topic Re: OK, I received two strange emails today in Community Chat

OK, I received two strange emails today

LilacTree — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:14:51 GMT

This time I won't try to copy and paste! I received two emails from my 17 year old grandson, one said "no subject," and the other was some kind of sales pitch . . . neither of which would ever come from my grandson. So I am obviously on that Russian list. I did not open, but deleted those emails immediately.

Fortunately I use a different email program on the Internet than I do for my personal email which is Outlook, via Comcast, and I never get unexpected emails on that because it is not on the web.

All I'm saying is whatever they are doing, it's happening to me. So I guess it's time for me to start changing passwords.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

MickD — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:20:01 GMT

What the hay?? Creepy.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

voyager1980 — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:20:16 GMT

Sorry Ford.Thats rotten. But you're smart to know those were bad emails

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

tansy — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:21:21 GMT

I get emails that are supposedly from my deceased MIL, one BIL and my older son fairly often. I've learned how to see they are sales messages. My MIL's family has kept her FB page open and I think these messages are related to FB somehow.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

I am still oxox — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:22:28 GMT

Most likely his e mail was the issue not yours, there re programs that can take over an e mail and send out all sorts of stuff the persons who e mail list

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

Clover29 — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:26:33 GMT

If you got strange emails from a known contact, the issue is at their end, not yours. Your grandson has been hacked, not you.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

bikerbabe — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:51:18 GMT

Your grandson's email was hacked and his address book accessed and those addresses were spammed. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the Russian hackers. This stuff happens all the time.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

Kachina624 — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:59:40 GMT

I get strange emails all the time , usually having to do with a diet, from my teenage grandsons. It has nothing to do with hacking. There are a million ways spammers pick up email addresses but it has nothing to do with evil Russians hacking. They're more interested in financial accounts. I think spammers often pick up email addresses from Facebook. Don't worry about it.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

Puzzle Piece — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 23:10:31 GMT

Thanks for letting us know. I have been careful about just handing out my e-mail address.

Today we received a call from a Business that said it handled High School Reunions and it wanted info. Info that they don't need at all. Didn't take the bait.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

LilacTree — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 23:17:02 GMT

All of your responses sound correct. I will get in touch with my daughter and have her warn my grandson about this. The thing is he doesn't have Facebook and if he does, I am not "friended" on it. (Many teenagers don't want older family members to see their FB pages.)

The report I heard on CNN a few days ago when I posted that bank message I received on the same day (and which was apparently also not related, although my bank is still sending cautionary messages), said that these Russian hackers are deliberately NOT trying to hack financial information, bank accounts, credit cards, etc. YET. That exactly the type of emails that I received today (which I agree could be on his side, not mine, since he is on the web all the time) . . . are the way they are starting out.

Not much attention has been paid to it since then, but then I'm not watching much CNN right now because I can't stand all of the hideous war stuff.

BTW, this is the very first time I have ever received messages like this from anyone I know. It is not the norm for me. Perhaps it's totally nothing, but I like to be on the safe side, if I can.

Thank you for all of your responses. I do believe it is on my grandson's side, not mine.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

qvcaddition — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 23:53:23 GMT

I received one asking for update on one of my CC Accounts.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

Clover29 — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 00:11:29 GMT

My hotmail was hacked a few years ago (I had a very easy password, serves me right). I rarely used the account, and only found out it was hacked when the hacker sent me one of those "send me money, I'm sick overseas" spams to my own main email address, which was in my hotmail address book. I only had a half dozen addresses in there, and everyone knew I wasn't sick overseas, so my friends also let me know I'd been hacked.

The worst thing about it was trying to get my account back. Microsoft were very unhelpful, and wanted to know a ton of info I couldn't provide, like last time I used the account, when the account was opened, etc. I got there in the end, but it was worse than dealing with the DMV, the IRS and my health insurance combined.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

spindlegirl — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 00:35:42 GMT

So what I wonder is how do we know if the spam is a problem with our email or the sender's?

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

SoX — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 01:09:46 GMT

They probably spammed your grandson's email contact list -- this happened to my friend -- and are sending mailings to everyone on that list. The email you deleted possiblly had a clickable link to a trojan or virus of some sort.

Your grandson should contact his email provider and have his email addressed changed.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

SydneyH — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 01:48:26 GMT

I receive those types of spam all the time, I'm not too worried about the latest Eastern European hacking efforts.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

AuntG — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 14:37:37 GMT

I got two calls in which a foreign sounding voice said they wanted to talk about a problem with my computer. I thought it might be a scam, so I said that I didn't have a home computer but I could give them my employer's number if they needed to talk about my work computer. After about 10 seconds, I heard a click and they hung up.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

LyndaGee — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 16:38:29 GMT

I had never heard of that Russian scam. Thanks for the information, Ford.

I had a suspicious incident on Facebook. A lady who I didn't know and never heard of asked me to "Friend" her. I usually don't respond, but for some reason I did. Well, I received a sad email from her saying she was alone and dying of Cancer, and she wanted ME to handle her financial situation. Sounded familiar. I emailed her back, saying I could only offer her prayers, and she needed to hire a professional to handle her private matters. Never heard from her again.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

KathyPet — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 16:52:57 GMT

Your grandson's E mail!address has been hacked and scammers are using it to send E mails to his contact list. You need to let him know and he will have to change his info.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

151949 — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 16:58:15 GMT

I got these and I don't have children or grandchildren. I just put them to junk so they go there automatically now should any more come.

Re: OK, I received two strange emails today

goodstuff — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 17:19:44 GMT

You are not "obviously on the Russian list". You received some spam, which all of us get at one time or another. I've received several pieces in the past few weeks myself. There's a lot of it out there!

Likely your grandson's email was breached, since the emails came from him. It's important to know that when you receive suspicious emails purportedly from friends you shouldn't open them. Instead, email the sender to confirm if he/she really sent them. Sometimes they are money-making scams, and sometimes they may have viruses attached.