Cable Forum

Cable Forum (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/index.php)
-   Webspace, E-Mail & Browsing Issues (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=80)
-   -   NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers? (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=38081)

nedsram 11-11-2005 19:40

NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Over the last two weeks I have received about ten emails. In every case they are sent to a single ntl email customer, and bcc-ed to an unknown number of other ntl email customers. The last one I received was addressed to me. They contain offers of pirated software at knockdown prices (e.g. XP Professional $49.95). They are flagged by NTL as spam, but I have opted to receive "spam" until I am satisfied that there are no "false positives".

I have several concerns about this:

1. It appears that spammers have obtained a list of ntl email addresses. As a result of this I could - if I wished - collect email addresses of other users. In other words I believe that there has been a security breach at NTL. I had a similar problem with tesco.net a few years ago. Naturally they denied that there had been a security breach, even though one of the recipients was their own marketing department.

2. The emails are deliberately dressed up to appear very similar to those sent out by Amazon. They include numerous graphical links to amazon.com. I informed Amazon of this development, together with details of IP addresses, and received the appended reply. (The odds against the email addresses being "randomly generated" is extremely high.)

3. If you are enticed into buying this pirated software, you will be directed to a website hosted in China (I did a whois lookup on the IP address). There you will be directed to a "secure payment" site, also hosted in China, and asked for your credit card details. In other words this is a phishing attempt. The reason they cite for being able to offer the software so cheaply is that it is "only available by download, so no fancy packaging...". Nice try - must do better next time. Note that Amazon require you to log in before accepting orders, and they will normally use credit card details previously registered with your account.

If anybody wants me to post the contents of this email, or anybody from NTL would like a copy forwarded, please let me know.

----------
Amazon response:
Thank you for writing to Amazon.co.uk.

The e-mail you received did not originate from Amazon.co.uk and we
had no part in it or its content. It is not the policy of
Amazon.co.uk nor Amazon.com to request payment card numbers by e-mail
and we would never write to a customer to ask them to do so, as
electronic mail does not provide security.

Please rest assured that we understand your concerns regarding the
e-mail message you received. We are also very concerned about the
implications of this message and the misappropriated use of our name,
and we are currently investigating this situation.

You should not send any information about yourself back to the e-mail
that you received (especially any credit or debit card numbers or
personal information).

Also, please be assured that Amazon.co.uk is not in the business of
selling customer information. Many spammers and spoofers use programs
that randomly generate e-mail addresses, in the hope that some
percentage of these randomly-generated addresses will actually
exist. Further altering the appearance of the sender in e-mail
headers can be a relatively simple process and copying the general
appearance of a website is also simple.

If you encounter any other uses of the Amazon.co.uk or indeed, the
Amazon.com name that you think may be fraudulent, please do not
hesitate to contact us again. The Internet is a large and fairly
unregulated universe; it is only through our constant vigilance and
with the help of others like yourself that we can ensure that our
name is not misappropriated for illegitimate uses.

We hope that we have been able to alleviate your concerns. Thank you
again for alerting us to this situation.

Warmest regards

Rocke W.
Customer Service
Amazon.co.uk
----------

Chris 11-11-2005 19:43

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Thanks for the warning - however I doubt there has been a security breach, they are quite possibly using a list generated out of common words and people's names, all hit and miss - many emails will fail or bounce, but some will get through. I get spam at my work addy, with a load of other people's names @myemployer.com copied in, and I know for a fact that many of the names on the email don't exist in our address book.

MovedGoalPosts 11-11-2005 19:46

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Spammers frequently just send a whole list of mailings commonly guessing email addys and domains. The big domains are ideal targets. If you then have an easily guessed dictionary user name, that's it you are on a list.

If you email addy has been published on the web somewhere, you've got it on your website, or youv'e made the mistake of posting it to a forum or whatever, bots will have found it, recorded it for posterity, and sent it to dozens of spammers. It's all too easy.

I got rid of most of my ntl spam by the simple expedient of having an unusual user name, and never publicly posting it.

nedsram 11-11-2005 20:04

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob C
If you then have an easily guessed dictionary user name, that's it you are on a list.

I'm far from convinced by that argument, although of course I can't prove it either way. Once this started with my Tesco account, the number of spam messages increased exponentially - presumably as they sold on the stolen list of email addresses to other people. Eventually I was forced to abandon my Tesco email account, as it was receiving about 100 spam messages a day - and I had been very careful not to disclose my email address in Usenet or anywhere else.

BTW my email address is of the form joe.bloggs23@ntlworld.com (heavily munged). Another interesting thing - which I also noticed at Tesco - was that only my primary email address gets the spam. None of the secondary ones I created receive any of it. (Yes, I've turned off the spam filter for all of them.) Which tends to support the theory that somebody has obtained a list of primary email addresses I'm afraid - especially as some of the seconday email addresses would be much easier to generate randomly than mine.

I'll check back tomorrow and see how this thread develops.

Brian

fireman328 11-11-2005 20:08

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
I am getting properly addressed, first and last name spam, it would be very difficult for any spammer to get lucky and guess as my name is, as far as I know, unique so there would appear to be some list somewhere.

patrickp 11-11-2005 21:38

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by nedsram
BTW my email address is of the form joe.bloggs23 at ntlworld.com (heavily munged). Another interesting thing - which I also noticed at Tesco - was that only my primary email address gets the spam. None of the secondary ones I created receive any of it. (Yes, I've turned off the spam filter for all of them.) Which tends to support the theory that somebody has obtained a list of primary email addresses I'm afraid - especially as some of the seconday email addresses would be much easier to generate randomly than mine.

Brian


Has it occurred to you that there may well be a real joe.bloggs23 with ntl, Brian? If you're going to post even imaginary addresses in a forum, it's wise either to present them in a form that they're not readable as valid email addresses, or to ensure that they are not existing addresses or for existing domains - even if the address doesn't exist, the domain's servers will still get the mail and have to deal with it.

Certainly, it's true that spammers are unlikely to be trawling a forum like this, but it's not impossible, and it's also a very bad habit to get into.

And, incidentally, the format of email address you've presented _is_ likely to be duplicated by spammers' address generators. Do you think they don't know that ISPs usually discriminate between customers with the same name by adding a number after the name? You'll have to be a little more subtle than that.

jonifen 15-11-2005 13:45

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
I'd recommend (if using Outlook) to look into the email properties and check the MIME headers of the email - may give an idea as to where the email originated from and action could be taken from there.
It may be worth looking into using a program like Mailwasher to fire emails back where they came from for a few weeks - see if this helps reduce the amount of spam emails received. It may actually help (it has done for me in the past).

jonbr 18-11-2005 17:18

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by fireman328
I am getting properly addressed, first and last name spam, it would be very difficult for any spammer to get lucky and guess as my name is, as far as I know, unique so there would appear to be some list somewhere.

One of your friends, or companies, you have exchanged emails with may have a virus which is sending out spam emails. These virus use the infected computers contact list to get the address of other peoples email and infect their PC. Then is does it again, and again, and again......

nedsram 18-11-2005 17:33

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by jonbr
One of your friends, or companies, you have exchanged emails with may have a virus which is sending out spam emails. These virus use the infected computers contact list to get the address of other peoples email and infect their PC. Then is does it again, and again, and again......

I don't think this is the problem here. The emails I was referring to are sent to several different NTL email addresses (how many I have no idea as all but one are BCC), and I have yet to see one where the main recipient wasn't an NTL email address. Too many coincidences there...

However about 3 days ago these emails suddenly stopped, so maybe somebody has tracked down the source of them.

For now I'll keep the NTL spam filter turned off though, as in the last 24 hours is has flagged 2 genuine emails (one from CNet) as spam. :shocked: ;)

nedsram 19-11-2005 10:35

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by nedsram
However about 3 days ago these emails suddenly stopped, so maybe somebody has tracked down the source of them.

That was tempting providence wasn't it. Another arrived just now. Here are the headers (and I hope Patrickp isn't upset this time):

------------------------------

Return-Path: <WinnieXiong@fones4all.com>
Received: from aamta06-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051119040012.NVIJ28994.mta05-winn....spmail.ntl.com>;
Sat, 19 Nov 2005 04:00:12 +0000
Received: from user-0c6tokc.cable.mindspring.com ([24.110.226.140])
by aamta06-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051119040006.OQQX18434.aamta06-win...mindspring.com>;
Sat, 19 Nov 2005 04:00:06 +0000
Received: from tWG@localhost by 799.int (8.11.6/8.11.6); Fri, 18 Nov 2005 22:16:29 -0600
Message-ID: <kgi40Uj8seIakLtGUlE42u28@francekeys.com>
From: "Wendy Acevedo" <WinnieXiong@fones4all.com>
Reply-To: "Wendy Acevedo" <WinnieXiong@fones4all.com>
To: foo.bar@entee-ell.com
Subject: [SPAM?] Huge $avings on ALL best-selling Macromedia titles
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 02:13:29 -0200
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.2730.2
X-Sender: WinnieXiong@fones4all.com
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="--ACLzoXmwsHcnbS4IswL"

------------------------------

It appears that the email has come from the USA - possibly California.

Brian

Watchman 19-11-2005 11:27

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
a few years ago, my brother who works in communications, was offered an ntl email list (within the last 4)

can't remember the exact details, too distant and hazy now

patrickp 20-11-2005 18:38

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by nedsram
Quote:

Originally Posted by nedsram
However about 3 days ago these emails suddenly stopped, so maybe somebody has tracked down the source of them.

That was tempting providence wasn't it. Another arrived just now. Here are the headers (and I hope Patrickp isn't upset this time):

------------------------------

Return-Path: <WinnieXiong at fones4all.com>
Received: from aamta06-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051119040012.NVIJ28994.mta05-winn....spmail.ntl.com>;
Sat, 19 Nov 2005 04:00:12 +0000
Received: from user-0c6tokc.cable.mindspring.com ([24.110.226.140])
by aamta06-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051119040006.OQQX18434.aamta06-win...mindspring.com>;
Sat, 19 Nov 2005 04:00:06 +0000
Received: from tWG@localhost by 799.int (8.11.6/8.11.6); Fri, 18 Nov 2005 22:16:29 -0600
Message-ID: <kgi40Uj8seIakLtGUlE42u28@francekeys.com>
From: "Wendy Acevedo" <WinnieXiong at fones4all.com>
Reply-To: "Wendy Acevedo" <WinnieXiong at fones4all.com>
To: foo.bar at entee-ell.com
Subject: [SPAM?] Huge $avings on ALL best-selling Macromedia titles
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 02:13:29 -0200
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.2730.2
X-Sender: WinnieXiong at fones4all.com
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="--ACLzoXmwsHcnbS4IswL"

------------------------------

It appears that the email has come from the USA - possibly California.

Brian


The 'fones4all.com' address is for a Californian company called, of course, fones4all. See here for a brief description of what they do. They would appear to be a telephone service dedicated to supplying a low-cost service to underprivileged households in Southern California who might not even be able to have a telephone service without an organisation like this.

It would therefore seem unlikely that they're the real source of a spam email pushing "ALL best-selling Macromedia titles," the return-to address would appear to be spoofed (it would seem to come from a mindspring.com user, and fones4all appear to use "the telecommunications infrastructures of SBC and Verizon" for their service), and I find it somewhat churlish to post an email address at their domain in a public forum - whether or not they actually have a Winnie Xiong, any spam arising from that post will still have to be dealt with by their servers. It may not be that likely from a post in a forum like this, but it's not impossible, and I really think you should be more careful about the email addresses you post, nedsram.

I notice you've taken care to obfuscate your own email address ("foo.bar at entee-ell.com") in this. Why is that?

nedsram 20-11-2005 18:55

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickp
I notice you've taken care to obfuscate your own email address ("foo.bar at entee-ell.com") in this. Why is that?

I took the trouble to post details of what is in my view a serious violation of email rules, as well as an apparent security breach. I also published the headers in the hope that it would help somebody to track down the source of these messages. In return I get flamed.

For your information, the email address I obfuscated wasn't mine - I was in the bcc list. As for the other email address you mentioned, I can assure you that it is genuine. Have you perhaps considered that the owner may have had her PC infiltrated, and is unaware of this?

I won't be reading - or contributing to - this thread again. Thanks to everybody else for the useful discussions.

Brian

patrickp 20-11-2005 19:43

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by nedsram
Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickp
I notice you've taken care to obfuscate your own email address ("foo.bar at entee-ell.com") in this. Why is that?

I took the trouble to post details of what is in my view a serious violation of email rules, as well as an apparent security breach. I also published the headers in the hope that it would help somebody to track down the source of these messages. In return I get flamed.

For your information, the email address I obfuscated wasn't mine - I was in the bcc list. As for the other email address you mentioned, I can assure you that it is genuine. Have you perhaps considered that the owner may have had her PC infiltrated, and is unaware of this?

I won't be reading - or contributing to - this thread again. Thanks to everybody else for the useful discussions.

Brian


My point about the email address was, I thought, quite obvious - not that you shouldn't have obscured it, but to ask again, if not directly, why you found it necessary to post someone's (who was clearly _not_ the author of the spam email) email address in full in a public forum.

If you want to complain about receiving spam, fine. If you want to post about ntl selling on email addresses, I think you're wrong, but but I have no problems with you arguing the point. But posting people's email addresses in a public forum is _not_ acceptable behaviour for me, and I have to say that I think the less of you for throwing a temper tantrum rather than simply taking it on board and refraining from doing it again. I had pointed out to you once before that this is not an appropriate thing to post.

nedsram 23-11-2005 22:09

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
OK I'm going to break my silence Patrick.

I undertstand your concerns about publishing email addresses, although I think that you are over-reacting. However I won't publish any in future.

The number of spam emails I am receiving is now starting to increase. Note that only my primary email address is receiving them. Today, as well as yet another offer of pirated software, I have received:

o confirmation of my "registration";
o information on how to enlarge a certain member;
o an email from the "FBI" that I have visited 30 illegal web sites, and must complete and return the attached form.

This is depressingly reminiscent of what happened at tesco.net a few years ago. At least I can turn the spam filter on, so that I don't get any of this junk (and lose a few genuine emails as well). However if anybody from NTL is reading this, I suggest that you monitor the levels of spam email received, as my prediction is that it will rise continuously (as people sell off this illegally obtained list of email addresses to other spammers). I would also suggest that NTL might like to investigate how a list of primary email addresses got into spammers' hands in the first place.

OK Patrick, I know you think I am wrong on this one as well, but sadly I have been here before, and all the evidence points to the conclusion I have drawn. I also recall somebody else suggesting that a copy might have been sold by an unscrupulous employee.

What I may have to end up doing is create a new seconday email address for myself, and using that instead of the primary one. I could then set up a mail rule for everything received on my primary address to be deleted at the server. However let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Keytops 23-11-2005 22:27

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
So if somebody has got hold of NTL email address list - how come I, and no doubt many others aren't getting this (or much else) spam? [and I have the spam filters set to forward to my account, and I've been with NTL for 5 years or so).

patrickp 23-11-2005 22:56

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
There's no way to ensure an email address won't be targeted by spammers, Brian - the best way would be to create a name with random characters and then never use it. As an example, I haven't used any of the ntl email addresses I've had since my cwcom one (and I don't use the cwcom at all for communicating with people - it simply serves as an address for various reasonably trustworthy subscriptions) and I don't think I've ever had any spam on any of them.

Firstly, as has been mentioned previously in this thread, spammers use name generators with the domain names for large ISPs, and it's pretty likely that they will check out how the ISP presents its email addresses when doing this. So it's fairly certain they will use aspects of an ISP's naming policies such as numbers after a name to distinguish between users with the same name. Try putting number characters into the middle of the name as a better way to combat this. And they're happy to use a 'scattergun' approach; they don't mind if most of the very large list of names they create miss, just so long as a few get a response.

When you use an email address, even if only with trusted friends, it's going to wind up in their address books. And then it only needs one machine to be compromised (and face it, a lot of people have infected machines now and never know it) for that address to be used, not only to send emails to you, but to send emails to others using your address as the return one. See how easy it is to get your address plastered all over the internet?

And that's why I get concerned over, for instance, your publishing someone's email address that you thought had sent you spam. As I demonstrated, it was extremely unlikely that the address you published was the originating address - i.e. it was spoofed - and, even if it wasn't a valid address (and it may well have been a valid one) the domain, which belongs to a telco providing 'phone services to disadvantaged people in California, will have to deal with any spam sent to that address.

Yes, it is possible that an employee of ntl has sold a list of email addresses, but I would consider it much less likely than that the people who've been getting spam are the victims of a spammer creating lists, or simply haven't been careful enough with their addresses - as I said before, just using an email address, even carefully, is probably enough to compromise it. The reason why none of my ntl emails have ever received spam is simply that I've never used any of them.

nedsram 23-11-2005 23:02

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickp
Yes, it is possible that an employee of ntl has sold a list of email addresses, but I would consider it much less likely than that the people who've been getting spam are the victims of a spammer creating lists, or simply haven't been careful enough with their addresses - as I said before, just using an email address, even carefully, is probably enough to compromise it. The reason why none of my ntl emails have ever received spam is simply that I've never used any of them.

I think we'll just have to agree to differ on this one Patrick. Perhaps the spammers only got a partial list of email addresses, which didn't contain yours - who knows? I can only say that (a) I've seen it all before, (b) I am very careful not to divulge my email address on Usenet and the like. I think we should leave others to draw their own conclusions.

patrickp 23-11-2005 23:06

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Keytops
So if somebody has got hold of NTL email address list - how come I, and no doubt many others aren't getting this (or much else) spam? [and I have the spam filters set to forward to my account, and I've been with NTL for 5 years or so).


I would doubt, Keytops, that if a disgruntled employee at ntl had sold email addresses on, that they would have had access to, and would have been able to obtain, anything like a complete list of all addresses. It would probably be only a small segment - which is not to say that I think it's likely that such a thing has happened at all. And I _seriously_ doubt that ntl as an organisation would sell their entire database on.

Hom3r 23-11-2005 23:13

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
A few years ago my primary email address was getting about 250 emails a day mostly spam, and after a two week holiday over 3500 emails so I added another email address and used that for family & friends only.

I would advise that you set up several email addresses

1. family and friends
2. for play.com type website
3. for websites that require you to login to etc

patrickp 23-11-2005 23:15

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by nedsram
Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickp
Yes, it is possible that an employee of ntl has sold a list of email addresses, but I would consider it much less likely than that the people who've been getting spam are the victims of a spammer creating lists, or simply haven't been careful enough with their addresses - as I said before, just using an email address, even carefully, is probably enough to compromise it. The reason why none of my ntl emails have ever received spam is simply that I've never used any of them.

I think we'll just have to agree to differ on this one Patrick. Perhaps the spammers only got a partial list of email addresses, which didn't contain yours - who knows? I can only say that (a) I've seen it all before, (b) I am very careful not to divulge my email address on Usenet and the like. I think we should leave others to draw their own conclusions.

As I've said, Brian - use an email address, and you cannot discount the possibility of its having been compromised. Doesn't matter how careful you are - and I have to ask - if you're so careful with your own email addresses, why are you not more careful with others' addresses? If you're using an address, however carefully, just think - other people, even ones you would trust, are being a lot less careful with it than you might hope they'll be.

nedsram 24-11-2005 09:01

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by nedsram
o confirmation of my "registration";
o an email from the "FBI" that I have visited 30 illegal web sites, and must complete and return the attached form.

I have just received a security advisory from McAfee. The above are the W32/Sober virus. Have a look here:

http://uk.mcafee.com/virusInfo/defau...virus_k=137072

hayesey 24-11-2005 12:13

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Unfortunately Spam is part of life if you use Email. There is no avoiding it.

Just because you are getting spam it doesn't mean anyone has obtained a list of email addresses. It's free to send emails so spammers send out millions upon millions of emails to random addresses at known domains. ntlworld-dot-com is a known domain so millions of emails are sent to it from spammers all over the world (quite often from PCs infected with a virus that the owner doesn't even know about) to random words, numbers etc..etc...

It is not the same as postal junk mail where senders buy lists of addresses, they do that because it costs money to send out junk mail so they only want it to go to relevant addresses whereas spammers can send whatever they want for free.

If you want to blame anyone, blame virus writers, the people who decide to try to con people by sending out spam & the select few fools who reply to the emails and even sometimes pay them money.

nedsram 24-11-2005 13:11

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by hayesey
Unfortunately Spam is part of life if you use Email. There is no avoiding it.

Just because you are getting spam it doesn't mean anyone has obtained a list of email addresses.

First, it's a new virus. Second, I was on the bcc list for both, so it has gone to an unknown number of other people. Third, if NTL detected them as a virus/worm, why were they not deleted rather than forwarded to me?

I was merely warning people what was happening. Please don't shoot the messenger.

hayesey 24-11-2005 14:27

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
But it seems like you are shooting the messenger! you can't blame NTL for getting an email virus.

Anti-virus software is always one step behind virus writers. Companies like norton, mcafee etc... can't pre-emt a new virus before it comes out. It's perfectly normal for a virus to do the rounds before AV software updates are available (& applied!).

I'm not trying to have a go, I'm just pointing out that it's not right to start blaming NTL for illegally selling email address lists. There is a direct relationship between spam/viruses & anti-spam/anti-virus software that has always existed & always will. Spammers/virus writers find a new way of tricking current anti-spam/virus software & as a result millions of new spam emails and/or viruses get through. It takes time (although usually only a day or so) for the new software updates to be written & usually a lot longer for people to get round to applying them. That then blocks most of the spam & viruses until the next "breakthrough" by the spam/virus writers.

Blaming NTL for spam & viruses getting through to you is incorrect & (no offense intended) shows a lack of understanding of how these systems work.

simbr 24-11-2005 17:32

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by nedsram
Today, as well as yet another offer of pirated software, I have received:
o an email from the "FBI" that I have visited 30 illegal web sites, and must complete and return the attached form.

Like this one? Guess what - ntl gets them too. It wasn't even sent to an email address that is published (first time I'd seen it in fact).

Quote:

From: ****@cia.gov 11/22/05
To: ****@ntlfreedom.com
Subject: Your_IP_was_logged
Dear Sir/Madam,

we have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

Important:
Please answer our questions!
The list of questions are attached.


Yours faithfully,
Steven Allison

Quote:

I would also suggest that NTL might like to investigate how a list of primary email addresses got into spammers' hands in the first place.
Most likely one or a combination of these three methods:
Email harvesters
Spyware/viruses
A dictionary

nileshgh 28-11-2005 21:19

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
For the last few days i am getting mails of this format with different subject and the end random numbers . again the address seems to be bcc. my email address is something which definitely cannot be arrived by random combination

we have both brands
men and women
highquality made rolx and bretlng
many models availablele
038.welcoometous.com
spvjkhw nbtej yymmcrjq
yjlr ff
xhq

Shabba 29-11-2005 01:26

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Ok. I set up a new secondary acount on the 18th of this month. Spam so far ..

From - Wed Nov 23 15:00:50 2005
X-Account-Key: account2
X-UIDL: <05D3B958.4B52D46@naseem.com>
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Return-Path: <bob@naseem.com>
Received: from aamta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta01-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051123112902.QJPO25089.mta01-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@aamta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com>;
Wed, 23 Nov 2005 11:29:02 +0000
Received: from naseem.com ([222.67.131.149])
by aamta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051123112840.IXMZ25320.aamta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@naseem.com>;
Wed, 23 Nov 2005 11:28:40 +0000
Message-ID: <05D3B958.4B52D46@naseem.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 13:14:32 +1100
Reply-To: "Amy" <bob@naseem.com>
From: "Amy" <bob@naseem.com>
User-Agent: Pine.SGI.4.10
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: "Bentley" <iativi@ntlworld.com>
Subject: FW: Bentley A treat for you --timekeeper
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0547-1, 22/11/2005), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

Bentley

This is a totally awesome e-mail that I got. See for yourself. I got one
shipped to me.

Amy

-------Original Message-------

From: Leesa [mailto:ne@xsjjud.com]
Sent: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 13:14:32 +1100
To: Daniel
Subject: Ozie Cool fashion item that is at reasonable price. Topmost
fashion item.


Dearest Cyrstal,

I am thinking you truly deserve one of these time pieces. This day you do
not need to worry about the regular noise of life. You only need to worry
about choosing the one you like best. Consider it an early birthday present.
http://au.geocities.com/mose_ledesma/

I know it would be cool to buy you the real thing, but these imitations are
almost like the real thing, and they are truly affordable. You can track
your gift through their system while you wait for it to be sent to you.

You can have two or three if you want.


My deepest love,

Forrest


one "To party avoid that, "said Arthur, "let us have the furniture fixed to
the LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS wheel hammer FOR A
oZj
be on the taxi rank watch--fast tie asleep, poor police car wretch! at the
present moment.

-----

From - Wed Nov 23 15:00:50 2005
X-Account-Key: account2
X-UIDL: <da0201c5ef7f$4ca1e2d0$56a32d52@esmond>
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Return-Path: <esmond@mimi.cyber-kitchen.com>
Received: from aamta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051123112900.YBPR28994.mta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@aamta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com>;
Wed, 23 Nov 2005 11:29:00 +0000
Received: from mimi.cyber-kitchen.com ([222.67.131.149])
by aamta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051123112859.LOLK7447.aamta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@mimi.cyber-kitchen.com>;
Wed, 23 Nov 2005 11:28:59 +0000
Message-ID: <da0201c5ef7f$4ca1e2d0$56a32d52@esmond>
From: "Mish" <esmond@mimi.cyber-kitchen.com>
To: "Wadd" <iativi@ntlworld.com>
Subject: Wadd Come and discover why your local store is less crowded.
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 16:10:47 +0800
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1158
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0547-1, 22/11/2005), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

Wadd

This is the best i've seen! I knew you would want to see it too.

Mish

-------Original Message-------

From: Nadene [mailto:uuwvfdyfxrid@ngvfj.com]
Sent: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 16:10:47 +0800
To: Arie
Subject: Kristie Cool fashion item that is at reasonable price. Topmost
fashion item.


Hey Walton,

No written regulations, no trouble and no embarrassment. Our estore has a
item for just about all medical problems. You will definitely find all the
brand name products and more from this vendor. Tens of thousands of
consumers have gotten performance enhancers here and happily come back
again.
http://de.geocities.com/rex_cafferky/

The packages are finished! And at last, it's going to be half of the cost.

If you dislike stopping by the pharmacy as much as thousands of others,
it's about time that you stop by our web page!


Catch up with me later

Booker


the tennis court volunteer do a good deep afternoon outside began to
thicken and darken city sort history of untidy town heap, and snoring
loud--`fit to snore his head oZj
feather of indignation spacecraft which the presence of the Countess
provoked.

-----

From - Tue Nov 22 14:49:33 2005
X-Account-Key: account2
X-UIDL: <ACE0BA86.5DF41E6@cabincrew.com>
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Return-Path: <oswellu@cabincrew.com>
Received: from aamta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta04-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051122144319.XVCO12307.mta04-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@aamta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com>;
Tue, 22 Nov 2005 14:43:19 +0000
Received: from cabincrew.com ([218.81.164.220])
by aamta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051122144318.WHQS28015.aamta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@cabincrew.com>;
Tue, 22 Nov 2005 14:43:18 +0000
Message-ID: <ACE0BA86.5DF41E6@cabincrew.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:14:28 -0600
From: "Jena" <oswellu@cabincrew.com>
User-Agent: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: "Weth" <iativi@ntlworld.com>
Subject: Weth Purchase healing supplements from our shopping site.
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0546-6, 20/11/2005), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

Weth

See for yourself. It is great. I ordered one. I knew you would want one
too.

Jena

-------Original Message-------

From: Hugh [mailto:xyxv@nolllo.com]
Sent: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:14:28 -0600
To: Leopoldo
Subject: Chang Cool fashion item that is at reasonable price. Topmost
fashion item.


Heya Eloisa,


Have a particular disorder that's a little too sensitive to go to the
M.D.'s for? Our fully licensed general practitioners will diagnose and treat
your disease in our special way. Since it is our number one goal to please
our customers, if you are unhappy with your purchase, we have a money-back
policy. The reasons why shoppers respect our pharmacy are classic -
economical prices and no embarassing physical examinations. Having trouble
buying certain products? You will not have a problem finding it here!
http://it.geocities.com/zane_lebrun/

We know you want to minimize your wait time. Therefore we'll send your
packages express. Our site carries FDA approved generic supplements,
absolutely the same as trademarked products but at measurably discounted
prices.


Talk to you later

Makeda

-----

From - Thu Nov 24 15:19:41 2005
X-Account-Key: account2
X-UIDL: <B239A7DD.C5018BF@alpertron.com.ar>
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Return-Path: <jolie@alpertron.com.ar>
Received: from aamta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta01-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051124080330.ZJSA25089.mta01-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@aamta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com>;
Thu, 24 Nov 2005 08:03:30 +0000
Received: from alpertron.com.ar ([218.81.178.222])
by aamta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051124080329.TTJG28015.aamta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@alpertron.com.ar>;
Thu, 24 Nov 2005 08:03:29 +0000
Message-ID: <B239A7DD.C5018BF@alpertron.com.ar>
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 17:44:14 +0300
From: "Elan" <jolie@alpertron.com.ar>
User-Agent: 8.0 for Windows sub 6014
X-Accept-Language: en-us
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: "Lukas" <iativi@ntlworld.com>
Subject: Wish you had a better direct outlet?
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0547-4, 24/11/2005), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean



All the well known brand name performance enhancers are available
immediately!

Stop by this outlet by clicking your mouse to see how much you can save.

Any questions? Our client service staff are here to help 365 days a year.
See why our Internet dispensary has been an enormous triumph. This homepage
is the core of top remedy, value & services.
Orders are shipped internationally and can be expedited if you wish.
It's so easy to purchase medication here that you can get the item ordered
within three minutes!
http://de.geocities.com/hilario_scheer/



Catch ya later

Elan





Spaniel, wing who was fish tank regarding them with a most benevolent
smile, "Yes, extreme reduce his salt hand!

-----

From - Fri Nov 25 15:08:36 2005
X-Account-Key: account2
X-UIDL: <CD3E37ED.E3B8135@mrcontrol.com>
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Return-Path: <salomeaexl@mrcontrol.com>
Received: from aamta06-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051125024451.USSH18993.mta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@aamta06-winn.ispmail.ntl.com>;
Fri, 25 Nov 2005 02:44:51 +0000
Received: from mrcontrol.com ([218.82.160.165])
by aamta06-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051125024450.TEIA18434.aamta06-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@mrcontrol.com>;
Fri, 25 Nov 2005 02:44:50 +0000
Message-ID: <CD3E37ED.E3B8135@mrcontrol.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 01:39:24 -1000
From: "Rosemere" <salomeaexl@mrcontrol.com>
User-Agent: 8.0 for Windows sub 6014
X-Accept-Language: en-us
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: "Benny" <****.*****@ntlworld.com>
Subject: Getting your curing products at home- what a splendid idea.
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0547-4, 24/11/2005), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean



Get around the awkwardness of going to the physician's clinic. Your privacy
is of essential importance.

See why our on-line drug store has been a marvelous achievement. This zone
is the center of super remedy, worth & services.

No one should wait for their items, cause our mailing is quick and
dependable.

Thanks to our award worthy service, we're the most commonly used outlet on
the internet.

Our store has a item for just about anything. We distribute a wide array of
excellent products!

Switching to our shop is smooth, fast and saves you heaps of money.
http://sg.geocities.com/nathanial7329/



Hope your day is great

Rosemere





failing Sunday at ugly their old pace, and would therefore be left traffic
light behind."
slung to the rough raftered roof of the main room, clothes shop as an at
present extra sign THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO

-----

From - Mon Nov 28 23:23:44 2005
X-Account-Key: account2
X-UIDL: <1c2901c5f3dc$bd3048a0$1ea2f325@bassty>
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Return-Path: <bassty@elportil.com>
Received: from aamta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta04-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051128124227.CKQY12307.mta04-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@aamta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com>;
Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:42:27 +0000
Received: from elportil.com ([58.35.87.170])
by aamta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051128124226.UBRE25320.aamta05-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@elportil.com>;
Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:42:26 +0000
Message-ID: <1c2901c5f3dc$bd3048a0$1ea2f325@bassty>
From: "Shaningo" <bassty@elportil.com>
To: "Ceiseel" <****.*****@ntlworld.com>
Subject: FW: We give you the convenience of ordering health supplements online and delivered to your house. Ceiseel
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 05:29:44 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0547-5, 26/11/2005), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

Ceiseel

Here you go. I liked the web page a lot.

Shaningo

-------Original Message-------

From: Terrell [mailto:rnmbkx@vn.com]
Sent: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 05:29:44 -0400
To: Veda
Subject: Melanie Cool fashion item that is at reasonable price. Topmost
fashion item.


Ciao Zelda,

There is no vehicle essential to this experience at our pharmaceutical
store.

Being a patron at our shopping site is smooth, speedy and saves you much
money. Why go anywhere? Now you can score all of your treatments via our
pharmacy! We have an extensive array of the most popular quality relief
online.
http://sg.geocities.com/lupe_calegari/




Regards

Gudrun


the more than pigeons--to tuck shop know that the by warm and vital `How
surprised build he'll be when shower he finds out who I am! But hers I'd
oZj
directions had been complied with, to maintain pour a large contact

-----

From - Mon Nov 28 23:23:45 2005
X-Account-Key: account2
X-UIDL: <BE231EE5.E3D94CD@burek.co.yu>
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Return-Path: <fonaiwack@burek.co.yu>
Received: from aamta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com ([81.103.221.35])
by mta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with ESMTP
id <20051128222305.PTZB28006.mta02-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@aamta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com>;
Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:23:05 +0000
Received: from burek.co.yu ([218.81.160.247])
by aamta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com with SMTP
id <20051128222303.CMZB7447.aamta03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@burek.co.yu>;
Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:23:03 +0000
Message-ID: <BE231EE5.E3D94CD@burek.co.yu>
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:58:27 -0400
Reply-To: "Danette" <fonaiwack@burek.co.yu>
From: "Danette" <fonaiwack@burek.co.yu>
User-Agent: fostering Program V Mail Client 5.0
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: "Karolis" <****.*****@ntlworld.com>
Subject: This Internet-based nutients express outlet is the best I have ever utilized.
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0547-5, 26/11/2005), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean



Our company has a supplement for just about anything. We supply a wide
array of the best products!
The licensed pharmacy ensures inexpensive medications, reliability, and
convenience.
You simply can't beat these prices! Here you will run across a way to save
on your supplement.
Our service employees are very accommodating, treating clientele with
courtesy.
If you detest waiting at the pharmacy like thousands of others, it's about
time that you come by our site!

Our commitment is to have your health products reviewed, processed and
ready for shipment within 1-2 days from receipt of your online filled order.
http://au.geocities.com/les_bitonti/



Your buddy,

Danette




gentle the first floodlight prediction two names that appeared were:
cashier in my opinion "It dazzles!" said Bruno, shading his eyes with one
little hand, while
`--or next error day, maybe,' the Footman at this point continued in the
bully same tone, oZj
wine-glass-full
fifty OTHER oZj

chase bite care CHAPTER VI oZj

******
Now i've not edited any ip's 'cause it's spam! This is all on a virgin account i'm amazed that this kind of stuff gets through!

grubbymitts 05-12-2005 07:06

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
There are many ways of spammers getting your email address through no fault of NTL, many of which have been touched upon here. The ways I know of include:

1) Posting your real email address anywhere (forums, newsgroups etc)
2) Signing up for email newsletters and not ticking boxes stopping them from selling your email to third parties who sell to third parties who sell to third parties etc
3) Friends, Romans, Countrymen who stupidly click on attachments in emails or actually buy the stuff from the spammers (which always comes with a nice spyware bonus)
4) Random email bombing (most likely culprit, whatever anyone says. A spammer has ten or twenty machines each running spamming email software linked to high upload connections that send out millions of emails a day. It only takes a few people to click on these emails to alert the spammer it is real. Lots of spam will also have a link to a picture hosted by the spam bots too. When the picture is requested then the spammer knows that that email address is valid and you will get more spam)

The best way to combat spam mail is to use web email servers like hotmail, yahoo or Gmail as they have very good spam filters. If you must use pop mail, then dump outlook express and download Thunderbird from Mozilla. By default it blocks javascript and pictures in emails so any spam coming through is less likely to be able to check if you have a valid email address.

Hope that helps.

Toto 05-12-2005 08:05

Re: NTL: email addresses obtained by spammers?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by grubbymitts
There are many ways of spammers getting your email address through no fault of NTL, many of which have been touched upon here. The ways I know of include:

1) Posting your real email address anywhere (forums, newsgroups etc)
2) Signing up for email newsletters and not ticking boxes stopping them from selling your email to third parties who sell to third parties who sell to third parties etc
3) Friends, Romans, Countrymen who stupidly click on attachments in emails or actually buy the stuff from the spammers (which always comes with a nice spyware bonus)
4) Random email bombing (most likely culprit, whatever anyone says. A spammer has ten or twenty machines each running spamming email software linked to high upload connections that send out millions of emails a day. It only takes a few people to click on these emails to alert the spammer it is real. Lots of spam will also have a link to a picture hosted by the spam bots too. When the picture is requested then the spammer knows that that email address is valid and you will get more spam)

The best way to combat spam mail is to use web email servers like hotmail, yahoo or Gmail as they have very good spam filters. If you must use pop mail, then dump outlook express and download Thunderbird from Mozilla. By default it blocks javascript and pictures in emails so any spam coming through is less likely to be able to check if you have a valid email address.

Hope that helps.

:clap:

This subject has been done to death, just to confirm though that ntl's email databse is not sold or obtained by spammers, all of the above reasons apply.


All times are GMT. The time now is 01:20.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
All Posts and Content are © Cable Forum