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Friend using outlook express 6. Lately been getting allot of returned mail. Mail she has not even tried to send. Has not even sent mail out in 3 weeks. We are talking like 100 or more a day. I was just over at her house and deleted 81. Within 15 mintues there were 10 more. Address she has never heard of. I will enclose a few. Could use some help. Thank you all for your time and help.
christensen@taylored.com
lynnlewis@mail.clis.com
aguilar@diemakerjobs.com
jimmyolsen.pns.networktel.net
advert@mechanics.ruThanks Again
I think there might be a virus, trojan, spyware or something on the computer causing issues like that.
Sounds like very strange behavior much like virus could do. I recommend some intense scanning Avg antivirus, and some intense scanning for spyware with some scanners like Spybot Search & Destroy, Adware at least or some that are even better.
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I've run Spybot search & Destroy (updated first) Ad-Aware (updated) AVG free edition (updated) A-squared (updated) RegCleaner Windows Washer Just don't know where else to go. Thank You for your help.
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Sounds like your friend's email address is being spoofed. Which means that someone who has her email addy in his/her address book is infected and emails are being sent from that computer, but showing your friend's email addy as the sending account. That's why the undeliverable mails are coming to her account.
Nothing she can do about it other than close the account and create a new one.
Soylent Green is PEOPLE!
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If you've got yourself on the spammers list (usually by leaving your email openly on a website) it is not that unusual to get emails returned that were not from you. Usually though you might get 100 or more spam emails but only a few of these are the returned type. The addresses they use are not much to go by because they spoof them.
Another reason is that already given by Jennifer.
One thing you haven't mentioned is whether they have any text and if so is it of the offensive type or advertising material? If so it is a sure sign of some sort of spamming source - either of the above.
100+ a day of that type is one heck of a lot but the problem is what to do about it. My advice, corny though it might sound, is to write to your server "attaching" a few sample emails. They are in the best postition to fully unearth where they are coming from and do something about it. It all depends on your server of-course.
There are websites you can report junk mail to if you Google around. Maybe someone can supply a link. I would see what the server can offer first though as this a severe example.
DerekW
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THIS is where people spoof your e-mail addy using the SMTP server! Nothing you can do...it's a learned hazards of the Internet. Love it or hate it!
i_XpUser
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David, tell her to try this free On-line Spyware Scan
then post back.....it should work for you.Hopefully my advice will help you...Please post back with your results....thanks
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I kinda doubt it is spyware on your machine but I'm more than happy to be proved wrong on this one because you can then fix your problem. So, yes, please let us know if it found anything.
DerekW
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As of 7:37 Pm yesterday she has gotten 81 e-mail. I'm not really sure what all I am looking at but all were sent to address she has know ideal who they are. If you look futher down most all will say something about a online pharmcy. There will be links you can click for different pills. Some just will have subject: cheap tabs and give you link to download file. All this she says she has no ideal what it is about and never went to any site like this. It will be Monday before I will be able to get with the server but will let you all know. Thank you all for your help.
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Texts sound like standard spam. You don't have to go to websites of that sort to get that kind of email but its unusual that they are all of the "returned mail" type. Try the link on #6 just the same.
DerekW
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Update: Spoke to server and will attach a copy of what they said. They also told me they are working to fix this. Thank you all for your time and help.
We have been seeing a lot of email situations similar to this. What it most likely means is that one of the folks doing mass mailing email forwards (you
know, the jokes that are forwarded 15 times before you receive it) from someone who has your email address has a virus. What happens then is the
virus sends an email to everyone on the list. Some of the filters catch the virus and return the email to the email address that is "supposededly"
sending the email. In this case the sender never uses their own email address, they use other peoples, but the actual error email is returned to
you - as it was using your address. In your particular situation, the email was sent to an address that is no longer valid, so the email was rejected
before the virus could propagate itself again. The email had your email address in the "from" line, so when the server rejected the email, the
rejection notice came back to you, rather than whomever sent it.
If you keep your virus scan program up to date and run it frequently, and know your computer is free of virus', there really isn't anything you can
do, more than what you've already done. You might want to email the people in your address book and alert them to the issue. You will probably find
they are having similar problems and would welcome the explanation as to what is causing it. If they all scan their computers, sooner or later the
person who has the actual virus will discover it and clean the virus out.
One more thing you can do is use the "Message Rules" feature of Outlook Express (if that is the email program you are using) to set up rules to deal
with this type of email. If you go to the help section of Outlook Express, it will tell you what message rules are and how to set them up and use them
to your best advantage.
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David's ISP quote: "What happens then is the
virus sends an email to everyone on the list. Some of the filters catch the virus and return the email to the email address that is "supposededly"
sending the email. In this case the sender never uses their own email address, they use other peoples, but the actual error email is returned to
you - as it was using your address.".David, that's what I said in my Response #3.
Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!
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Thx for update.
I'm into email rules in a big way. I now get very good results indeed on general spam but it took ages to hone the rules (which continues on a very small scale). If it is practicable, make the first rule one to accept your valid emailers. Beyond that its a very long story.....
DerekW
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