Received an E-mail earlier today that looked like it came from my father-in-law (he's quite elderly), inviting me to add him to "my friends network?", with a smiley face "Yes" button, and a frownie face "No" button.

What happens if you click on EITHER "Yes" or "No" is that it executes a script that fishes through your E-mail address book(s), and sends similar spam E-mails to everyone in them.

Nice, huh?

My wife actually fell for this one by clicking "Yes". We immediately started getting sales phone calls from TTC Marketing, asking for my wife. They'd gotten her phone number and full name from my father in law's address book.

"LiveHealthClub" dot com is registered to someone in Mumbai, India.

So, if you want all of your contact info stolen by someone you don't know, I hope I'm not on your contact list.

 

Does that mean your pm messages has been hacked or other contacts
like e-mail.

 

Just my wife and father-in-laws' E-mail addresses/contacts, not mine.
I knew better than to click on the link. She'd clicked on it before I checked my E-mail inbox.

 

There will be hundreds more. The only defence is to be vigilant against such attacks.

 

Thanks for the warning. I wonder if having a free email account like gmail might not be a way to dodge some spam. As long as you can close a current account and open another, it might be the way to email less alert family members.

 

Gmail is probably a good idea, they filter out a lot of spam, which might have stopped them seeing the mail in the first place.

 

Gmail blocks 99.7% of all spam. (99.7% = random made up number. However, it blocks a lot, it's missed a single email over a few months and I receive about 200 spam each month.)

 

Gmail blocks 99.7% of all spam.

I just opened a gmail acct. In my very first email I sent a note to a friend about
getting a ht1250 motorola radio programmed. Within seconds after clicking send the ads all around the screen were covered with ads on where to buy a ht1250.

I guess they read your mail when you send it..

 

I just opened a gmail acct. In my very first email I sent a note to a friend about
getting a ht1250 motorola radio programmed. Within seconds after clicking send the ads all around the screen were covered with ads on where to buy a ht1250.

I guess they read your mail when you send it..

Probably, if it was in the title, i hope they cant read the actual contents.
But i know many companies can pay certain applications for your search history, many applications on Facebook such as farmville have this ability (which is why I don't spend much time on facebook).
Whenever I get on a site the ads are usually about star trek, mustangs, or oscilloscopes or something similar. When i get on the same site on a friends computer, the ads are usually completely different.

Ain't marketing great.

 

Probably, if it was in the title,[/

I don't use the title box, that way their curiousity gets the best of them and they go ahead and read it...

 

I just opened a gmail acct. In my very first email I sent a note to a friend about
getting a ht1250 motorola radio programmed. Within seconds after clicking send the ads all around the screen were covered with ads on where to buy a ht1250.

I guess they read your mail when you send it..

There's a reason gmail gives you all that storage space and email accounts away for "FREE". Running that size of server cloud is not a cheap venture. 100% of your gmail is used to target advertising directly at you, as well as offering other items that "may be of interest to you" based on others that fit your profile. Profile is built by google searches, youtube videos watched, gmail messages and contacts from same.

Google runs nearly entirely from ad revenue. Read their terms of service, and interpret it very loosely to get the picture.

 

I just opened a gmail acct. In my very first email I sent a note to a friend about
getting a ht1250 motorola radio programmed. Within seconds after clicking send the ads all around the screen were covered with ads on where to buy a ht1250.

I guess they read your mail when you send it..

This is the only thing that sucks about Gmail. I don't like the approach to privacy taken by Google. But, as thatoneguy mentions, servers ain't free. According to Wikipedia and Google themselves, Google's income is 99% advertising. Adblock Plus on Firefox blocks almost all of it, except Gmail advertising.