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Doc
Keeper of the Scrolls
2010 Posts
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 Posted -
10/10/2006
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17:24
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Recently the site has been targeted by numerous spammers and email harvesting robots, Some of you wil have received many of their emails offering long lost money, pledges and downright begging letters.
A lot of these were initially conducted by automatic email harvesting robots, who automatically registered as new members, thereby giving them access to the member listings. I stepped up the security on the registration page to overcome these robots, by requiring them to enter a return email address, before they could be accepted as a member. The robots are now history.
However, individuals from the Ivory coast, Samalia, Botswanna and other african countries are continuing to target the site and register as ligitimate members, again giving them access to the member list where they send individual Private messages using the sites software, luckily because this will be a manual process, only a few will recieve these messages.
I can step up the security another level (or 3), however the security process will reach a point where legitimate new members will be turned away because of the rigourous registration process, hence my reluctance to impliment the more secure method.
What I am asking is that you have patience with these troublesome annoying people and just delete their messages, if they do not get a response, then they will quickly ignore this site and move on.
In the last two months I have identified and banned more than 20 of these so-called members and will continue to do so, I am continually on the site throughout the day and patrol all new members and topics as they appear.
Don't give their messages the light of day, just delete them.
best regards
Doc - webmaster
TTFN - Doc
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JanJ
New Member
4 Posts
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Posted - 02/05/2009 : 15:43
When people register why not ask a question that only a Barlicker would know? For example, the name of the supermarket in the town? I doubt many outsiders would know this. Just a thought.
J
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Sue
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Posted - 02/05/2009 : 16:12
Because not all members live in Barlick. I don't but have been a memeber for a few years now
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
Another
Traycle Mine Overseer
6250 Posts
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Posted - 02/05/2009 : 16:52
The site is open to all who want to participate and do so in a responible way. Most of our members have no connection at all with Barlick but their contributions are amongst the most valued. Nolic
" I'm a self made man who worships his creator"  |
Sue
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Posted - 02/05/2009 : 17:38
Talking of spam and phishing . I had a rogue email this week from the Tax Office. Just beware. I realised what it was and sent it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.. Apparently it has been doing the rounds since january but both Bob and I got the email this week
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 03/05/2009 : 06:59
I've noticed that Macafee updates are taking longer to download and install every morning. Usually a good sign that mal ware activity is on the increase. Ad-watch SE has fiven up on updates lately. Usually a sign that they are doing a big revision. Macafee have a nice option now. You can put it on full scan, click a box to tell it to shut down wnen finished, switch the screen off and go away and leave it to itself. It does what it says on the tin. The scan takes about half an hour. Reassuring...
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 03/05/2009 : 07:01
Janet, we try to avoid anything that makes it harder to register, we are an open site. There are about three members who have limited admin powers and we keep a close eye on what is going on. Be sure that we are on to the trolls very quickly. Such incursions are in the nature of the internet, you can't stop them all.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Cathy
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Posted - 03/05/2009 : 10:49
Don't worry Jan, the powers that be on this site soon suss out the undesirables, and all members have the option to alert them as well when replying to a topic. I've done it a few times for different reasons over the last 5 (?) years. (PS I was born in Barlick but wouldn't have a clue what the local supermarket is called.) Enjoy the site - it's great.
All thru the fields and meadows gay .... Enjoy
Take Care...Cathy |
Tizer
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Posted - 03/05/2009 : 11:42
Sue, I guess your Tax Office spam is the one where the email says they have a refund for you?
We've had a lot of spam recently and they are getting more clever, especially with ones aimed at businesses. You have to be very careful now to check before you respond or go clicking on links, even if you think it might be genuine.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 04/05/2009 : 08:13
In 1976 the supermarket on Church Street was Hillards, a Bradford firm I think. I suppose the first one was Barmy Mick's.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 08/10/2009 : 20:20
My post in May warned that the spammers are getting more clever. Now we seem to be seeing more of them too. It's even worse if you run a business, even a small one from home. I had an official sounding email the other day from a company warning that others were trying to register domain names related to my own. I contacted the company that registers my domain for me and they said ignore it. These fraudsters just want you to pay them some money for nothing.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 09/10/2009 : 08:21
I always look at my spam and manually delete it in case something genuine has fallen into the net. What strikes me is the number you get where there are ten identical copies. Someone somewhere must be making money out of them but I suspect only the gullible fall for them. I had a phone call yesterday warning that all Mastercard and Visa details were compromised! I just dropped the receiver and ignorsed it. Can you imagine the number of people who will get that and panic?
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 10/10/2009 : 11:26
The bulk spam is all filtered out very efficiently by our ISP (and I've never knowingly had a false positive, i.e one deleted that should have been received). It's the clever targeted ones that are dangerous now. But we get repeats of the old familiar emails now and then - just had "You have received a Hallmark greetings E-card" which was around years ago. I have my email software set for `plain text' instead of `html' so I can see all the hyperlink URL addresses. You can then see straight away that the web addres for the links in the greetings card email are not Hallmark addresses.
Another area for future scams developing is the spin-off from the Internet `comparison' web sites. For instance, Mrs T used a site to compare quotes for buildings insurance. But then you get people from the companies calling you by phone to try and sell the insurance. Now that in itself is just a nuisance and you tell them to go away. The real danger is that you don't know if they are really who they claim to be. There will be fraudsters out there who will now use this as an excuse to ring you and ask your personal details - starting with details of your house but as soon as you start responding with information then it will become your bank details etc. Sadly, a lot of people will fall for it.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 11/10/2009 : 08:59
I've never used a comparison site and have seen some interesting comments about who actually runs them and how they can be manipulated. Data gathering through legitimate means is propbably one of the biggest dangers nowadays, Nectar points loyalty cards etc. Problem is who is accessing the data they have mined? Would they tell us if they were compromised? Would they even know? Data banks are time bombs waiting to explode and none of us can completely avoid them.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 11/10/2009 : 12:50
If you use the comparison sites you have to keep in mind that they are not independent and not unbiased. But they are useful if you only go to the well-known ones and use them for getting some idea of the quotes. We don't use them for shopping because they don't give accurate information about on-line shop prices. You can often find better deals elsewhere.
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Tizer
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Posted - 02/11/2009 : 09:20
A new variant on the usual scam...
"Hello pal, I'm Nerys Williams a U.S. helicopter maintenance supervisor in the 3rd Infantry Division, in Iraq. I am writing to solicit your allegiance as the custodian to an asset value of 10 Million dollars that we are transferring out of the country. My partners and I are in need of someone we can trust to actualize this venture. The money is from oil proceeds and is legal.We are moving it through a diplomatic pouch to your house or a safe/secured location of your choice, Can we trust you?Once you receive the funds, you take an awesome reward of 30% then keep our 70%. Your role is to find a safe place where the funds will be deliver. We seek your utmost rationality and confidenciality in this. If you are interested reply to ************@yahoo.cn for more details.
Yours buddy Sgt Nerys Williams God Bless America!! "
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Spammers and Email Rogues
