What's this new spam crap???

[Trixie]

The past two days my e-mail address has been flooded with "Delivery Failure" messages of all kinds, suggesting that messages I'd sent did not reach their intended recipients. Nonsense! None of those messages were actualy from me. I can only guess that this is some sort of new spam technique, but I can't imagine what it's leading to.

Anyone have a notion what this is all about?

Trix

[OneFinger]

I've had this happen too with one of my hotmail accounts. In every instance, the failure-to-deliver has originated with AOL. I suspect this is part of their anti-spam tactics.

 

The only other thing I suspect is that a real spammer is sending things out using your e-mail addy in the "reply to" field.

[+ Hoover42]

Trixie, it means that someone sent a spam message to someone using your e-mail address as the sender. It's an annoying (and initially scary) spam tactic.

 

It's nothing to worry about...just ignore it or filter it just like any other spam.

[+ Hoover42]

By the way...you should make sure you have a decent virus protection program like Norton Anti-Virus 2004 or McAfee VirusScan, just in case.

[tedbear]

Sounds like one of the "SoBig" viruses that were running rampant a couple of months back. Update your virus protection software, and if you don't have any, get some soon! If you use MS Outlook, you might want to consider using a more secure program. Outlook is notorious for being the target of these viruses. Also, check your Microsoft Security Updates. These updates close some of the security holes found in MS products.

[Trixie]

RE: Viruses

 

Well, given that I only have Webtv, I don't think i have much to fear from viruses. There's nowhere to download to.

However, why would someone choose my address for this sort of game? How could they profit?

Trix

[+ Hoover42]

RE: Viruses

 

It serves a number of purposes for the spammer:

 

- It avoids any filters that have been set up to block the spammer's own address,

 

- The origin of the spammer is concealed,

 

- Any rejection letters or complaints get sent to some victim, not the spammer, and

 

- For those spam messages that don't get rejected, the original victim thinks the spam is from someone they know (you!) so they are more likely to read it (or worse, run any attached virus program).

 

Did I tell you I think spammers are evil? x( :-)

 

...Hoover