Where the !@^*#&T^&#% is all this spam coming?

Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
3,668
20
38
www.dominicancooking.com
I have a couple of email addresses. There's this one I got from Codetel when I signed on for their internet service. I've had the same one for over 5 yrs. now. I don't use it except to email trusted friends. I haven't signed on for ANY service using this address. I have NOT authorized Codetel to give it away, or send me information, newsletters, offers of how to get a longer shlong or bigger boobs or any of the such. I am not subscribed in any mailing list...

Can someone explain to me in short sentences, using small words WHY THE F*** AM I GETTING SPAM IN MY MAIL? For the last few months I've getting stuff from just about any Dominican company trying to sell just about anything. Then each and every candidate for anything (regardless they were from my area and I could vote for them or not) sent me emails asking for my vote, thankyouverymuchbutno. So far it had being local junk (which proves that there's someone local involved). But I just had it, I just got 170 emails on my Codetel address. Yeah, you read that right! One pack of 170 emails coming all at one time, all SPAM!

I need to find out who's behind this, is any other user of Codetel receiving junk mail? I will contact Codetel and demand they do something. Oh boy, will they hear from me! :dead: Check the news for my picture.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
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dear Goddess

Have you tried Zone Alarm> It is like a firewall?

????

bandit.gif
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
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Hillbilly does that stop the spam? It sure doesn't on mine. I get things like how to make your penis bigger, haha. I never go onto any sites that would get me that kind of mail.
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
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Zone Alarm won't stop email spam...

Zone Alarm guards against hackers and other unauthorized persons from getting into your computer and planting trojans/viruses or obtaining personal information (e.g., social security number, credit card numbers, etc.).

I have a Codetel address, Pib, but seldom use it. But it Codetel were distributing addresses (like Hotmail, for example, has been guilty of doing) then I would have expected to get getting spam. I'm not.

Most email programs (I haven't had reason to check Codetel so can't speak about it) have filters that you can put in place. For example, they let you indicate words which, if they are in the subject, cause the filter to either delete the message or divert it to a junk mail file. Check Codetel to see what they offer in the way of filters.

If you retrieve your mail using Outlook Express or something similar, so that you are opening and reading the mail after it is retrieved, rather than going yourself to your Codetel or other programs inboxes to read your mail, there are some free programs, e.g., Mail Washer, that you can download that screen the incoming mail for spam and other nasties. If you want help obtaining one of those programs let me know. But they are useful only if you retrieve the mail from the Codetel or other inbox and bring it to your computer using Outlook Express, Outlook, Eudora, Pegasus, IncrediMail, or something similar. For the spam that fills your Codetel inbox you must rely on whatever filters that Codetel offers.

One of the dangers of getting so much spam is that you can fill your inbox to overflowing so that important mail gets bounced because you have exceeded your storage quota.

Good luck
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
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Pib,

After writing above, I checked my Codetel email account. Unfortunately, I see nothing about filters. Suggest you send an email to the Codetel help desk to see what they can offer you in the way of help.

Maybe the best thing to do is get a new address. Send a message to your friends about the change. Since it sounds like there is only a limited number of people that are supposed to have this address, should be easy to drop your present account and receive your mail in another one. There are still a number of free email services you can choose from. I'd suggest picking one that offers filters to help you keep out spammers.

Let me know what Codetel says, if you contact them. I'd be interested in knowing in case I exerience an influx of spam in my Codetel inbox.

Ken
 
spam

A lot of web mail providers are selling email address' unknown to the subscriber thus spam, I have one at a worlds famous email site and I got 505 messages today 371 virus laden spam crap all in japanese glyphs or something of that nature, try an cancel an address, almost impossible. I just will not use it or even check it again ever and it can go over the limit in KB and then they will cancel my account
I used 3 email providers now 2 and find that the only web based email that is any good is swiftdesk, have never received a virus or a spam since I enrolled with swiftdesk.
www.swiftdesk.com

Zone alarm will not stop spam, nor will Norton Internet Security, answer is find a new email provider.
 
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MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
7
0
dr1.com
Not one item in my Codetel mailbox........

so I could only hazard a guess........
I never received very much spam until a friend "caught" a virus that emailed to everyone in his address book. It apparently also emailed his address book to some "spammers" who sell their lists to others.
I suspect this is what may have happened to you PIB.
Just my opinion.....no scientific basis.....anecdotal in nature.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
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Soooory! I thought that it was like a firewall

So much for my software knowledge.

I see that McAfee offers a firewall package.

Also I get a lot of porn related spam from ICQ, which I hardly ever use, so I guess that ICQ is renting out ICQ numbers.

Question: Why does Zone Alarm ask me if I want such or so program to access the Internet? If I say no, I never get it again...

HB
nixweiss.gif


I realize that the third paragraph can be interpreted in two ways--use the cleaner of the two
 
Re: Soooory! I thought that it was like a firewall

Hillbilly said:
Question: Why does Zone Alarm ask me if I want such or so program to access the Internet? If I say no, I never get it again...

HB
nixweiss.gif


I realize that the third paragraph can be interpreted in two ways--use the cleaner of the two

Zone Alarm will block access to programs that want to access an internet website, these wprograms will still work with data available on your computer. For instance the music player program WinAmp will work if blocked by Zone Alarm but if not blocked it will search through Shoutcast on the internet to try and load a video and information of the song you are playing.

ZoneAlarm makes it easy. Unlike other personal firewalls, ZoneAlarm protects automatically from the moment it's installed - no programming required. ZoneAlarm barricades your PC with immediate and complete port blocking. And, then runs in Stealth Mode to make your PC invisible on the Internet - if you can't be seen, you can't be attacked.

ZoneAlarm delivers simplicity without compromising your security. A getting started tutorial explains controls and alerts to get you up and running quickly. And, to keep you confident that you're always protected, intuitive color-coded alerts rate security risks - in real time.

Most email programs have spam blocking software attached but the companies never update it and thus new spam filters through in your email. The best thing to do is never open an email if you do not know who it is from and run an up to date Anti Virus program like Norton or McAfee, there is also a free AV program available that has been getting very good reviews, it can be found at http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_downl.htm it also has auto update capabilities. I do not use it but know people who say it is very good.

In a nutshell be protected, there is nothing worse than having to format a hard drive and start over from scratch.
 
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Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
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Hillbilly, ZA is asking you if you give permission for a program that is installed on your computer to contact the internet. If you say "no", every time that program tries to contact the internet, ZA blocks it so that it can't "call home."

There are various reasons why a program that is on your computer might "call home":

a. You may have your Norton security program set so that it automatically checks for updates. If this program or any other is doing that, it needs to access the internet.

b. You may have a program that needs to access the internet in order to retrieve your mail or do some other legitimate work for you.

c. You may have a cookie or some other spyware on your computer that is tracking your movements through the internet, or obtaining some other information about you, and reporting that to its originator.

Each time ZA asks you if you give permission to a program to contact the internet, read the name of the program making the request and ask yourself why this program would need to "call home."

Also, these days an anti virus and a firewall aren't enough. Two additional programs that I would recommend are Ad-Aware and Pest Patrol. Both have free versions and both can be run on demand. I have both and run them a couple of times each week to see what nasties I might have picked up. Once these programs have identified something, I can by the click of a button eliminate them from my computer.
 
Ken

I agree a person should run ad-aware at least once a week to remove spyware but be aware that some programs that people use are loaded with spyware and will not run without the spyware installed, for instance Kazaa is one. Others that have a big load of spyware are REAL players and jukebox, also some of those password savers are not worth downloading. Here is a brief definition of "SPYWARE"

While this may be a great concept, the downside is that the advertising companies also install additional tracking software on your system, which is continuously "calling home", using your Internet connection and reports statistical data to the "mothership". While according to the privacy policies of the companies, there will be no sensitive or identifying data collected from your system and you shall remain anonymous, it still remains the fact, that you have a "live" server sitting on your PC that is sending information about you and your surfing habits to a remote location..... which is being sold unknown to you.

Adaware can be downloaded for free http://www.lsfileserv.com/
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
You are correct, Hlywud, that some programs won't run correctly if the spyware is removed. However, programs like Ad Aware and Pest Patrol give you the option of ignoring the spy, thus leaving the program and the spy intact. However, I have yet to find a spyware program that couldn't be replaced by one that didn't contain spies.

Pib, with respect to your address having been widely available, assuming you have only used this address to communicate with trusted friends, and assuming that Codetel isn't making your address available to others, it is possibly that some unauthorized person has gotten access to the Codetel list. There are programs used by emailers that allow them to harvest as many as 100,000 addresses an hour from mail servers. All they need is one address, and this will lead them to the mail server. Once there they can send tons of addresses to see which get confirmed. One such program is Easy Mail Searcher. You can see it at http://www.downloadsoft-ware.com/programinfo.php?id=3584

Are you using a password that can be found in a dictionary? One of these email harvesters can start with the letter "a" in the dictionary and work through the entire list looking for matches. For example aardvark@codetel.net.do, abascus@codetel.net.do, abalone@codetel.net.do, etc. The experts say the best passwords have letters, then numbers, then more letters.
 
Mar 21, 2002
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It's all coming from Robert. He sells the lists to DR companies. Supplemental income when dr1 is slow.

Shhhhhhh-please don't tell anyone or he'll have me banned.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
Gentlemen: Great tutorial. Thank you.

I always enjoy it when I get to learn something new about these infernal machines that are in our lives...

Many thanks to Wud and Ken..

HB
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
83
:bunny: Jazzcom since I don't have a penis of any kind. I guess I'll never know!
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
Hillbilly, to continue your education.....

Here are a couple of websites that you may want to check out:

l. http://grc.com/discussions.htm

The best security discussion groups available on the internet. You can learn from reading the threads, and by posting questions you can get answers to any security question. I check "Spyware", "Security", and "Security Software" at least once a day.

2. http://www.wilders.org/index.htm

A great source for security related software, much of it free.

3. http://lists.gpick.com/pages.asp?page=toc&SID=Z83611702919006

Links to information on security and almost any other computer-related matter that you may be interested in.