Spam e-mails

[juliana]

I have an e-mail address only for this site and this is the only one I am absolutely inundated with spam mail. I have another e-mail with the same provider and I get absolutely no spam on that one consequently I know it is not my computer nor my e-mail provider. Does anyone else have the same problem with the e-mail addresses for this site?

[Elspeth]

I'll ask Andy to take a look at this thread and see what he comes up with.

[Andy R]

We absolutely do not share the emails of our members with anyone.

Did you recently setup this account?

[juliana]

Thank you Elspeth and Andy.
I have had this e-mail since I joined the board however it looks as if my address has thus been randomly guessed-I shall deal with it.

[Princess Robijn]

It is possible to enter your MSN Messenger Handle or Yahoo! Messenger Handle or maybe something else, that way, someone can still use it, correct?

Cheers,
Josette

[compatissant]

I've been on this forum for a long time - never had a problem with spam.

DianeE

[Suonymona]

If your membername on here is the same ID you use on the major sites like AOL, MSN/hotmail, Yahoo and/or Lycos, its a spammer's blind hit.

There is no way to prevent bots from trolling places like TRF, picking up membernames, adding them to their lists and then shooting emails at every combination:
for example: elspeth (at) aol.com, elspeth (at) msn.com, elspeth (at) hotmail.com, elspeth (at) yahoo.com ....etc

Even though you never gave out the address, if you try to stop the spam by responding to it in any way beyond moving it to your spam folder and blocking the address, it will only increase as your address will be marked "live" and the junk email will triple.

I used to think people were silly for having a different name for everything they did, but now I realize its smart. It keeps the spammers and similar less-savory people from automatically finding you.

[LadyK]

Personally, my best diffence is that I have multiple email addresses. I have one at school that very few people know- only my close family and the university know it, and another email address for almost everything else. Neither one do I use for a username. I don't feel bad about using it on public sites because I know that if I don't check it for a week or two, I won't miss anything important. Then I go in an clean out the spam (nothing from TRF!).
Oh, an no matter what-NEVER respond to spam, especcially if it is from a bank or something like that. Call the bank or insurance company or whatever by their 1-800 number. (One of my best friends works at a credit card company and he deals with that all the time, and that's his advice).
Another really good trick is to use numbers in an email address, and capital letters, as spammers are less likely to guess them.

[lilytornado]

I am not so sure... i had a lot of spam and never answered because I heard the same thing... But one day I was so angry and found all those little unsuscribe buttons in these e-mails... I was not sure, but for me it worked, I don't get spam anymore.

[juliana]

Originally Posted by Suonymona

If your membername on here is the same ID you use on the major sites like AOL, MSN/hotmail, Yahoo and/or Lycos, its a spammer's blind hit.

There is no way to prevent bots from trolling places like TRF, picking up membernames, adding them to their lists and then shooting emails at every combination:
for example: elspeth (at) aol.com, elspeth (at) msn.com, elspeth (at) hotmail.com, elspeth (at) yahoo.com ....etc

Even though you never gave out the address, if you try to stop the spam by responding to it in any way beyond moving it to your spam folder and blocking the address, it will only increase as your address will be marked "live" and the junk email will triple.

I used to think people were silly for having a different name for everything they did, but now I realize its smart. It keeps the spammers and similar less-savory people from automatically finding you.

My e-mail for here is none of the above and they do handle spam- automatically goes in the spam bin and is automatically deleted after 30 days- none is opened. I have an unusual name and thought that would be of some help but perhaps it has made it just the opposite.

[Suonymona]

Random alphabet bots that run every combination. When one name hits, then they try every variation of it.

Sometimes too clever is not clever enough!

[Andy R]

As I mentioned, we do not give out any member info. I am thinking maybe the name belonged to someone before you registered it...

Originally Posted by juliana

I have an e-mail address only for this site

Since this email was setup only for TRF, why not close it and make another one just for this site?

[Suonymona]

I have Gmail account invitations should anyone need to set up a free email that can be accessed anywhere with internet access and a web browser.

[LadyK]

Does TRF use email for anything important? Because I have been having problems with my email for TRF, and I wanted to know.

[Elspeth]

We use e-mail to send out copies of the newsletter and to communicate with members if the site happens to be unavailable for a significant stretch of time. We also (although I assume this won't apply to you ) use e-mail to communicate with our members who are suspended since suspended members can't access their PMs. And, of course, if members have their settings such that they accept e-mails from other members, it's always possible that they'll receive some e-mails sooner or later.

If you're having problems with the e-mail address associated with the Royal Forums, could you find another e-mail address to use?