| >>>>>> See HELP &
| >> SUPPORT for
| >>>>>> easy instructions.
| >>>>>>
| >>>>>> If this is a program that has been inadvertently
installed on
| >> your PC,
| >>>>>> running ADAware may enable its removal.
| >>
http://www.lavasoftusa.com
| >>>>>> Read the instructions, download, install and run
the program.
| >> The basic
| >>>>>> utility is free. Or try Spybot from
| >>
http://www.safer-networking.org/
| >>>>>>
| >>>>>> If the pop-ups are site-related - the page that is
being visited
| >>>>>> - then a pop-up blocker may help.
http://google.com Search
| >>>>>> for "ad
| >> blocker".
| >>>>>> Or install and use a new-generation browser that
has pop-up
| >> blocking,
| >>>>>> such as the Mozilla suite from
http://mozilla.org.
Also has a
| >> built-in
| >>>>>> news/mail client.
| >>>>>>
| >>>>>> It will selectively block pop-ups and images, and
is much more
| >>>>>> customizable than I.E. For more, check in with
these groups.
| >>>>>>
| >>>>>>
sor
| >>>>>>
s| >>>>>
| >>>>>
| >>>>> Should have made it clearer, these are actual emails
that have
| >> been faked
| >>>>> and use the headings like Microsoft Security Update
, MS
| >> Internet Security
| >>>>> Patch etc and all contain those dreaded viruses .
| >>>>>
| >>>>> What I cant understand is why when you put in
message rules that
| >> state the
| >>>>> message should be deleted if the subject contains
Microsoft, MS
| >> etc wont
| >>>>> work ?
| >>>>>
| >>>>>
| >>>>
| >>>>
| >>>> ---
| >>>> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
| >>>> Checked by AVG anti-virus system
(
http://www.grisoft.com).
| >>>> Version: 6.0.656 / Virus Database: 421 - Release
Date: 4/9/2004
| The quickest way to get off the spammers list is obviously
to change your
| E-Mail address. Failing that, get a free little program
that allows you to
| review your E-mail on the ISP Server and delete it right
there. The program
| Name is E-Mail Remover 3.0. While most sites say it only
works with Windows
| versions through 2000, I have been using it on XP Home
without problems. You
| can get it here:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/emremover.html
|
| --
| Gene K
|
|
