Another Hotmail/MSN Moan.......

[BRL]

Hi all. I have just, a few days ago, registered for a Hotmail email. You couldn't guess what the username is, it is letters and numbers, not the kind of thing you will find on a list but somehow, someone, somewhere has 'found' it and I am recieving a few spams per day already.

I have not used it at all, have not told anyone what it is or anything. It has just been sitting there unused yet I still recieve bloody spam into the thing.

How on earth can anyone guess what my username is? Why do i get spam in there already, I thought MSN were proudly informing us of their anti-spam measures and all that b/s. :* I just don't get it at all how my random letters and numbers can be guessed.

Moan over, sorry...........

[E-Liam]

Hi BRL,

Have you checked for a trojan/keylogger on your machine? Other than that, you could just be lucky.. :)

Most email addresses that are spammed will be either collected by bots, trojans or by programs generating addys randomly (it's not random in the truest sense, but you know what I mean). They will then send out the mail, and if the addy is good you get it, and they get paid. If not, it'll just bounce back and probably just deleted automatically. It wouldn't take long to generate any given 6/8/10 etc. alpha-numeric combination on a modern computer, and send it spam on the off chance that the addy exists.

Hope that helps.. but it would still be wise to check your machine over with your AV, *Adaware and any other tools you'd normally use.

Cheers

Liam

For those that don't know already, Adaware have released a new version of their software called Adaware SE (http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html). (This is the official download link given on Lavasoft's site, just to save you a few minutes) :)

I'll post a sticky about the correct way to configure it in a few minutes.

[sprocket]

I too suspect Hotmail as a spam source. Two of my kids recently opened Hotmail accounts and now all of a sudden my main email address is getting regular spam/virus emails ie All starting with RE: and Hi: etc

Can the registration process for Hotmail have a hidden agenda?

I have used Adaware/Spybot/CWSShredder/Spywareblaster and Spider. But no avail.

If the Hotmail accounts are not accessed for a few days, the spam to my main account reduces. There does seem to be a tie in somewhere. :(

[amanoffewwords]

In that sense Yahoo is much better - a couple of years ago I registered an account to allow me to test my client's email setups - it hasn't had a single item of spam in all that time.

I have another regular account with Yahoo which I do use - and is the one I give out to people I don't trust - that one gets 1-400 spams every couple of days, but 99.5% get filtered out automatically and then get deleted automatically by Yahoo every time they reach a certain size in kb (one of the options on the system).

The sign-up process is a lot easier too.

Charles

[goates]

Have you looked at the settings on your Hotmail account, specifically the ones related to publishing your info? You can choose to have your info included in the Hotmail public directory, which would make it easier for a spammer to collect your address.

I have had my account for a few years now, and only get a dozen spam messages a day at the most. As I use it as a garbage account when signing into websites, I am surprised I don't get more.

goates

[BRL]

Hi all. My original one that I have had for years gets the usual spam to it, only the names in my address book get straight through to the inbox.

I needed this new one for something else, nothing important, just needed a quick e-mail addy so set one up.

I remember a while ago that you had to go to preferences and uncheck the boxes that they kindly checked for you to go on mailing lists etc, do you still have to do this..?

Also, thenks for the PM's that some of you have sent regarding this, cheers :)

[goates]

Yes, you'll have to check the preferences to see what you are signed up for and whether your account is visible to others. Microsoft has a bad habit of resetting these everytime they 'upgrade' the Hotmail system.

goates

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BRL,

It just goes to show, nothing is free. You are paying for it via having email addys sold.

Take Care,

Richard