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Sago
New Member
USA
30 Posts |
 Posted - 08/29/2006 : 16:22:44
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Whoever is in charge of managing this forum should be aware that it is hacked by the usual scumbags, in this case the Nigerian ploy.
I have been here for two days and get this crap from from the usual criminals, addressed to my screen name and obviously hacked from here.
I don't think that has happened in any other forums I have visited, so there would appear to be a big hole in this one somewhere. I haven't checked the management services well enought to make a judgement yet, but I suspect a simple bot can scan the forum and list member emails.
Needs to be looked into.
Thell this little jerk where to get off if you are so inclined, although Yahoo has probably killed the email by now.
quote:
From: kone fatu
Av.12 RD 16,Apt.39B, Triechville
Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire.
PLEASE REPLY ME WITH THIS MY EMAIL ADDRESS (kone_fatu001@yahoo.fr)
URGENT ASISTANCE
Good day Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business
relationship with you I am Kone Fatu From Abidjan Cote
d'ivoire, I wish to request for your urgent assistance in my investment plans
in your base,I wish to invest in manufacturing and real estate
management in your base,this is because I inheritated an important sum from my
late father who died in recent political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire here.
Before the death of my father he informed me near his hospital bed at
chu- teaching hospital, that he has saved the total sum of
($10.700,000) Ten Million Seven houndred thousand united states dollars only, in
one of the bank here in cote d Ivoire.
This money was been deposited for my social security and for fruitful
international investment.That is why I need you to keep this transaction
highly confidential and trustworthy person who will assist me to
receive this fund overseas for investment establishment purposeindurities and
lucratives profitable ventures.
Further directives and details about the deposit and on how to move
the fund successfully into your private bank account in your country
will be given to you as soon as I get your response,
PLEASE REPLY ME WITH THIS MY EMAIL ADDRESS(kone_fatu001@yahoo.fr )
Yours Faithfully.
kone fatu
[Moved to the Report Problems folder - Dave W.]
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2006 : 18:33:20 [Permalink]
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No, nobody has "hacked" anything to get email addresses.
Someone may have written a 'bot to send a bunch of spam through our system, but whatever fatu001 did it's definitely going through the SFN servers. I won't be able to check the logs to see exactly what went on until tomorrow.
The offending user has been banned. If you want to stop any other attempts that might occur before I'm able to see if I can stop whatever she did, go into your user profile and turn off "allow other members to send you email."
(Note that even though my email address is widely publicized in clear text, the seven emails I got from fatu001 all came through the SFN's "Email User" function, also. She wasn't "harvesting" email addresses.)
Oh, see also this thread on the same subject. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2006 : 12:03:17 [Permalink]
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As Promised:
I examined our website's log files from yesterday, and have high confidence that fatu001 was sending emails by hand through the SFN user-to-user email system.
She spent four hours, 33 minutes and 36 seconds sending 471 emails, or a little less than 35 seconds per email. She made many obvious mistakes, including clicking the wrong links for what she wanted to do, and sending multiple emails to the same users (those 471 emails went out to only 354 different SFN members).
If this was accomplished through a "web 'bot" or other automatic agent, it is clear from the logs that this hypothetical agent must be customized specifically for the SFN and it's programmed to very cleverly mimic a human user. Such a huge front-end investment for fewer than 2,000 potential suckers doesn't make sense.
Not that doing it by hand makes sense, either, but it makes more sense that someone ignorant of the proper way to spam people wouldn't have the knowledge to code up such a sophisticated 'bot.
So, given what I've seen, I can say that determined idiots like fatu001 won't be detered by, for example, a limit of one email every two (or five) minutes, or what's sometimes called "flood control." I doubt that such a person would be detered by having to have (for example) ten forum posts before being allowed to send emails, either. The only thing that would absolutely prevent this from happening in the future is to shut down the user-to-user email system entirely, a step I'm not willing to take.
I'm quite willing to listen to other suggestions for possible preventative measures. In the meantime, individual users can prevent this by prohibiting other SFN users from sending you email.
And again: nobody has had their email address or other private information revealed or harvested. Nobody has "hacked" anything about the SFN. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2006 : 13:40:30 [Permalink]
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| Thanks, Dave! |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Sago
New Member
USA
30 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2006 : 16:05:03 [Permalink]
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Sorry that I'm not more familiar with the forum and missed this response until taking the time to explore today. It would be nice if there was an automated response via email to advise of replies to posts, otherwise I may never have seen this.
Glad, sort of, to see I wasn't the only target. I thought the coincidence of just joining and then getting the message was too great. I think it shows what we know that spammers are not the smartest bunch around. Seems this one didn't want to pay the fee for a list and decided to make their own.
I would suggest that a simple solution might be to not allow PMs, except perhaps to management, until after a certain time and/or number of posts have have been made to the forum.
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2006 : 17:25:13 [Permalink]
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quote:
Sago:
I think it shows what we know that spammers are not the smartest bunch around.
Not this one. She sent a Nigerian Scam letter to a bunch of skeptics!!!!
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2006 : 11:43:37 [Permalink]
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I replied to this particular letter:
quote:
Dear Lilia Nz,
Or whatever your real name is.
Do you have any idea how stupid it is to take names from a skeptic site and send out Nigerian Scam letters to its members? See, one of the things we do is to educate people to recognize scams. Really, I hope you spent a lot of time copying the addresses of the members of our site since not a single one will fall for your bullshit. Any time lost for you in your illegal and unconscionable attempt to steal money from those who earned their money honestly makes me happy.
Naturally, we will be taking this attempt at stealing money from our members to the proper authorities. My hope is that you get busted for what you are doing. I will be willing to assist in anyway I can to make that happen.
I know that scum like you will not be easily deterred from attempting to cause hardship on others for your own personal gain. What I do know is that scum like you are eventually caught in one crime or another. Hopefully, in your case, it will be sooner then later.
It sickens me that we breathe the same air.
Sincerely,
David Glück
Skeptic Friends Network
www.skepticfriends.org
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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