• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

SPAM poaching e-mail addresses

V

vic user

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2003
Messages
724
Location
Ottawa, Canada
Hi Erik and everyone else;

I don't know too much about these things, but I received a SPAM e-mail today, with a subject line that included a user name I used to use, for this forum (ottawa vic).

That really grabbed my attention that something was up.

I received the e-mail to the address I have listed in my profile (smile_soccer@yahoo.ca).

So it sounds like something picked up some info at this forum site, and is SPAMMING people.

I don't know if anything can be done about it, but it sure is creepy.

Chris
 
Email addresses used to register at the Vintage Computer Forum are completely private and cannot, to the best of my knowledge, be harvested for spam.

In order to gain that information a program would have to both break the security of and the structure of the database tables used to store the email addresses.

It is unlikely that anyone would bother in the face of the readily available email information everywhere else on the net.

The only real exception to this is if a user posts their email address in a message. At that point it becomes public and there is nothing that the software or I can do.

Additionally beyond sending an occassional email to all users , I won't harvest, sell or otherwise use the email addresses you registered with.

Erik
 
I just thought it was weird that I received an e-mail with a user name I used to use on this forum, and no where else.

Or maybe I use it at the mini compo site too?

But that would be it ')

I will have to check.

Chris
 
Please do check.

If there is any risk to email addresses here then I'd very much like to know about it.

I do have two accounts set up (one for my usual posting and a test account) and neither has ever gotten any spam related to the board.

The test account has a private, otherwise unused, email address which gets no email except from the forums.

Erik
 
That test addie is a smart thing!

I will check when i get home, and let you know if i use the same user name at the mini comp thing.

I just don't want someone screwing around with your forum.

It wasn't a nasty spam e-mail, just wanted to let me know if i could help out some poor African millionaire trying to get his money into Canada :)

I always want to respond to those people, and come up with some insane story, like

"i would love to take the money, as i have nearly completed my lego space bridge to the moon, and need to buy more lego"

chris
 
The email addresses for the phpBB forums are not available for public viewing - if you try to email someone through here you will get a form that will send the email to the user via php - no email is shown. The only person who can see the email addresses is the Administrator (Erik) and he certainly isn't spamming anyone!

Did you post your email in a message on here at any time (like u just did :wink: ) - they could have it that way~
 
You are probably right, in that it was just me posting publically on one of the message threads.

Hope I didn't give Erik too much of a scre or anything.

Chris
 
Not a problem at all, Chris!

I'm glad it wasn't from here.

Hopefully you can get it straightened out.

Erik
 
vic user said:
You are probably right, in that it was just me posting publically on one of the message threads.

Hope I didn't give Erik too much of a scre or anything.

Chris
Click to expand...

Don't worry! I run a forum too, and I'm forever getting worried PM's from member's who think I can watch their passwords :lol: (which of course, I cannot)

It's better to be too cautious, than not cautious enough :wink:
 
Re: SPAM poaching e-mail addresses

"vic user" wrote:

> Hi Erik and everyone else;

> I don't know too much about
> these things, but I received
> a SPAM e-mail today, with a
> subject line that included a
> user name I used to use, for
> this forum (ottawa vic).

> That really grabbed my
> attention that something was
> up.

> I received the e-mail to the
> address I have listed in my
> profile (smile_soccer@yahoo.ca).

> So it sounds like something
> picked up some info at this forum
> site, and is SPAMMING people.

> I don't know if anything can be
> done about it, but it sure is creepy.

Haven't seen anything to this nature,
but then I get people e-mailing me
all the time asking me if I'm the CP/M
User. Apparantly quite a few people
know, but then I just leave too many
clues for all those Sherlocks to figure
it out.

I get lots of spam & one of the ways
I've tried to combat it, is to use the
Personal Messages which encourages
others to register to this system.
Nothing yet saying that I'm some
CP/M User & this must be you, so
were spamming you.

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top