email -Stolen Identity

[ukdenny]

Hi folks
I am hoping one of you may have an answer to what is becoming a very serious problem.
The background is as follows.
I own a domain name that is hosted by namesecure, I also have email facilities with name secure that allow any prefix before the domain name. My actual site is hosted on aol and my email service in and out is with aol. The email names I have on aol are similar to the domain name but not the same. But namesecure have an email forwarding service so I can put the actual domain name for email on my site and it is forwarded to aol. I hope I have made this bit clear. My problem is that someone is sending out masses of email using my domain name, prefixed with all sorts of names. they are sending out virus, kiddie porn, and all sorts of nasty stuff. I get around 200 a day ‘returned to my aol box undelivered. So I do not know how many thousands are getting through. It’s going to get my domain a very bad name and I would like to stop it, does anyone have any ideas, namesecure are unable to help. Kind regards ukdenny

[redcircle]

sit and wait.. that's about it. happened to me.. stopped after a few days.

[netman4ttm]

Check out
http://spf.pobox.com/
I think aol already uses spf but get on your ISP's case and get them to use spf.
This only works if enough of us care about our domain names to force the spammers to use a real domain name.

[richard-s]

Forged Email Addresses

Unfortunately this is a common problem which is rarely reported in the popular media. Few people outside the IT world know that the "from" and "return" addresses in spam emails are usually forged and point to innocent victims.

As you say, this means that your reputation will be unfairly tainted by the spam.

Sadly, there is very little that you can do. Disguising your email addresses on your web pages will slow down the programs which spammers use to "harvest" emails. However, spammer now hijack complete domains and then use programs which invent plausible sounding email accounts.

You can use online tools to trace the original sender, normally by tracing the URLs of any hyperlinks in the spam. However the web sites are probably based in a "frontier" type country with weak Internet laws.

If you are becoming overwhelmed by the "failed delivery" messages, perhaps you can adjust the email forwarding at your Hosting service to reject all messages not sent to your valid email accounts?

Normally, these hijack attacks seem to last about two weeks. The spammers then move to a new victim.

Sorry to be negative. Several of my domains and email accounts have been hijacked so I do understand how you feel. I do wish that the popular media, or even the computer press, would explain what is going on. Unfortunately, the media are always keen on "shock horror" but very weak on useful explanations.

[AuctionHugh]

I have also experienced this, as have most folks out in the email world by now. I agree that being patient is about all you can do. With the millions of domains out there, it is unlikely that any of your potential customers will associate your domain name with a spam problem.



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[netman4ttm]

TO HECK with PATIENCE
You can do something about this. It involves kicking buttocks.
1. Insist on SPF on the email server handling your mail and scream at Redmond to get their act together and either adopt SPF or finish their own work.
2. Jam spam at the upstream email servers. You don't need to accept spam. Your server can read the header and then refuse delivery. Bury the children of unwed mothers in their own residue. (translation provided).
3. Call the US Attorney or who ever handles this in your area. Write your Representative, your Senators, George Bush. This will be an issue if you make it an issue.

[DrTandem1]

Calm down netman4ttm. Don't worry, Kerry promises to fix everything. Just shoot'em in the back.

Seriously, I think those that use your domain name as the return address are sending to you and you alone. This is an attempt to get their spam to you, not ruin your site's reputation.

AOL is not the answer. Actually, I'm surprised you get any e-mail with AOL. Personally, I use Yahoo. All of that crap goes into a bulk folder that I can ignore or peruse at my choice. You can sign up for free e-mail at Yahoo and still keep your Ads On Line account. You can then forward your site's e-mail to the Yahoo address that you create.

[DrTandem1]

Calm down netman4ttm. Don't worry, Kerry promises to fix everything. Just shoot'em in the back.

Seriously, I think those that use your domain name as the return address are sending to you and you alone. This is an attempt to get their spam to you, not ruin your site's reputation.

AOL is not the answer. Actually, I'm surprised you get any e-mail with AOL. Personally, I use Yahoo. All of that crap goes into a bulk folder that I can ignore or peruse at my choice. You can sign up for free e-mail at Yahoo and still keep your Ads On Line account. You can then forward your site's e-mail to the Yahoo address that you create.

[activeco]

Most of the spammers are using spoofed addresses, so it is almost impossible to trace them.
The mail can bear not only your domain but your IP address as well, so even SPF is of no use here.
Either your server or even your local PC (or router)could have some open ports (which normaly should not be open) found by scanning programs and misused in many ways.
Check your IP adress(es) first with some programs like http://www.angryziber.com/ipscan/ (small and free).

P.S. Needless to say, a good firewall is a must today.

[sineadmcf]

I've had this problem since launching my website back in April, with spoof emails containing viruses sent from my domain. I have also can have any prefix before my domain name, which is useful for incoming emails, but has proved a nightmare for these emails.

I've been told basically that there is nothing I can do to stop them, that they will stop in time themselves. 4 months after they started I'm still getting 100's of undelivered emails every week, and many of these seem to have been sent directly to potential customers - not good for any business never mind a new one.

This has made me wonder if my domain name has been targeted by spammers?

Any comments appreciated.