Monday, February 11, 2013

Is anyone else having issues with spam?

I keep getting the strangest emails. These are coming through the account linked to my website. It is an easy way for my readers (or other authors) to contact me. But lately, the things I'm getting are strange. Like this morning for example. I got an email from someone I've never heard of asking if I managed my blog. They included a link to this blog, which wasn't necessary. NO, I didn't click it.

They asked if I managed the blog or if they should be working with someone else. Well, my first thought was they aren't working with me.

They also claimed this was the second email they had sent, that they contacted me a week ago. My spam folder must have eaten this one, which to me is a good indication this is spam.

Still, I responded. Yes, I know. It appeared to be a legit email account and when I hovered the mouse over the link to my blog, it didn't show up some other bizarre address. It looked like a real link to my blog. I simply said, "This is the first email I have received. Yes, I manage my blog."

I don't see what they could possibly get from that. But after a few more minutes of thought, I went ahead and marked the message as spam.

I've just updated all my email security, passwords, security questions, photo ID, etc. So, if you get a message from me that looks odd, it didn't come from me.

And if you get a message asking for a "Site Manager Check," you will know to delete that bad boy right away.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would be inundated with similar emails on my blog, but all comments are vetted as standard by Akismet (dictated by WordPress.com), which has to be the best spam filter I've ever come across. The important thing for these people would appear to be to identify "live" email addresses and such, so that they then attack and strip contact lists and possibly more. All that you can do is to not respond - ever! If you do respond mistakenly, you need to be doing so using the protection of an isolated email address that can't be used to access any personal data. You've done the right thing by changing everything! I don't know how Blogger works but visitors to your blog should never have access to your email address from the blog.

Tracey H. Kitts said...

This comment wasn't on my blog. It came through the email linked to my website, but it was about my blog. They were asking if I was the site manager for this blog.

It was very strange. Fortunately, that email account has only 3 contacts and isn't tied to any personal information. It is used strictly as a way for readers to contact me through my site.

I have a different account for business. :)