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gingermeggs · Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 162

Tyhe last couple of days, I've been getting a ton of returned mail into my junk box...Mailer daemon, mail subsystems, etc.....I have sent none of these. Where are they coming from? Why are they coming to me?? They only come into 1 of my hotmail accounts.....very strange!! Naturally they get deleted, but tis a bit of a worry. Any ideas??

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Lanza-Armonia · Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2004 4:45 am Post subject:

Well, a big problem with using MSN is that it (now) only has one 'ending' which is @hotmail.com. Even if no-one complies said list, you'll still get tones on mail cuz they just guess your email address. Tons at a time. Say your name is John Smith and [email protected] is taken, as is [email protected], every number inbetween is taken by at least one person. Play the odds.

Solution, use Yahoo as they have different 'endings', eg, @yahoo.com, @yahoo.co.uk, @yahoo.es, @yahoo.com.cn etc etc etc. Also, www.xmsg.com is fantastic. I've used that for a while and I've never had one item of spam. Also when you sign up for crap, remember to check the box that says you don't want crap sent to you or open a free email address and send everything there...

Just a few tips I hope that help...

LA

Gonzo · Joined: 08 Mar 2004 Posts: 80

Its worse than spam; its an email virus problem that's virulent in China. It gets into your system, and fires off mails to people on your address list, and then to people on their address lists etc. The delivery failure means its been detected at the other end and sent back. Its usually a short, enigmatic message [eg "poor quality"], with a file attached. Yahoo and Hotmail detect the file is infected and won't open it, but it's slowing the email system incredibly: I've noticed Yahoo most of all, and I usually have 5-6 of these things in my bulk box each morning.
Open some back-up accounts elsewhere!

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

This does not mean that you have the virus. But, someone who has your name and address in their address book has the virus. It grabs all the addresses and sends off this message - as if it had been returned. The trick is to convince you that you sent a message to someone and when you click to find out which message it was, you get the virus.

You can pick up the virus if you open any attachment or any link within the message. It is reaching the point where I receive two or three infected messages a day, but fortunately my internet provider has added a new filter than splits them off and guarantines them. It allows me to check and delete them from their system, not mine.

And just to make our lives more interesting, there have been many media reports in the last couple of days that the @#$#@% that create these viruses have finally managed to do it directly on the email - not just on the attachment. So all you will have to do is open it. Keep checking in with Microsoft and your anti-virus provider to get updates.

VS

gingermeggs · Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 162

I never open attachments on junk mail...and it only has been going to one of my hotmail accounts......so I probably don't have a virus. I also use
www.fastmail.com.au and can highly recommend it.. Ta muchly for your advices...

greentea · Joined: 28 Jun 2003 Posts: 205

I don't keep an address book in my email account for this reason.

I do keep the last email mesage from people I write to frequently and a Word file of important email adresses. Don't know how much it helps but makes me feel better...

If students write to you from school computers you are bound to be sent infected messages. Have a separate email address for them and good filters such as mcafee.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

All this means is that your email address has been spoofed.

Most of the latest breed of Trojans have their own SMTP engine. They then send off messages from the infected machines spoofing the email address, which they chose from the address book, or from random files on the infected computer, or from web pages previoussly visited that are stored in the Temporary Internet Files folder.

Certain not very intelligent systems administrators will then confgure their mail server to tell you you have sent a virus. Of course, the virus has not come from your machine at all, but they simply reply to the address mentioned in the from line.

Expect a load more, and just delete them. There's nothing you can do about it.