Subscribe to my RSS Feed ..... Or if you prefer, Subscribe by Email

Working at Home on the Internet

Helping You Run an Internet Home Business



7 Steps I’ve Tried to Stop E-Mail Address Hacking

New Here? You may want to Subscribe to my RSS feed for daily updates. Or if you prefer, Subscribe by Email Thanks for visiting!

nospam.jpg 

As some of you may already know I have been battling E-mail Address Hacking for a while now.  Some nefarious persons or companies have been sending Spam without having to use their own Domain or E-mail address.  They have been using mine instead.

Actually, they haven’t been using any of my addresses per se, they have been making up user id’s eg. abc123@ mydomain as a return address.  The only reason I can tell what they are doing is when they (I) get an undeliverable E-mail it comes back to my main PO Box.

 

Here are the steps I have taken to try to fix this problem:

~~ I have made my Domain Private. (Thanks Lara)

~~ I installed the Contact Form on all my blogs where there is a need for contact. (Thanks TZ)

~~ I took my Contact Information Off the Webpage.  I did want to have it, but why take the chance?

~~ I sent E-mails to the site administrator for which there was a possibility to advise them of the scam occuring (so they knew it wasn’t me, to stop complaints).

~~ I sent scathing E-mails to the site administrator of whatever advertisers were included in the return mail body.

~~ I contacted a Professional Blogger who has his own domain to see if he may have any suggestions on how to fix the problem.  He was kind enough to respond, but couldn’t give me any insight or suggestions.

~~ Lastly, (really firstly) I called my hosting service and talked to them.

I talked to the supervisor for this type of Spam problem and he told me “There is no way to stop them” and “Maybe they’ll just get tired and pick on somebody else”.  They made note on my account that I was having this problem, so that they wouldn’t just close the account automatically since it was noted I called.  They would notify me first.  But if they recieved too many complaints it would be beyond their control and my account would have to go.

They were really very nice about it, explaining that they couldn’t jeopardize their business or all the other accounts they handled.  Thanks, guys… (Did you detect the sarchasim?)

I don’t want to jinx things, but I have not recieved very many E-mail returns with bogus addresses since I took these steps, I am keeping my fingers crossed.  Maybe some or all, or maybe none of the steps worked, but here’s hoping.

 

Has anyone else run into this?  Are there any other ways to stop it that I haven’t tried?

 

Related Posts:

Spam E-Mail Through Contact Link

Fighting Spam: One Step at a Time


Related Posts:
  • Don’t Wait Until Spammers and Hackers Overwhelm Your Site
    • Beware Rant Ahead...  Your IP has been blocked. Oh, that's right ...
  • Akismet Sucks
    • When you are caught in their little web...    Beware: Rant Ahea...
  • Beware of Legitimate Looking E-mail Scams
    •   Once again, I would like to advise you against clicking on things you...

    Promote Your Home Business on the Featured Home Business Page... no charge, but no splogs allowed

    October 7th, 2006 at 02:27pm | Posted by Joe | Basics, Community, Spam | 12 reader remarks | Print This Post

    « Working at Home Blog Carnival-First Edition | | This Weeks Helpful Reads… Week 26 »

    25 businesses you can start and run from your home

    12 Reader Remarks

    1. Whenever it happens to me, it seems like they send out a bunch, and then move along to another domain… so while it may happen again, it’s highly unlikely that it would be the same people. And I did everything you did…

      The only other thing I could say, so that you don’t get the returned mail is to change your email account from a “catch all” to not a catch all. However, then, you’ll never know when it’s happening.

      Input by Anubis Marketing / Lara Kulpa | October 7, 2006 @ 9:22 pm

    2. Hey Lara,

      So far, I have seen hundreds, then a lull, more, then another lull. I have no idea if it’s the same people or not, but that is probably unlikely.

      I thought about the change for the EM, but like you said, I wouldn’t know when it is happening. I would rather know, that way at least I know.

      I just hope they get tired of it before there is any problems with my domain.

      Thanks for the input,

      Joe

      Input by Joe | October 7, 2006 @ 9:39 pm

    3. Joe,

      Re having your email on the site: you can use Javascript to print your email address to the page. That way the reader can click on the address to send you an email, but a scraper can’t get that address. That’s what I do on my contact page on my software site. If you want to see a sample you can email me.

      Input by Rick | October 8, 2006 @ 12:53 am

    4. Hey Rick,

      I like the plugin I have for the contact form, it seems to be working well for now.

      Would something like that work on my website, I need something there and there are no plugins for that type of setup.

      I’ll send you an email with more specifics later.

      Thanks,

      Joe

      Input by Joe | October 8, 2006 @ 10:50 am

    5. Just a quick word of advice. NEVER reply to any of these people. In a lot of cases they’re fishing (phishing) for email addresses. They’ll find a domain name and then send emails to every generic combination they can find - webmaster, contact, mail, sales, accounts, etc - until they find one that actually exists. By emailing them back, you’re confirming that you exist and, as a result, are opening yourself up to a world of spam :(

      Make sure your host doesn’t offer a ‘catch all’ email service. If they do, I could spam you with an email addressed to ’slartibartfast85656433395676@yourdomain.com’ and it would still reach you.

      Create seperate email addresses for the services you subscribe to. If you use, for example, Technorati, create an email address or an alias of ‘technorati@yourdomain.com’. If you get loads of spam as a result, you know where it’s come from.

      Input by Mike | October 13, 2006 @ 5:21 pm

    6. Hey Mike,

      Thanks, that is all sound advice. I haven’t responded to an email unless I know them in almost a year. ;-)

      The problem isn’t so much what I’m getting myself, it is someone using my domain name to SEND Spam. I’m getting the Return to Sender type of thing.

      I haven’t thought about creating an alias for subscriptions before, that sounds interesting. That’s one I’ll have to give serious consideration to.

      Thanks,

      Joe

      Input by Joe | October 13, 2006 @ 6:13 pm

    7. You should also check into an SPF (Sender Permitted From) record for your domain name.

      Check out OpenSPF.org for more information.

      Input by seanrox | October 14, 2006 @ 11:17 am

    8. Hey seanrox,

      I did ask BlueHost about something similar, they said there is no way they know of to stop someone from using @domain.com with bogus users.

      I’ll check out the link you provided to see if it would work for me. I need something, it seems they are starting up again.

      Thanks,

      Joe

      Input by Joe | October 14, 2006 @ 11:34 am

    9. Hi Joe, if your host doesn’t understand SPF records or if they don’t use them, it’s time for a new host. SPF records are being used by all the major ISP’s now: Earthlink, Comcast, AOL, etc.

      I have a friend who works at BlueHost, so depending on what you find out, let me know and I can put a call into him to see if there is something he can to for your specifically.

      Input by seanrox | October 14, 2006 @ 11:36 am

    Trackbacks

    1. [...Successful Blog - SOB Business Cafe 10-13-06...]
    2. [...Death to Email Hijackers!! - Web Site Design, Internet Marketing, and Search Engine Optimization Services...]
    3. [...Working at Home on the Internet...]

    Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.