It Ain't Me, Babe

[filkertom]

Okay, this is really important.

If you get an e-mail something like this:

Dear user of Tomsmithonline.com gateway e-mail server,

Your e-mail account will be disabled because of improper using in
next
three days, if you are still wishing to use it, please, resign your
account information.

For details see the attach.

For security purposes the attached file is password protected. Password
is "52403".

The Management,
The Tomsmithonline.com team
http://www.tomsmithonline.com

I guarantee that it is not me. Tom@tomsmithonline.com is, at this point, a dummy e-mail forwarded to my Yahoo account. There are no other addresses, no gateway, and I've never let anyone besides Leslie use the darn thing as an e-mail address. And I am definitely not sending any attachments unsolicited to anyone.

Heck, the "tomsmithonline.com" team is technically me and Da Bear.

I got two of these things tonight. And I know for a fact that I didn't send 'em to myself. The attachment doesn't seem to have a virus, but I don't know what it does have, and I'm not taking any chances.

If you get one of these, please let me know here, okay?

Comments

[clauclauclaudia]

It's just the latest virus attack, it's nothing personal against you.

It's programmed to appear as an official-looking mail from your own domain, whatever domain that may be.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I thought something like that might be the case. But the virus must be so new that Yahoo's scan doesn't detect it. Growf.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's a brand-new variation on a familiar theme.

This one really pisses me off; it's fooling even fairly savvy users at my place of employment.

[galicola.livejournal.com]

I'm subscribe to a NASA space news yahoogroup list and just got a similar email form that list.
i guess it's a new virus.

[braider.livejournal.com]

I've been getting them from administration and management at dreamweaverbraiding.com - addresses that don't even exist. If you go to register, they simply collect lots of vital info about you so they can steal your identity.

It's a pretty common scam right now. They've even mentioned it on NPR.

[skipjim.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we've had that floating around work this morning. Just waiting for one of the people in the shop to open it up.....

[mihrimah.livejournal.com]

It's just a stupid spam. I've been getting the same thing at my work account, and I know it's not real because the company is small enough that the ISA would just come up and tell me I was being bad.

[beki.livejournal.com]

I havent gotten one, but beware if it has a file attatched there is a new virus going around doing the mimic a friend/associats email addy thang.

Also account spoof

[thingunderthest.livejournal.com]

Besides the virus going around there are several people sending out emails like this with a form attached or a link to reactivate your account. Since you have to give your account and password for this they can steal that for spamming from, and also use it other places since most people tend to use the same password most places.

Gordon D. Duke
ThingUnderTheStairs

Re: Also account spoof

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, not to mention the unbelievably clumsy and crude PayPal and eBay spoofs that want all your personal info, and the various "your credit card has been suspended because you buy child porn"/"you are being billed $XXX.XX for child porn" that say "to STOP this transaction, send your credit card number to...."

Spammers are scum. But spamming crooks make regular spammers look like shelter volunteers.

Re: Also account spoof

[thingunderthest.livejournal.com]

"Spammers are scum. But spamming crooks make regular spammers look like shelter volunteers."

Indeed. The average spam I can live with, until it cripples my servers. It is one of the dark downsides of capatalism gone to far but at least I can automate and ignore it better then half the shite that i get in my snail mail box.

The people pulling the scams are a whole other thing together. I have a bit of fondness for a well run con ala The Sting, but these people are using the mass spaming to catch those gullible people out there, or those that are too tired, busy, or unknowing to check up on it. It takes no talent and is indescriminate.

G.D.D.