I have been avoiding MSN messenger and Yahoo Messenger when I am working for quite some time now. I find it quite silly to “Appear offline” all the time when I have no intentions to chat. Switching them on can be quite distracting sometimes.
However, after seeing the newest version of MSN messenger in action, I updated mine and leave it on every now and then. Then, I notice I am getting spam messages from the people in my contact list. I used to get them as well in the past but nowadays it seems to be a lot more frequent.
A few days back, a blogger friend sent me a message asking me if the link I sent her contains virus. I was a little confused because I did not send her any link. In fact, I did not send her any messages at all. I wondered if someone could have used my computer while I was away but quickly dropped that idea.
Then, I remembered those spam messages that I have been getting from the people on my MSN messenger contact list in the past. Sure enough, she copied and pasted the message “I sent her” (which I did not) and it looks exactly as those I have read in the past. It was spam.
XXXXXXX said (2:27 PM):
I got so many messages about those acai berry pills that I decided to order them and guess what? I lost 23 pounds so far and its only been two weeks. I am living proof that they work and best part was, they only cost me five dollars to try over at hxxp://bullsea.com
Apart from updating my MSN messenger to the latest version and possibly clicking on one of those links sent to me in the past (yeah, I know I should not have), I cannot think of any other reason why spam emails are “sent out on my behalf”.
Any ideas?
try changing your msn password, most likely you compromised it in the past, so now what the spam bots do is login to your msn account and spam your contact list
either that, or you have a virus/worm/trojan/etc in your pc which auto logins your msn and spams.
best bet, do a full scan – including for adware, spyware, etc, and change your pw. hope it helps
I received lot’s of these messages from my friends too.. Not sure they got received these from me or not. hehe..
Yeah, I have seen this a couple of times too. It always annoys me when people waste their time creating things like this when they could be doing something so much more useful with their time!
Actually there’s a solution… by changing ur msn email’s password.
Then the problem is solved..
As a user we should tell your friends about that if they sending the spam message to you..
Told them to change their email passwords.
That’s all…. easy..
gerard_8398@hotmail.com
I experienced this too but not through emails but through a text messages. They kept sending me text messages, same message, on my mobile.
Really disgusting
This is a serious issue that is bringing MSN’s not-that-good-name-already down.
Microsoft should start spending more time tackling these issues.
It’s unbelievable how heavily I set my spam filters, including McAfee which logs on to my hotmail account to clear spam, and I still get them through somehow.
The worst bit is that it’s almost impossible to contact Microsoft regarding these issues.
Also, changing my password will prevent my account from sending spam. But that still won’t stop my account from receiving spam.
You maybe able to blacklist those email addresses from your email account although if they continually use different email addresses i don’t think that there is a lot you can do.