Email Issues. Marked a suspicious email as spam , didn't solve ..Seekinghelp

May 14, 2022, 11:01 AM

architect

quote:
Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
A couple of days ago, I received an email that looked suspicious. It had my email address inthe header with the following abbreviated msg " I've hacked ".

I didn't open the email, but marked it as spam and deleted. Now I'm getting 5-10 emails a day of "Returned email" , which I'm sure comes from that original email.

Any method of stopping this mess?

The "returned" bounces do not necessarily indicate that your computer originated the bounced message. More likely, the first message sent to you was sent to a list of addresses, some of which bounced the message. If this is the case, over time, it will stop on its own. But, you cannot stop someone from sending you messages, the best you can do, if your mailer supports it, is to create a filter that discards these.

It depends on your specific mailer (the software you use to read messages), but most "mark as spam" do not immediately flag similar messages as spam upon receipt. Rather, they are included in a depository that is used as an example of spammy messages. AI techniques use this depository to find similarities. In other words, don't expect "mark as spam" to work immediately or perfectly, the AI software requires training and the more spam messages it has o reference, the better it gets, without ever becoming perfect.

Another thing, many people seem to believe that there is a difference between "opening" a message and reading it. This is a misconception. Most modern mailers can be configured to not download remote content (follow hyperlinks, etc.) by default, a very prudent safety measure.

And, no matter what, never, ever reply to a spam or scam message, no matter how tempting it might be. This just marks you as a "live" address and will guarantee more of the same. This goes double for any "click to unsubscribe" links that may have infested a message.

Many find the use of "plus addressing" a useful tool. This involves adding a "+" and a string after the user portion of your e-mail address, e.g. joe+sigforum@mail.com. Most MTAs (Mail Transport Agents) ignore the +string part when forwarding messages, it is actually an Internet standard. The benefit is that this technique can be used to identify the source of a message, e.g. with mailer filters. Some mailers will actually auto-file "+string" into a mail folder named "string" without explicit filter setup (the folder generally has to already be available, folder creation upon receipt is less common).

May 14, 2022, 11:55 AM

Sunset_Va

quote:
Originally posted by architect:
quote:
Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
A couple of days ago, I received an email that looked suspicious. It had my email address inthe header with the following abbreviated msg " I've hacked ".

I didn't open the email, but marked it as spam and deleted. Now I'm getting 5-10 emails a day of "Returned email" , which I'm sure comes from that original email.

Any method of stopping this mess?
The "returned" bounces do not necessarily indicate that your computer originated the bounced message. More likely, the first message sent to you was sent to a list of addresses, some of which bounced the message. If this is the case, over time, it will stop on its own. But, you cannot stop someone from sending you messages, the best you can do, if your mailer supports it, is to create a filter that discards these.

It depends on your specific mailer (the software you use to read messages), but most "mark as spam" do not immediately flag similar messages as spam upon receipt. Rather, they are included in a depository that is used as an example of spammy messages. AI techniques use this depository to find similarities. In other words, don't expect "mark as spam" to work immediately or perfectly, the AI software requires training and the more spam messages it has o reference, the better it gets, without ever becoming perfect.

Another thing, many people seem to believe that there is a difference between "opening" a message and reading it. This is a misconception. Most modern mailers can be configured to not download remote content (follow hyperlinks, etc.) by default, a very prudent safety measure.

And, no matter what, never, ever reply to a spam or scam message, no matter how tempting it might be. This just marks you as a "live" address and will guarantee more of the same. This goes double for any "click to unsubscribe" links that may have infested a message.

Many find the use of "plus addressing" a useful tool. This involves adding a "+" and a string after the user portion of your e-mail address, e.g. joe+sigforum@mail.com. Most MTAs (Mail Transport Agents) ignore the +string part when forwarding messages, it is actually an Internet standard. The benefit is that this technique can be used to identify the source of a message, e.g. with mailer filters. Some mailers will actually auto-file "+string" into a mail folder named "string" without explicit filter setup (the folder generally has to already be available, folder creation upon receipt is less common).

Thank you for the detailed help you gave me.

I am just concerned over the "I've hacked " part of the email.Spoof?

I don't keep financial or personal data on my phone

May 14, 2022, 12:23 PM

Pyker

quote:
I am just concerned over the "I've hacked " part of the email.Spoof?

It's scaremongering BS. It's to get the gullible to reply or click an embedded link. Delete and ignore.

May 14, 2022, 01:50 PM

sig2392

This happens to people all the time.

It usually happens when someone else has been hacked and your email address was in their contacts list.

If it gives you peace of mind, just change your email password and move on.

May 14, 2022, 03:13 PM

Rey HRH

What you should have done, and see if you can recover the email from the trash, is to see who the email is actually from. I do this by clicking on "details" next to the "to" line. More often than not, they just spoofed your name and the email used was not yours.

You can also look at the "returned emails" to see if they are actually legit. I think if it gets rejected then it's some "Daemon service." but read the details to see if the supposed emails really came from your email account.

If so, I would, at least, change your password and run a virus/malware check.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

May 14, 2022, 03:21 PM

parabellum

OH, yes, the "I hacked into your computer and have video of you jerking off to porno and I'm going to tell your family" phishing email.

So freakin' olde.

You know what would be newsworthy? Someone who never masturbates. I mean, really, who ya gonna tell?

Forget the fact that many of us covered the camera of their laptop the day they bought the laptop.

May 14, 2022, 04:12 PM

Sunset_Va

All I'm trying to do is stop the constant returned mail chain, 15-20 per day gets old deleting.

If someone actually hacked my phone they wouldn't tell me, and I sure ignore such emails.

May 14, 2022, 04:44 PM

architect

quote:
Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
All I'm trying to do is stop the constant returned mail chain, 15-20 per day gets old deleting.

I suspect this is a chain reaction by the bouncing MTA's doing "reply all" to undeliverable messages (you would inspect the message headers to ascertain this).

In the olden days of the innocent Internet, You might have been able to identify these mis-configured servers and send an inquiry to postmaster@whatever.abusing.domain, but those days are long gone. Best you can do in the absence of that is not be part of the problem, and make sure your provider's MTA is not doing similar. Perhaps, since you are ostensibly paying them, they might actually respond to your request (Ha Ha!). A tiny little bit of investigation shows that telos.net email is handled by CarrierZone. They have an abuse address on their website. Maybe try that.

Be prepared to learn more about Internet e-mail handling and abuse methods than you ever believed possible.

May 14, 2022, 04:48 PM

parabellum

quote:
Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
All I'm trying to do is stop the constant returned mail chain, 15-20 per day gets old deleting.

Stop deleting them. The sender knows you're doing this. Just let them sit in your spam folder.

May 14, 2022, 05:04 PM

Sunset_Va

quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
quote:
Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
All I'm trying to do is stop the constant returned mail chain, 15-20 per day gets old deleting.

Stop deleting them. The sender knows you're doing this. Just let them sit in your spam folder.

Thank you.

May 14, 2022, 05:26 PM

parabellum

When spammers get notification that an email they sent out on Tuesday is deleted on Tuesday, they know you're seeing that email. When that same email doesn't get deleted for, say, 90 days, they can assume that the email is going straight to your spam folder and is being auto-deleted, meaning there's a good chance you never even saw the subject line.

And do not open these emails, ever. If you do, everything I just told you is worthless, because they get notification when the email is opened. At most, all you ever want to do with emails like this is to mark them as spam and let your email program move them into your spam folder. If you see emails with the same subject line after you've marked one as spam, that means the spammer is sending the same email from a different email address in an effort to get through.

May 14, 2022, 06:30 PM

flashguy

I have received several suspicious e-mails from supposedly PayPal about transactions I didn't recognize. I opened the e-mail but did not click on anything. I have checked my PayPal account and no suspicious transactions have been logged there. I have also changed my PayPal password. I have reported one of them to the PayPal spoof site and received a response it was received. I guess they will notify me if the content was accurate.

flashguy

May 14, 2022, 06:56 PM

smschulz

Yeah, I don't think simply deleting an email notifies a spammer you are a live target.

IMO, it would take something more overt like opening one or responding to an URL.
They and all email servers can however if the email has been delivered.
Even so not deleting would not be something I would advise.
Moving to (MS Outlook) a spam folder would render most urls inactive directly and does offer some security.

IMO there are better ways to combat them and in general you can not stop them so you just have to deal with them.
There are scenarios where Spam Gateways are effective to a degree and you can always create rules if you see something repeating.

Not fun but I see no reason to leave them amongst your good emails.
.02

May 14, 2022, 08:37 PM

Sunset_Va

quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
When spammers get notification that an email they sent out on Tuesday is deleted on Tuesday, they know you're seeing that email. When that same email doesn't get deleted for, say, 90 days, they can assume that the email is going straight to your spam folder and is being auto-deleted, meaning there's a good chance you never even saw the subject line.

And do not open these emails, ever. If you do, everything I just told you is worthless, because they get notification when the email is opened. At most, all you ever want to do with emails like this is to mark them as spam and let your email program move them into your spam folder. If you see emails with the same subject line after you've marked one as spam, that means the spammer is sending the same email from a different email address in an effort to get through.

Once again thank you for your advice. This is the first time this has happened to me, I never open strange emails, I delete them and they've never retured..

This is the first time they've returned, hence sending it to spam.I did notice there was an attachment when I looked at one of the returned email notices. I am semi literate in a lot of cyber stuff, all advice is appreciated.

May 15, 2022, 07:48 AM

Tirod

So, how do you stop a spammer sending emails even after you notify them to delete your address?

In one case they deleted me - no account on their forum now but they send their free membership offer anyway - and the owners of that forum still keep pushing their wares, too.

[largewesternsheepbuttinghelplessvictim]

Anyway, its funny. They get a reply for a free membership and the rest go to the delete file - which in my email handler does NOT delete them, and the email programmers statement they will be in 30 days? Complete BS. I have gone back into that file and found them stretching back two years.

Kinda like some PM accounts on line - never get cleaned out . . . heck I delete most of my texts after a few weeks just to keep the memory available. Small change but who wants to read "pepperoni or Supreme?" dating back months? My FBI monitor already did.

[depressedagentrealizingposterhasbeenrightallalong]

Emailers come and go, off to delete 30 promotions from a dozen gun vendors. You'd think after 4 years of no response they'd get a hint? Nope.

May 15, 2022, 09:36 AM

smschulz

quote:
Emailers come and go, off to delete 30 promotions from a dozen gun vendors.
You'd think after 4 years of no response they'd get a hint? Nope.

I never considered ads from vendors I use or would use as "spam".
Especially if they are from vendors I utilize.
I may or may not look at or do anything with those emails but they are easily controlled.
These are legit companies not spammers and generally you can opt out.
You and easily delete.
You can easily create a rule (Outlook for example) and route them straight to the garbage bucket to be auto deleted.
A good practice is not to have all of your personal registration emails to forums, websites, inquiries, etc. on your primary or business email account.
Create a separate email account for these and keep your primary more private.