A New Scam Appears in SPAM...

[ameerat42]

OdDLy, I received a bunch of Mail Delivery errors - could not deliver email - that ended up in the
SPAM folder. As I suddenly felt a great kinship to a cat, I opened one. I couldn't see anything
untoward in it, but I HAD NOT sent any msgs to this contact since about Christmas, nor to
anybody else for about a week, so as to why suddenly six or seven such messages.

In addition to these, I got the usual SPAMMed "messages" from another "friend" and from MYSELF! - I'm
used to these

Anyway, even as a dead cat I noticed something then that appeared unusual. The returned mail
address was:

[rem]MAILER-DAEMON@gateway32.websitewelcome.com[/rem]

Welcome? !!!

I had never seen that before, so I sent a "fake" message I knew would generate a proper mail
delivery error. I have shown both results below. So, be aware of this new potential SCAM!
- If it is in the SPAM fiolder there must be a good reason
Just in case you didn't know/as a reminder, hover the mouse over the sender's "name" to reveal
the email address without opening the message. (Also shown in pic below.)

SCAM Mail Delivery Error in Spam folder and "Proper" returned undeliverable mail...
SCAM.jpg

[nardes]

Hah, you're a brave man Am, I just delete any suspicious looking e-mail to avoid the scammers/bots/low life at the other end getting a live bite.

Cheers

Dennis

[ameerat42]

Brave? - Risquey! - There's no accounting for cats

2 different scans just after showed 1) 61 pups and 2) another adware or two.

[mongo]

Thanks AM. Forgive Mongo's lack of teach knowledge about this stuff. would like your help as to how to delete without clicking on or opening the email. So far , have been clicking on sus emails and deleting but have been relying on the protection of not then opening any any link within the email. How can Mongo safely delete any sus emails ???

[ameerat42]

Happy to, Mongo.

As said above, you only need to hover the mouse over the name of the "Sender".
DN'T click the mouse or that will open the email.

Refer to the pic again and note the little rectangles with the "MAILER DAEMON..."
text inside. This is what you see when you hover the mouse as above. It is a quick
check of the email address of the sender. If you are unsure of the suss senders in a
list in the Inbox, tick each suss box next to the sender and then do a mass delete.

The deleted items will end up in your "Deleted Items " box, which you can then empty
permanently. This applies to just about all email clients, like Yahoo, Gmail, Optus Webmail,
etc. The details may be a little different only.

For items in the SPAM folder there should also be a mass delete option, like "Empty Spam".

Note: Just about everything that ends up in SPAM folder is real SPAM, but occasionally I
find a legit user/contact, and I then move that item to the Inbox.

- - - Updated - - -

Actually, you can enjoy this GIF display of my Optus Webmail SPAM Folder ...
hovermouse.gif

[mongo]

Happy to, Mongo.

As said above, you only need to hover the mouse over the name of the "Sender".
DN'T click the mouse or that will open the email.

Refer to the pic again and note the little rectangles with the "MAILER DAEMON..."
text inside. This is what you see when you hover the mouse as above. It is a quick
check of the email address of the sender. If you are unsure of the suss senders in a
list in the Inbox, tick each suss box next to the sender and then do a mass delete.

The deleted items will end up in your "Deleted Items " box, which you can then empty
permanently. This applies to just about all email clients, like Yahoo, Gmail, Optus Webmail,
etc. The details may be a little different only.

For items in the SPAM folder there should also be a mass delete option, like "Empty Spam".

Note: Just about everything that ends up in SPAM folder is real SPAM, but occasionally I
find a legit user/contact, and I then move that item to the Inbox.

- - - Updated - - -

Actually, you can enjoy this GIF display of my Optus Webmail SPAM Folder ...
hovermouse.gif

Very, very big thanks AM - much appreciated

[Mark L]

Thanks AM. Forgive Mongo's lack of teach knowledge about this stuff. would like your help as to how to delete without clicking on or opening the email. So far , have been clicking on sus emails and deleting but have been relying on the protection of not then opening any any link within the email. How can Mongo safely delete any sus emails ???

This works and is a safe way to go as long as you don't open any link contained within the email you open.

[Ross the fiddler]

I keep getting lots of spam labelled LinkedIn (in the spam folder). I just keep ticking the box & selecting 'Block'.

[ameerat42]

I keep getting lots of spam labelled LinkedIn (in the spam folder). I just keep ticking the box & selecting 'Block'.

That's one of my main blights, too. I get told I have been searched on xyz times this week. - Not bad for not even
being on LinkedIn I think that ticking any box might be a lost cause because they would interminably cycle through
myriad false email addresses and domains. It's just a daily chore for me to empty the spam folder. And such Good Riddance!

[ameerat42]

...in case I had forgotten that I get SPAM...
(I actually had written to CR Kennedy, but weeks ago. The "Re:........." made it suspicious.)

14 from today...
morespam.jpg

[ameerat42]

So today it was by phone...

Rngtone-ringtone...

Hello...?

[Cultivated "female" voice] Helloh. This is an important call from Optus about your telephone and broadband service for [a brief silence].
If this is you-h, please press 1 nohw... [Silence while waiting for response] [/Cultivated...]

AAOWHH...! [derisive, impatient expostulation and more... with an immediate hang-up!]

Checked my Optus email - no like advice from them. I established some time ago that they do not cold call.

[bitsnpieces]

Haven't seen any of these yet... Either Google Mail is filtering it already, or it hasn't hit me yet.

[tandeejay]

you'll find that often the "undelivered" emails are not really spam but just the results of spammers spoofing the from address with your email.

While it is possible for mail domains to set up an SPF record (a DNS record that indicates what IP addresses are valid for sending from that domain) Not all mail domains have SPF records, and not all mail clients/relays check SPF records.

This is also what spammers usually find valuable in vulnerable web sites. If you own a web site, NEVER think your safe from hackers because you think you have nothing valuable. If your website has a good reputation, that reputation is what spammers consider extremely valuable, because if they can hack your website, then there is a window when they can send spam without getting blocked because they're sending from your reputable website, and they will try and send as many spam emails as they can before your website gets blacklisted, and they will spoof the from address of their spam with email addresses they have harvested. Of course, they are sending their spam to massive lists of email addresses they have harvested, which will contain a percentage of invalid addresses which get the "undelivered" message. These undelivered messages then get sent to the spoofed from address (which in some cases will be yours if the spammer spoofed your from address, and you will probably find that the address the "undelivered" message came from is someones valid website that has been hacked.

This is why it is extremely important for website owners to always apply security patches, and to ensure their system has been configured in a secure method.

[vharperv]

Hah, you're a brave man Am, I just delete any suspicious looking e-mail to avoid the scammers/bots/low life at the other end getting a live bite.

I go further and block sender you can get rules for who you block. as a business I am really #### about my emails.. I now on most days on my two email addys get around 5 to 10 "normal emails" and about 30 -60 which go immediately into my junk from my blocked senders. a quick scan to make sure a real email hasn't got there by mistake and empty the junk folder.


Cheers

Dennis