Private Messages

Genealogy, Archaeology, History, Heritage & Folklore

Moderators: Clare Support, Clare Past Mod

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Marie W
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:43 pm

Private Messages

Post by Marie W » Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:12 am

I received a private message that sounds suspicious. Is it common to get scam messages on this forum?

smcarberry
Posts: 1281
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:31 pm
Location: USA

Re: Private Messages

Post by smcarberry » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:08 am

As a long-time member of this forum, I can say that it is not common to receive an unwelcome private message (PM). I am not sure what you see as suspicious, but don't click on any link in the message if you have doubts about the sender. Is it a commercial solicitation ?

Sharon Carberry

Marie W
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:43 pm

Re: Private Messages

Post by Marie W » Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:55 pm

The post does not mention anything from my original query. It talks about wanting to be friends. Having $700000 and wants me to spend half on the poor. A link to an email and a phone number are included.

smcarberry
Posts: 1281
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:31 pm
Location: USA

Re: Private Messages

Post by smcarberry » Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:19 pm

That is certainly bad spam. I assume the Forum administrator will contact you to learn the member whose email was involved as sender. It may be that the member's email account has been hacked and now that email address is being misused. The solution will be for the member to change his/her email account password, which is something we all should do from time to time to prevent being hacked.

I had to deal with this issue several times while serving as administrator for some YahooGroups. It is a common occurrence in the past ten years. Thanks for speaking up, so corrective action can be taken.

SMC

Marie W
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:43 pm

Re: Private Messages

Post by Marie W » Tue Jul 26, 2016 12:41 am

Thanks for your response.
Will the Forum Administrator contact me or do I need to contact him/her?
MW

smcarberry
Posts: 1281
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:31 pm
Location: USA

Re: Private Messages

Post by smcarberry » Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:26 am

There are no prepared instructions on this situation so far as I know, and this is the first spam here that I have heard about. I have to wonder if the departure of IT guru Anthony Edwards is involved,so now we chickens in the coop are left unprotected from the wolves.

My best guess is to follow the posting on log-in failure and use the email address there to report the spam and its apparent sender.

Note that the hacker had to also guess the member's Forum password, which likely was easy because mist people (so I am told) use a common easy word or set of numbers like 12345. Any Forum member reading this message, please strengthen your password so members like Marie are not targeted.

SMC

Marie W
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:43 pm

Re: Private Messages

Post by Marie W » Wed Jul 27, 2016 1:55 pm

I have made contact with the Administrator. Thanks for your responses regarding this matter. It is much appreciated.

Clare Admin
Posts: 83
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:16 pm

Re: Private Messages

Post by Clare Admin » Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:46 pm

Marie,

The message you received was from a spammer who had recently joined the forum. They were effectively 'lurking' on the forum and you were the first to be contacted by them. I have removed that account. Rest assured that your own account was not compromised in any way.

When we receive applications to join the forum we do our best to filter out spammers, but it is an art, not a science, and in this case we failed to spot them when they were applying. My apologies for any upset caused to you, and I trust you will continue as a member.

My advice to anyone else who encounters any suspicious (or indeed objectionable) activity on the forum is to contact by PM either myself or Clare Past Mod, and we will deal with it as quickly as possible.

Regards,
Clare Admin

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