Help with a Spam Problem?

[pseudosilence]

So, someone is apparently sending out a lot of spam using my e-mail address.  I discovered this because my inbox is now flooded with bounce back and "please confirm you are human" messages.  Is there anything I can do about this?  And how do I check to make sure my computer hasn't been zombiefied and I'm not sending out these messages?  (I don't

Comments

[cybersattva]

When this happened to me a couple years ago, all I could find on the web was "Sorry, there's not much you can do." The problem, of course, is that spam programs can put any email address they like in the "From:" clause, and unfortunately they've chosen you. :(

[cybersattva]

Yeah. My understanding is that virus-based spammers often in fact spoof addresses found in the address book of the infected computer, instead of the infected computer itself, precisely so that if the person whose address is being used cleans their computer, they won't eliminate the virus. It is bad. :(

--Adam

[pseudosilence]

Hmm - well, then, I hope it isn't any of you! (crosses fingers)

Spammers really are the scum of the earth, aren't they?

That sucks

[sylvantechie]

The only thing I can think of is setting up a filter to match the bounce messages and junk them. You'd have to be careful about automatically deleting real bounce messages, but there may be something in the headers you can check or some such thing.

You could disconnect your computer from the net for a day or so (e.g. by keeping it turned off) to check zombification - if you continue to get bounce messages piling up in your account while your comp is disconnected then you're probably safe.

Good luck!

Re: That sucks

[pseudosilence]

Thanks - I didn't think there was much I could do, but I thought it was worth checking.

I'm very good about turning off my computer when I'm not using it - I don't think I can go a whole day or two without internet, but the messages do seem to pile up overnight when the computer is off.

On the plus side, the complete virus check I ran this morning says I'm clean as a whistle.