Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

Talking technology, computers, and the Internet… for the average computer user

Posts Tagged spam

Twitter Spam Scam Hits Users

Feb 22

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in Twitter, crime | 1 Comment

If you use Twitter, be on the lookout for (another) phishing scam. It comes in the guise of a genuine follower’s message– usually it’s a direct message but there have been reports of the message on the public Twitter roster– saying something like “LOL, is this u?” or “hahaha u look funny here.”

If you click the link in the email, your browser will redirect you to the phishing site that looks just like Twitter. If you enter your username and password, you’ve just handed your credentials over to a spammer. The spammer will use your Twitter account to send messages to all your followers about pharmaceutical drugs; moreover, your account will be used as a springboard for more of those “hahaha u look funny here” messages to infect more Twitter user accounts.

So if you receive such an email, don’t click the link, don’t enter your username and password! If you think you have been snagged by the scam, change your password immediately. You can also read more about the scam at Mashable.

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Really Really Lame Spam

Sep 14

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in crime, email programs, security how-to | Comments off

I hope there is no one out there, still falling for this kind of spam. It came this morning, and gave me a good hearty laugh; it was THAT lame:

Dear Windows user,
We recently noticed that your computer is not updated against viruses.
We invite you to update your computer as soon as possible:
[hypertext transfer protocol]microsoft.com/windows/update.aspx?id=21156

Thank you for your understanding.

All in plain text, no images, no “Get Live Mail” advertisement at the bottom, nothing. And when I moved my cursor over the link to the url, it led to this:

[hypertext transfer protocol]megateamworld.net/modules/WindowsUpdate

which is an .exe file. Which means clicking the link will install a (malicious) program onto your computer.

So not even the url was spoofed. There the phishing link was, plain as day! Dumb!! And annoying! :cuss:

Remember, never click on links in emails unless you are expecting them. For added protection, I never open “Fwd” emails anymore. It’s just not worth it to get a virus or a worm so I can look at another “inspirational-story-with-sparkly-pictures-pass-this-on-to-100-friends!!” emails. Not worth it.

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Bad Behavior is a GO!!

Apr 19

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in Wordpress, blogs | 1 Comment

To the non-blogger, that title may look strange indeed…

I’m referring to Bad Behavior, the WordPress plugin. I installed it. Remember how I lamented my spam problems? How I was inundated with hundreds of spam comments per day? Well, I installed the plugin called Bad Behavior, and LOOK at my spam count for the past two days!

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I am impressed, indeed. Thumbs up for Bad Behavior!

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Spam and More Spam

Apr 16

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in Wordpress, blogs | 9 Comments

Wow. In FOUR DAYS, this is how much comment spam I’ve gotten for this blog. And I’m only halfway through the fourth day!

spam

Unbelievable, really. There were 57 pages of comment spam! There is no way I could have time to go through them all. I really wish these bots could be destroyed. Askimet grabs the spam so the comments are not automatically published, but I still have them in my comment admin page, where I have to delete them… wow. Disgusting.

I installed the plugin Bad Behavior, to reduce some of this clutter. I hope it works. Comment spam can bring a blog down by overloading it with too many requests, causing the server to crash. Jerks.

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Spam Supplier Shut Down!

Oct 14

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in crime, news | Comments off

I’m stunned that of all the media news outlets, my local news is the only one carrying this story right now:

Authorities shut down major spam supplier

CHICAGO (AP) – Federal authorities in Chicago say they’ve shut down one of the largest spam e-mail operations in the world. The Federal Trade Commission says the group generated e-mails promoting sales of prescription drugs and “male enhancement” pills.

The FTC says authorities closed the operation by working with their counterparts in New Zealand.

The FTC plans to provide more details at a news conference in Chicago later in the day.

This is great news! I don’t get a whole lot of spam via email anymore, although it’s starting to pick up since a free samples company got my email address– I was dumb! I do get a TON, literally, a TON, of comment spam on my WordPress blogs. WordPress should really try to do something about that, if possible.

Anyway, I’m glad to see a spammer get canned. FINALLY. I’m hoping the governments didn’t breach any civil liberties to nab their guy, though… that stuff makes me more concerned than the spam.

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