Cleaning up my address book on Yahoo mail

[devonhunter]

Hey fellas - I want to get rid of email addresses that send me spam or are connected to people who never write back. Does anyone know of a way to sort out the problematic addresses and delete them in one motion?

[Steven_Draker]

Devon, are you referring to KNOWN clients whom email account send spam without their knowledge? I have noticed that this trend has increased in the last few weeks without being able to find a solution. Usually the content of the email is a line or two followed by a link. I see all the recipients to whom the message was sent (usually a part of the sender's contacts). I'm sure that others get them too because I see familiar emails ... including some Board members.

 

What gives?

[+ deej]

A small company specializing in online marketing had a security breach in the last couple of weeks. Nobody had ever heard of them. But it turns out they handled online marketing campaigns for some of the biggest players out there like BestBuy, Sears, Citibank, etc.

 

The only thing they had on file was email addresses (and sometimes a name to match), but since they were 100% presumed to be valid email addresses they were like striking gold for spammers. They'll be used a LOT to send out spam since they are presumably listed in whitelist filters all over the net.

 

Perhaps you're seeing some of that?

[gcursor]

the cycle

 

Yes it is both frightening and sad how far spam people have gone to continue their relentless quest for more email addresses. as I work in computers, there is a joke that we pass around now and then that says "the only secure computer is one that's never turned on"

 

also there are virus programmers who are kids that end up using some stupid program to show their friends what they can do on their computer. but then what's worse is these "kids" get hired by Fortune 500 companies and other computer security companies who are looking for the best to help them design their programs. so more kids start to design viruses and the cycle renews itself.

 

so it does appear to be an upside-down world at times

gc

 

Devon, are you referring to KNOWN clients whom email account send spam without their knowledge? I have noticed that this trend has increased in the last few weeks without being able to find a solution. Usually the content of the email is a line or two followed by a link. I see all the recipients to whom the message was sent (usually a part of the sender's contacts). I'm sure that others get them too because I see familiar emails ... including some Board members.

 

What gives?[/color]

[Steven_Draker]

A small company specializing in online marketing had a security breach in the last couple of weeks. Nobody had ever heard of them. But it turns out they handled online marketing campaigns for some of the biggest players out there like BestBuy, Sears, Citibank, etc.

 

The only thing they had on file was email addresses (and sometimes a name to match), but since they were 100% presumed to be valid email addresses they were like striking gold for spammers. They'll be used a LOT to send out spam since they are presumably listed in whitelist filters all over the net.

 

Perhaps you're seeing some of that?

 

You're probably right, Deej. Here's what I received from my dear Marriott:

 

April 4, 2011

 

Dear Marriott Customer,

 

We were recently notified by Epsilon, a marketing vendor used by Marriott International, Inc. to manage customer emails, that an unauthorized third party gained access to a number of Epsilon's accounts including Marriott's email list.

 

In all likelihood, this will not impact you. However, we recommend that you continue to be on the alert for spam emails requesting personal or sensitive information. Please understand and be assured that Marriott does not send emails requesting customers to verify personal information.

 

We take your privacy very seriously. Marriott has a long-standing commitment to protecting the privacy of the personal information that our guests entrust to us. We regret this has taken place and apologize for any inconvenience.

 

Please visit our FAQ to learn more.

 

Sincerely,

 

Marriott International, Inc.

[gcursor]

They don't care

 

Yes...I too received that email.

 

What does this teach us? You can have a firewall on your pc, a virus scanner, a spyware detector and STILL people can steal your information from OTHER places who don't care enough about information security.

 

gc

 

 

You're probably right, Deej. Here's what I received from my dear Marriott: [/color]

[JoeyBryant]

I would just delete my yahoo account. I use gmail and inbox. I know someone who has yahoo and it sent everyone on her address book a link for viagra...including my younger brother's teacher.

 

And all the yahoo addresses I did have, became ruined in a matter of months.

[instudiocity]

The Epsilon problem is very interesting to me because I use a gmail account for all those, "Sign up today and save." offers from my favorite stores, hotels, and airlines. I did receive the 'Marriott' style email from my grocery store, Marriott and Citibank, but I haven't noticed any increase in my spam folder at Gmail.

 

Also, I download emails from Gmail to my Apple Mail client software. The Mail client has a WONDERFUL BUTTON called Bounce. According to Apple, if you BOUNCE and email, it is returned to the sender marked as undeliverable.