Email Caution...

TXBobcat

Fulltime
I would like to let you all know of a problem with email that many do not watch out for.

Yesterday I started getting email failures called MAILER-DAEMON. I had over 50 in my inbox the first time. I looked at the emails and they had a message like the ones that said " I have been stranded in (some place) and need some help getting home. Please send me$2000 and I will return your money plus interest. Or something like that. I deleted the 50+ emails. a few minutes later I had another 80+ in my inbox.

I contacted my domain provider and they helped me get the Spam emails stopped. They said it was possible that they got into my web email site and sent the Spam. I changed my password and the domain providers checked to make sure my email address was not blocked on the internet.

One of the things that would help stop people from using your email is Change your password often, and do not put email addresss in the CC: (Carbon Copy) of an email. Use the BCC: What happens it that you send an email to many of our friends and you put the email addresses in the CC: then the people that like what you sent they forward the email and all the email addresses are still in the email they send plus the ones that they send to their friends. This keeps snowballing and somewhere down the line someone that steals emal address will get one of these emails and harvests all the address and can use them to send spam whith them.

So if you send an email use the BCC: Blind Carbon Copy.....

If you receive an email from your friends that have the emails in the CC: Delete the email addresses before you forward the email to your friends and use the BCC: Then reply to the frend that sent you the email using the CC: and ask them to stop using CC: and use BCC:

I am going to send a reply to everyone that sends me an email in CC: to start using BCC: or stop including me in their group emails. If you receive an email from me please do not be offended. I am just letting you know that you are putting my email address and all others in harms way.

THank you
BC
 

wingfoot

Well-known member
Good advice...I am assuming you are using a Windows based OS...This doesn't help you, if you are in fact running Windows, but that's what I love about my Mac Book...It has an option to "Bounce" any spam or unwanted mail..It sends the message back to the sender as a "Domain Error", invalid address...

glad you got it straightened out...
Thanks again for the tip..
 

lorax

Well-known member
My sister got the same message on her Mac Book and the message sent emails to those in her contacts. For some reason, I thought that Macs avoided such things.
Ted
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
Good advice...I am assuming you are using a Windows based OS...This doesn't help you, if you are in fact running Windows, but that's what I love about my Mac Book...It has an option to "Bounce" any spam or unwanted mail..It sends the message back to the sender as a "Domain Error", invalid address...

This had nothing to do with Windows or Mac. It happened to my Web Based email access. I just down load from the internet. They asked me if I had an iPhone. I told them yes. They indicated that a lot of iPhones have been accessed and they got the email address and passwords from the iPhone. My computer was not breached and yes I do have a Windows 7 system.

Also another way to get email addresses is to harvest them from emails that have all the addresses forwarded to person after person. That is one reason I started this thread, to stop everyone from sending emails with all their contacts in an open list under CC: ..... Use BCC: or stop sending group emails and don't pass on one that has them available.

BC
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
You are right Bob. For the most part any and all emails I get from anyone (including people I know) I delete without opening them. This is the emails that appear to have been forwarded. So if you are one of those who fill up mine and other people with the forwarded emails (like the ones that say the world will come to an end if you do not forward it or something like that) please quit. I know you do not realize it but I get somewhere around 50-100 emails a day and most (at least 90 percent) are of that type. Of course if it is important and a valid message I will read it and respond to you. And at least do what Bob has suggested by deleting all those other email addresses that you include in those forwarded emails.
 

Manzan

Well-known member
I use a program called Mailwasher Pro. If offers a preview of all email and will bounce those you deem are spam or phishing expeditions. Went from over 80 emails a day to around 20 and those are from people/places I know. It is put out by FireTrust, a company in NZ. Have used it for several years and have it on all three computers. Would not be without it.
 

mmomega

AnyTimer
Agreed, Macs aren't any more resilient to spam mail than any other computer with an email client. Just like your home receiving junk mail but as with Mail.app, Outlook, or whatever you use. Once you start sorting and marking certain emails as spam or junk then after a while the email client starts to learn and trash accordingly.

My Mac is still learning and asks every once in a while if a piece of mail is junk or not, I tell it yes or no and move on, now on a similar note. I'm not as "scared" ( for lack of a better word) to open spam mail on my Mac as I am on the Windows machine.
Any computer, even these smart phones, they pull email messages from an outside server that receives and stores them.

Like I attached below, shows the advanced options of the built in Mac email client. You can setup advanced rules on Blocking any emails not on your "safe list", if they aren't on your address book, etc and if any are received they are auto kicked to trash or a junk folder so you can look through them.
 

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lwmcguir

Well-known member
Almost all of our neighbors have got hit with spam recently. All kinds of computers and access methods. We have been lucky and have used Microsoft Security Essentials for our protection. It is free and apparently works well. We have used Norton and Mcafee in the past but switched when we had billing and over charge issues with them. Having posted this I sure hope we don't get hit now.
 

mmomega

AnyTimer
Yeah I have Security Essentials on all of the computers at work. I regular where most of the employees can go as in surfing the web since they'll sit on FaceBook playing games or 12 people streaming internet radio can eat up some bandwidth.

Haven't touched Norton or McAfee for almost 10 years, they are usually the most expensive and lowest rated out there and I still have customers that come in with Norton and McAfee on the same computer and find a dozen or more various trojans and worms on their laptops. I can't make any money off my mac customers they don't come back with software problems, well maybe 1 or 2 out of every 10.

Also run MalwareBytes every couple of months, theres a free version. If you have ever gotten that fake virus scanner program that shows you with 120+ viruses and wants you to pay to remove them. Get this program and it'll get rid of that lil bugger. It's annoying.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Yeah I have Security Essentials on all of the computers at work. I regular where most of the employees can go as in surfing the web since they'll sit on FaceBook playing games or 12 people streaming internet radio can eat up some bandwidth.

Haven't touched Norton or McAfee for almost 10 years, they are usually the most expensive and lowest rated out there and I still have customers that come in with Norton and McAfee on the same computer and find a dozen or more various trojans and worms on their laptops. I can't make any money off my mac customers they don't come back with software problems, well maybe 1 or 2 out of every 10.

Also run MalwareBytes every couple of months, theres a free version. If you have ever gotten that fake virus scanner program that shows you with 120+ viruses and wants you to pay to remove them. Get this program and it'll get rid of that lil bugger. It's annoying.
I'm installing MalwareBytes as we speak. Be right back!

Free version installed and found 2800+ errors on my notebook. It only fixes 100 of those and then wants money for the rest. Seems just like any other "free download".
 

skyguy

Well-known member
Ray, that doesn't sound like the free version of MalwareBytes' Antimalware from www.malwarebytes.org. Did you choose the trial of the paid version? (There is an option to choose the free or the trial of the "pay for" version during the install.

We use Antimalware daily in our computer business, and, unless they just changed their policy, have never seen it do that.

We also will use SuperAntiSpyware in conjunction with Antimalware, SAS will track down "tracking cookies", and also find a few trojans missed by Antimalware.

And, since some trojans can hide behind other active trojans, we will repeat the scans using both software until the scans return ZERO infections.

Al (selling small business systems for over 30 years...)
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Ray, that doesn't sound like the free version of MalwareBytes' Antimalware from www.malwarebytes.org. Did you choose the trial of the paid version? (There is an option to choose the free or the trial of the "pay for" version during the install.

We use Antimalware daily in our computer business, and, unless they just changed their policy, have never seen it do that.

We also will use SuperAntiSpyware in conjunction with Antimalware, SAS will track down "tracking cookies", and also find a few trojans missed by Antimalware.

And, since some trojans can hide behind other active trojans, we will repeat the scans using both software until the scans return ZERO infections.

Al (selling small business systems for over 30 years...)
I'm pretty sure I didn't see anything saying free. I chose trial during the install. Maybe I should go through the process once more. Thanks.
 

traveler44

Well-known member
I know it doesn't have to do with email but I thought it was interesting that Visa called yesterday and told us they cancelled our card because somebody in another country tried to use it to join a dating service--$99 and flowers for $120. They said they will issue us new ones. Wife said at least the guy wasn't cheap. I don't know quite how to take that remark. Tom M.
 
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