WindowsBBS spam scam

I just got spammed by some money organisation. My email address is a sneakemail account, one measure that I take to increase my security and avert unwanted spam.

What this means is that the address I have used on WindowsBBS as my email has only ever been used for posting to WindowsBBS... I have never used it anywhere else. Therefore, when I receive spam from through that email, I know that the spammer has used WindowsBBS as a base for collecting my email.

Want to know a spammer that has been using these boards? Here they are: removed

The XX is a number - probably a different number for each member of this scam. The account that spammed me was debt40.html Don't connect to them, as they are probably getting paid for clicksthrus each time someone adds hits to their account.

How do I know it's a scam? Oh pu-leeeasse... what other finance company would be doing well and at the same time have to spam me through WindowsBBS?

Anyone know how we might nail the webmaster and slam the member if they have an antispam policy? I might set up another sneakemail account to do this.

Anyways - though some of you others might be getting spammed the same (fellow BBS members). If you got email entitled "Your own account[number]" which takes you to somewhere on then it's likely your email was grabbed from WindowsBBS.com.

 

Extremely likely because it really happened.

...I'll say it again: WindowsBBS is (was) the only holder of that email address. I have never even used the addy to email anyone else. It was a special account I put aside for WindowsBBS use only. Check out the how / why etc on http://www.sneakemail.com if you need to know more about such systems.

...mind you - it's the same addy I used when WindowsBBS used to be Windows-Help.net. Maybe the cracker responsible for that job is selling addys from the old list? Unlikely again? Maybe back then the email addresses were visible (I think I optyed to keep mine quiet). If it really is so secure - maybe WindowsBBS is hiding that they are in fact selling our addy's behind our backs? (and unfortunately my email is very traceable) [note: I don't believe this is the case]. Hell - it could be anything. Now I'm getting spammed, maybe I should just shut down that email account and make a new one.

One question: Why did you censor the website of the spammers? If they want to spam people (something my ISP would kick me for doing if I started) they have decided top be one of the "bad guys" of the net and deserve to be exposed. Why would you want to protect their identity?

 

The UBB software had a different approach to email addresses than vBulletin. vB does not allow accessing email addresses directly.

 

According to an email from a website specializing in "bots ", "Going though discussion boards and mining mail addresses is one prime tool of spammers. "

If you ever posted it or made it accessible on the original BB, it was recorded.

Tony: Privacy Policy

 

Cheers

Hey cool - and thanks for your answers

Looks like that must be what happened... perhaps I had the option "show email address" on for some time in the previous bulletin board and it got harvested. I've now deleted the old email address (spammers are going to get their email bouncing back) and have exchanged it for a new one.

...and I noticed on deleting it there a was a log of at least a couple of spammers using yahoo accounts using the old address. One might have even been reselling it to the others (Oh dear - how sad for them. New addy, so I win. The end).

Arie - good idea for not posting their website here. Thanks again to the admins for this cool site.