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Started getting these in my emails.


ColR1948

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We all get spam and they go in the spam folder but just lately I've been getting these emails in my main folder with things like:

 

"Hi Colin, it's Jenny, what's you address?"

 

"Colin, It's me Mary, where are you?"

 

"Hello Colin, Get in touch, we need to talk."

 

All with a supplied email return address which I don't by the way I just delete them, but I wonder what is the idea? If for example anyone did reply, have they opened the door to a big scam or what?

 

I was thinking if I had a PC with a fake email address I would get in touch and say something like: "Oh, I'm glad you got in touch, is it about the money I owe you, if so send me your bank details and I'll pay you straight away, sorry for the delay but I lost your email address."

I wonder if they would reply lol?

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This is really off topic to the nature of this particular subform, but I'll just go ahead and chime in anyway in hopes perhaps it's moved to the OM.

 

First and foremost. Use multiple email addresses for different things. Use one email addy for your bank, PayPal, eBay, Amazon, etc. The real serious stuff. Then use another email addy for forum sign ups, other online sign ups, stuff like that. This way if you get spam you can more than likely know what the vector is. If you get spam in your financial email addy, then either a website got their database stolen ( happens all the time it seems), some moron on eBay sold your addy out to someone for spam, someone who sold you something on eBay got their email contacts list jacked, or you in fact acquired a virus that got your own contacts jacked.

 

Moving on, I use Thunderbird as my mail client of choice. And with Thunderbird or any email client I use or on my phone I make sure to turn off the parsing of HTML content and never load images by default. If you allow HTML parsing, that stuff can and will infect your machine. If you allow images to load, those send back to the hosting server your IP address. I can even send someone a 1x1 pixel image in an email you won't even see and grab that person's IP address. Then it's off to Shodan or Censys, NMAP scans, and all that rot. To make matters worse, if you're like most people and don't stay abreast of router or modem firmware updates, chances are your modem or router can now become a zombie bot for lack of the proper term now. Letting the hacker use your IP address for all kinds of things. And you are responsible for what emanates from your IP. Not to mention they can now see all the unencrypted traffic flowing though your router/modem and do things to your computer. Even with encrypted traffic you can just poison the ARP and perform a MITM attack, etc. So in a nutshell, don't allow the loading of images or the parsing of HTML content by default unless you trust the sender and verified the address. Also, scan all attachments at Virus Total. Another thing is that if you use PGP in your email, parsing HTML content can get your PGP password jacked. On the subject of routers and modems. While staying abreast of any and all firmware updates, don't use the default username and password for the router/modem, turn off UPnP and don't use port forwarding unless you absolutely have to. And if you do, I highly recommend getting a nettop with at least 4 GB of RAM and install the PFsense firewall. Then install Snort. Why do all this. Just have a look at the power of Shodan and you'll know why. I have an account there and do all kinds of research and what have you. The things I see are pretty scary.

 

Here's what I do if and when I get the occasional spam email. I immediately report the headers to the spamcop website. That helps get the ball rolling on placing that email domain on a blacklist. Also, I forward the email to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) for spam reporting. Read about that here on my site: https://cyberpcforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=568 Also read here on a pretty funny spam email I got: https://cyberpcforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=1667#p1667

 

Pretty clever in it's scare tactics, but since I'm pretty damn computer savvy and the big tip off was the wording, I knew it was BS.

 

The spam you're getting now is probably some loser trying to get money out of you in one way or another. It's just a build up right now to get you to respond. And stupid people do it all the time and lose thousands of dollars in the process. In addition to spamcop, you could do a WHOIS on the email domain and report the spam to the website/hosting provider. Though, some don't even care. I'm looking at you Digital Ocean who's ASNs are blocked in CloudFlare from ever touching my site. LOL

 

Long story short, learn the trade and you can protect yourself against it's evil doings. That's pretty much what it's all about. Here's a website you can use to test links you may get in emails. Though, you may want to at least use Sandboxie or the Qubes OS. https://www.browserling.com/

 

Also, check out protonmail. I pay for their bridge support with Thunderbird and use the App. Great way to stay private and secure, well, one can only hope. True security in my opinion is that which you roll your own and manage your own withen the governance of your house. LOL That's why I roll a personal Team Speak server with encryption from home. Whatsapp and all that crap? Forgetaboutit. Though, I will use Wire from time to time for less sensitive matters. :pilot::cool::D

Edited by CRJ_simpilot
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Those emails saying 'We need to meet..', etc are no more (or less) than DATING services. You reply, they send you pics of the 'date' that is waiting for you, they take your money and it's up to you to find that 'date' (Hong Kong, Saigon, etc). It's a scam aimed at 'lovelorn' men with money to burn (as will your ears and cheeks) with embarassment (bare ass ment? - ha) when you are 'stood up' (ha).

Chuck B

Napamule

i7 2600K @ 3.4 Ghz (Turbo-Boost to 3.877 Ghz), Asus P8H67 Pro, Super Talent 8 Gb DDR3/1333 Dual Channel, XFX Radeon R7-360B 2Gb DDR5, Corsair 650 W PSU, Dell 23 in (2048x1152), Windows7 Pro 64 bit, MS Sidewinder Precision 2 Joy, Logitech K-360 wireless KB & Mouse, Targus PAUK10U USB Keypad for Throttle (F1 to F4)/Spoiler/Tailhook/Wing Fold/Pitch Trim/Parking Brake/Snap to 2D Panel/View Change. Installed on 250 Gb (D:). FS9 and FSX Acceleration (locked at 30 FPS).
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To all those that tried to visit my site and got blocked I apologize. Last night at around 12 AM MDT I installed a new security module for a script I use. Well, I just looked at my logs and saw a bunch of legit traffic getting blocked. I have since removed the module and cleared the ban list.
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I first signed-up for the Internet in 1998 - I told my wife: "We should NOT do banking or credit card transactions on the Web" And I've pretty much stuck to my own advice thru the years...

 

Do I sound smug? Well, consider all the thousands of victims out there of theft and scams on the WWW today and ask them...

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Using a credit card or online banking can be safe, but it doesn't go without saying that one needs to be prudent and proactive with their security on their computer or devices. Many people just aren't very computer savvy so you can fall victim to attack very easily. What it amounts to is read, read, and read some more and learn how the bad guys do it and then you'll know how to protect yourself in various ways. Then you have companies that profit on not too savvy computer users by selling protects that claim to "protect you" from this or that. Truth is, if you have the knowledge already, you don't need that product and/or can use free products, etc to help protect yourself.

 

To me, it's all about common sense and logic.

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