Scam email using forum member's address

[Mick Hanna]

This is for Julian Hunt, whom I know contributes to the forum, but I have no other way of contacting him. 

Julian, I received an email using your address asking for a favour involving buying an Amazon gift card. I realised immediately your email address has been hacked, but binned the message after marking it as Spam, so didn't bother recording the contents.

Could somebody pass this on if they are in contact and Julian hasn't seen it, please?

[Jack in the Box]

We had the same happen to us yesterday.

I alerted his son who confirmed Julian has been hacked.

Alan

[David Stepney]

I recall that this happened to Duncan Grimmond a few weeks ago.

[Steve kay]

Happened to me as well, so do the hackers somehow get acess via the forum? I deleted it immediately, so the threat of an Amazon gift card luckily escaped me.

[Steve Jones]

................so do the hackers somehow get access via the forum? 

I think it comes via Julian's personal contact list, Steve. Someone who's a good friend of both Julian and myself told me last night that he'd received the scam email. He's never had any dealings with this Forum indeed he did't know it exists. 

Steve

[Julian Hunt]

My apologies to Friends who have been troubled by this. I'm afraid that my e-mail account has been affected too so I have had to set up a new account with a different supplier.

My attempt to send out a warning from the new account to my contacts yesterday afternoon was not a success I received 21 failure notices I'll have another try later on. I did get through to Frank Hernandez, so there is a light somewhere.

The advice I have been given is virus check your computer (and in my case) change my password - which I cannot - hence the new account.

[Parazine]

The scammer has lifted addresses from the BA7C website as well. These are protected in themselves with nothing actually behind them but as a club official, I had an email purporting to come from the club chairman last night asking me to buy Amazon vouchers for him!

It's probably kids doing this…..

[Martin Prior]

I've been the alleged "sender" of similar mails on four occasions over three or four years. There are a couple of interesting points:

1. The emails have used my name and very close approximations to my address. but not my EXACT address. For this reason, I'm pretty certain that it isn't a "hack" of my account.

2. On every occasion, the spam messages have gone to just the same four recipients, all members of this forum. This makes me wonder whether the problem is at this end, rather than mine.

[jpsmit]

I've been the alleged "sender" of similar mails on four occasions over three or four years.  There are a couple of interesting points:

1.  The emails have used my name and very close approximations to my address. but not my EXACT address.  For this reason, I'm pretty certain that it isn't a "hack" of my account.

2.  On every occasion, the spam messages have gone to just the same four recipients, all members of this forum.  This makes me wonder whether the problem is at this end, rather than mine.

Without knowing the ins and outs of the site, you may be correct. About once every three months I get an email from my wife or vice versa asking for gift cards. The names originate from the website of our overseeing body (we work together) - where our names and a few others are listed. The actual email is never correct just the name has been harvested.

Last month we received one from a fellow that we all know has been dead for half a century - but his name has been listed on the same website.

[Dutch-Ulster rep]

Quite a feat for someone dead by half a century to already have an email account. Visionary !