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View Full Version : Fradulent Email, Etc.


Guerri Stevens
July 25th, 2005, 04:51 PM
My Internet provider allows me a spam option that rejects all Email from sources not in my address list. It sends out a message to the senders saying "fill out this form to request addition to the list" and then passes along any requests actually received. Periodically my provider sends me a summary of messages that were rejected. Today's summary contained a message entitled "your service is about to be discontinued" or words to that effect, and the sender's address looked like it could have come from my provider. So I went to the area for reviewing this stuff and read the message, which said "we have been unable to verify some of your information ...". At that point I called the provider. Their automated system had a message saying that a lot of their customers have been receiving fraudulent Emails, and describing what to do (drawing and quartering were not on the list).

So - how do people get Email addresses? I don't give out that particular Email address to anyone. I don't send Email from it. I don't have anyone in my online address book there, hence (see above) ALL email to that address is rejected. I suppose this could have somehow been a guessing thing guessing what my Email address would be, but how would my provider have been known? Is it possible that the provider has a list of members? Maybe I should check on that (TAPCIS.COM has a member directory so it is not far fetched that a provider might do this).

There is one person/entity that repeatedly sends Email and I've made a note to myself to find out how to mark stuff as actual spam and/or forward it somehow so that my provider can clamp down on this person, at least.

I changed my password, just in case.

After shutting down and closing my connection I had several moments of panic because I had forgotten how to get to the place where I could change the password in my dial up connection, but I finally found it.

Nick Parkin
July 27th, 2005, 03:22 PM
To avoid spam only give an address out to personal friends. Any address that appears on a Webpage will get spam eventually.

Guerri Stevens
July 27th, 2005, 08:26 PM
To avoid spam only give an address out to personal friends. Any address that appears on a Webpage will get spam eventually.
What web page would have my address on it? I don't have a page and I have not given out that particular address to anyone. That is what mystifies me. It is possible that the provider has a directory of members, of course.

Nick Parkin
July 28th, 2005, 05:18 AM
You have never registered on a website where they e-mail you back activation instructions to join? Or given your e-mail to you bank? Or done online shopping? Or registered for Newsletters?

I keep special spam addresses for all those activities, but even so a few spams have crept through.

Also there is "Dictionary Spam" - admittedly sending spam to guerri.stevens@hotmail.com is a bit of a long shot, but as it doesn't cost anything they may as well do it while they are spamming g.stevens@hotmail.com gverri.stevens@hotmail.com gwerri.stevens@hotmail.com gzerri.stevens@hotmail.com haerri.stevens@hotmail.com ........

Isn't the infinite capacity of computers wonderful?

Guerri Stevens
July 28th, 2005, 08:04 PM
Like you, I keep special Email addresses for "commercial" activities. The point I was trying to make is that the Email address in question has not been given out to anyone, at least by me. It is quite possible that someone is generating addresses as you describe, but my name is unusual, although I suppose my name could be found various ways online and a spammer or someone wanting to steal identities, could have just chosen my provider and used some list of possible names gathered from who knows where.