VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

imaginator · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:17 pm Post subject: ANTI-HACKER HELP?

i'm sorry if this ought to be in "Gear", but i need some computer-related advice.

my main email address has been repeatedly hijacked.

but it only seems to be sending spam (probably malicious) to seven names from my address book.

i've done multiple sweeps with malware and anti-virus scanners, dumped temp files, and done what few things i know to do on a computer to stop the problem, but it keeps coming back...three separate times tonight alone.

the only data i have on the problem is contained in a mailer daemon generated by my daughter's old campus address, now defunct. but i don't know how to use any of the info in that message.

i am embarrassed by this. if you or any computer-savvy folks you know could help, i'd be very grateful.

you can "private message" me to avoid the regular channels or just post here. i'm really hoping i don't have to abandon the email addy i've been using for years.

rg
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rowell gormon
www.voices2go.com
"Mr. Warm & Friendly Voice...with Character!"
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Yonie · CM Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Posts: 906

Do you have a host for the e-mail? Contact their customer support in that case.

imaginator · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:02 pm Post subject:

...you mean my email host, or what's listed in the "message ID" in the mailer daemon reply i got?
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rowell gormon
www.voices2go.com
"Mr. Warm & Friendly Voice...with Character!"
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Yonie · CM Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Posts: 906

Your e-mail host.

imaginator · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:18 pm Post subject:

...right.

first thing monday, then.

thank you very much.

rg
_________________
rowell gormon
www.voices2go.com
"Mr. Warm & Friendly Voice...with Character!"
Rowell Gormon's Clogged Blog - http://voices2go.com/blog

Yonie · CM Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Posts: 906

Hosting companies quite often have 24/7 support. Either via chat or phone. Have you checked their hours?

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:33 am Post subject:

Rowell, you mentioned running anti-malware software but have you changed your e-mail password? That's the first thing you should do.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
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Bruce · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:29 am Post subject:

As one of your "lucky seven", please don't be embarrassed. It's 2011. This shite happens. Of course I'm happy that it's not coming from my email account.

Looking at the source info on your emails it looks like it comes through three different Yahoo accounts to get to me and not from your ISP's server. They've merely used your name and your email address as the return address and not the source. You may just have to create another email address with your current host and use that from now on. Maybe you can list your name as: The REAL Rowell Gorman.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

ccpetersen · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:30 am Post subject:

Yep, without seeing the headers, I'm guessing Rowell got "spoofed". Not much you can do about that except that suggestion that you rename yourself "The Real..."

It happens to everybody sooner or later.

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:48 pm Post subject: Re: ANTI-HACKER HELP?

heyguido · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:14 pm Post subject:

After looking at the header info, I concur with Bruce. The originating IP address was in Mexico, not Rowell's. Classic email spoofing.

As for the subject matter, well, perhaps he was trying to say something to Bruce..... We all could use a little help sometime.... Inoccent

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Don Brookshire
"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"

imaginator · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:34 pm Post subject:

...very appreciative of all the help. will get to work on the leads provided. i guess the only absolute way to keep one's email address from being stolen is not to use it.

grateful for understanding friends.
_________________
rowell gormon
www.voices2go.com
"Mr. Warm & Friendly Voice...with Character!"
Rowell Gormon's Clogged Blog - http://voices2go.com/blog

Bruce · Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:30 am Post subject:

One way to reduce the chance of email address theft is to encourage friends to use BCC instead of CC when they want to send a joke or a rant to 20 friends. If all those addresses are openly sent to 20 people who then forward that email to 20 more and then again and again, eventually all those addresses will land in the inbox of a spammer.

B
_________________
VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

Benjamin Stovall · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:10 am Post subject: Some additional thoughts

While the damage is already done, here are some preventative steps you can take for the future:

1. Get 2 new email addresses.
2. Use one ONLY for family and friends; use one for online purposes.
3. Be prepared to change the one for online purposes regularly.
4. Never post your email address in an open area of a website.
5. Never unsubscribe from any spam mail--this just tells them that
they've got an active email address, and they send you some other spam
mail (many of these companies do it for thousands of clients) or sell
your address.

The problem, as has been touched on by earlier posters, is that that there is currently no standard for authenticating that an email message is actually from a specific address. As such, any computer can send any message claiming to be from any address. So the above steps are unfortunately some of the only ways to deal with this problem.

That said, even these aren't bulletproof. For instance, one of your family and friends computers could get compromised with malware or a virus which parses through their email contacts. Since yours is among them, your return email address can then be used for spoofing: making your email address the sender for spammers. Not a lot you can do about that. but as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so it's still good to take what protective measures you can.

To drive the point home, if you, in the example I just gave, had followed the recommendations above, while your personal email would have been affected, your professional email would not have been. If you'd had only one email address that you were using for both business AND friends and family and/or if you were ever sending personal contacts messages from your business email address, then both personal and business email would have been affected.

Hope this helps someone.

Lizden · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:52 pm Post subject: Re: Some additional thoughts

I don't really see how in business one can afford to change their email address regularly.
That's like changing your phone number regularly these days, isn't it?
If clients get a bounce back from an old email address, they'll go give their business to someone else.
Just thinking out loud.
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Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
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