SPAM Intrusion

[Travler]

Has any one noticed a flood of spam in their mail box since joining this forum? I have just recently joined, changed nothing else internet wise and joined no where else but suddenly my in box is being flooded with all kinds of junk.

 

[Andrew Green]

Nope, and I don't think this forum is the problem.

e-mail addresses are not published anywhere on the site, guests can't view profiles, and that includes crawlers looking for e-mail addresses. Even registered users don't get them, what you get is a web form that sends the e-mail but doesn't tell you the address.

Is your address published online anywhere? Is it a free account? There are lots of ways your name can get added to spam lists, and once it is on them you get blasted. Don't reply, don't try to unsubscribe, just ignore it and if you like add a spam filter.

 

[Fluffy]

I have not, but all my mail is filtered.

 

[Ping898]

no problems here

 

[Bob Hubbard]

We do not sell, lease or otherwise distribute our members email addresses. Never have, and never will as long as I own the site. I've turned down some significant offers for mailing lists.

You will get some email from us however.
If you subscribe to a thread, you'll get emailed notice when it is replied to.
If you turn on the feature, you'll get regular digests of content, as well as notification of PMs.
If you have it enabled, other members can email you through an anonymous form. Emailing someone with this form will give the receiver your address. If you reply to it, they will then have your address.
If you post it somewhere, it's publicly visible, however searching the members list, reading your profile, or private messaging you will not reveal your email address.

Spammers forge headers all the time. Some less developed anti spam filters incorrectly look at the "from" field rather than the actual sending server.

If someone is abusing our "email a member" feature and spamming you, we want to know about it. We will take whatever actions we must to prevent any abuse of our service, including legal if necessary to block such abuse.

 

[Kreth]

It's probably unfortunate timing. If your address were actually harvested from this site, you'd see a snowball effect in a few weeks (not immediately) as your address "makes the rounds" of the spammer community. If you're getting a barrage of spam now, it's from some site you visited a few weeks ago.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

No problems here!

Brian R. VanCise
www.instinctiveresponsetraining.com

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Also, check for spyware on your system. Keyloggers seem to be making a comeback lately.

 

[Kacey]

I joined recently (last week) and haven't seen any change in the amount of spam that comes to the address I subscribed with, although another account has been getting absolutely slammed.

 

[jfarnsworth]

I have not had any problems & I joined in '02.

 

[green meanie]

I just joined last month and I haven't had any problems.

 

[Travler]

Ok thank you all for the information. I was most worried my email address had been sold. I have updated my AT and run Spybot. Must just have been coincidence, a "remarkable koinkidink" to quote Moe.
Thank you for keeping your site user friendly and internet safe.
Rich