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Post by LHR02 on Oct 19, 2004 10:55:00 GMT -5
Many thinks to WT and Jen for alerting me to this. I have not been sending virus infected emails to any of you....and it is odd indeed that it seems to be just folks on this board that have gotten them.....and email I send 'personally' is fine according to WT. Appears my address is being used by a generator or spam group.
If you get any email from 'dustoffmom@comcast.net' immediately delete and then empty your trash bin. After several hours this morning I am 99% certain my computer is clean, nevertheless mail is going out under my name that is not.
Hope no one is inconvienanced by this!
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Post by Kim on Oct 19, 2004 12:26:23 GMT -5
Weird, I haven't gotten any.
I did have an old email address that had the same thing though, somehow a generator got a hold of it and was sending emails out using it.
Kim
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Post by MuvverRussia on Oct 19, 2004 14:10:15 GMT -5
I've got that problem with the address that I use on this board (@aiesec.net). It's a pity, but at least my important accounts (domain and school) aren't affected. Also I received a couple of invitations to join the 'LPforum' or something like that. Now firstly that looks like Lonely Planet (which it isn't....maybe they'll be interested if I were to mention it to them)- secondly it looks as though they got my email address from here or something  . |
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Post by WillTravel on Oct 19, 2004 14:25:55 GMT -5
I got that LPForum email also. It looks like someone "harvested" the emails shown in people's profiles here. Of course this problem is not unique to this site and is done all the time and there's not much that can be done if you display a genuine email address.
Annoying spammers and virus-hijackers!
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Post by jennifer on Oct 19, 2004 15:42:02 GMT -5
Poor Ging! well, at least most emails filter it!
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Post by Kim on Oct 19, 2004 15:52:10 GMT -5
You can hide your email so no one can get it on these boards as well as most others.
All you have to do is go to your profile (when you are logged in) and check Hide Email from Public under the preferences. That way no one can see what it is.
I never recommend ever posting your email in a message boards and if you have to, add extra spaces such as name @ domainname.com It's best just to use our private messaging system for details like that.
Kim
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Post by LHR02 on Oct 19, 2004 15:57:16 GMT -5
I thought of that Kim....but then none of the members can either. And I often get emails from members wanting some information that they do not want to post about. What to do, what to do?!  |
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Post by Kim on Oct 19, 2004 15:58:29 GMT -5
I know, it's a tough call. They can PM your for your email though, if they want it.
Unfortunately if your email is showing, shady people can always get at it and there isn't anything I can do. Mine isn't hidden either, I guess it's a risk we take!
Kim
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Post by LHR02 on Oct 19, 2004 16:02:17 GMT -5
Maybe we should choose that option for everyone....with a notice of sorts saying that all emails are hidden but if you want to contact anyone directly you can just PM them and use that or ask for the email address? I sure hate this happened. We've not had a situation like this before have we? Thanks again to Jen and WT or I might not have known for weeks yet!  |
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Post by WillTravel on Oct 19, 2004 16:18:50 GMT -5
I use a Hotmail address for these forums.
However, other addresses I have also get spam and viruses, so it's pretty well unavoidable, I think.
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Post by Kim on Oct 19, 2004 17:22:05 GMT -5
I can't - it's not something I have control over. It's something that everyone has to do for themselves if they want to.
I think it's probably one person that just went through and clicked on the regular posters name as far as that LP thing goes. Hopefully it's only the one instance.
Kim
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Post by Patrick on Oct 19, 2004 18:35:13 GMT -5
I use a Hotmail address for these forums. However, other addresses I have also get spam and viruses, so it's pretty well unavoidable, I think. I use hotmail addresses for forums as well. Best thing to do is avoid at all costs posting your email address anywhere online. If it's not available, other computers can't grab it and add it to spam lists. I've got a couple addresses I use for personal email and don't post anywhere. I get probably 1-2 pieces of spam a year on those. |
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Post by LHR02 on Oct 19, 2004 19:09:07 GMT -5
Now you tell me Patrick! ;D
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Post by WillTravel on Oct 19, 2004 19:37:42 GMT -5
Even a really private email address can get hijacked with the following method. Suppose your friend has the address in her address book in Microsoft Outlook. She gets a virus. The virus then grabs all the addresses from the address book, and voila, someone has a fresh new stash of addresses. Otherwise, some spam systems even randomly generate email addresses with the idea that at least some of them will be "live." Amazing how some people live lives devoted to maliciousness . |
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Post by jennifer on Oct 20, 2004 15:27:48 GMT -5
Yup, I really don't know what the use for people to do this, oh well, it takes all kinds of people to make the world go round!
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