You feeling ill ?

I have an online account I always use to register anywhere I go. Normally I go there every 4 to 6 dayd and might remove up to 10 Spam. Today, after going there only 2 days ago I had 123 of them. Even my personal email address has been getting increased amounts in the last 5 days or so.

We will never win this one methinks.

I have a g-mail account, and the spam comes in spurts. I may go for days without any, and then all of a sudden it pours in, maybe for as long as 2 weeks. Subjects run the gamut.

Yesterday, I was trying to remove some programs from my desktop. Later in the afternoon, I got a phone call and the caller said I had signed up at budget travel site! DH answered the phone and the caller asked for me by name. Sounded like he was from India.

Today, got another call from the same outfit and I asked the guy (not the same guy) to please remove my name which he promised to do. I know I didn't sign up for anything and I certainly DIDN'T list my phone number anywhere. Go figure!

Blueheron I would be updating and running all my safety programs sudden like plus a couple of online scans to be sure the confuser is clean. Could have been a coincidence but making sure will help you feel more comfortable

Got another phone call today saying that I indicated that I was interested in starting a business! I am retired and loving it. This guy was from India again! I said to please take my name off his list!

Owbist, how do I run the safety programs? I thought they were automatically run on a regular basis?

Wow, if you are getting those kind of calls, I would do some major, major scans immediately! That sure doesn't sound kosher...

Jane

Blueheron you can use the safety programs you have installed, update all the definitions first of course. Then go online, here are 3 for you to choose if you wish. There are many more but I have had success with these.

BitDefender
Ewido
Housecall

Note they all need to be ran from IE not Firefox.

I'm thinking that your computer might not be involved at all...that the India telemarketers just happened some how to get you name on a list and now it is being passed and sold.

Later in the afternoon, I got a phone call and the caller said I had signed up at budget travel site!
That could have just been a lie...an excuse to call and sell you something. Once someone has your phone number, it is easy enough to do a search and find out a name.

Have you put your phone number on the do-not-call list? If you did it when it originally started 5 yrs. ago, the 5 yr. limit is expiring for a lot of people and you have to re-register.

Here is a link that might be useful: do not call list

From what I read there you don't really need to renew after five years unless for some reason your telco account in some way changed that would have canceled/renewed it somehow.
You can verify it is in the registry there on a link.
~
"Will My Registration Expire?
I heard that my registration was good for only five years, and then I'd have to re-register. Is this true?
The Federal Trade Commission will not drop any telephone numbers from the National Do Not Call Registry based on a five-year expiration period pending final Congressional or agency action on whether to make registration permanent. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/10/dnctestimony.shtm.
"

Yes, I did renew my do-not-call list. So I figured that somehow I must have inadvertently downloaded something when I was trying to remove programs from my desktop. Hope they stop!

I think drewsmaga is right. We recently started getting the annoying telemarketing calls again after originally signing up for the do not call list years ago.

In checking we were told we had to resign up and did. They said it takes about a month again for our number to get back on the list.

So even tho the Federal Trade Commission is standing tall protecting us at all times, we still should continue to take care of ourselves and resign the do not call list just to be sure.

I tried to install the first two programs you suggested and they said I had to install ActiveX which was not recommended by Microsoft! Go figure.

Blueheron, yes you need to install those small actveX programs if you wish to run any scans on your computer. These are harmless and are needed if the program is going to search your computer for the bad guys.

I added myself to the do not call list over and over, but it never took. I still got calls. I think the callers are voilating the list. Get caller id, and don't take any calls, marked "out of the area" with no call back number. Those are telemarketeers.

If you answer the phone and say hello and hear nothing that is a telemarketer. They have all the calls on speaker phones. You have to say hello twice so they can figure out it is a real person. So, if I say hello once and hear nothing I hang up. If it was a real person, they will call back.

I also put my phone on the machine and turn off the bell. If I see the light on, for a message, then I listen to it, and call the person back.

I get about 8 calls a day otherwise, my home phone is rendered useable.

Takes me four or five rings usually to answer the phone. The phone answering machine picks up on the second ring.

Hello, Absolutely no solicitors, take me off your list. If you know me & I dont pick up the phone shortly, feel free to leave a message. Beep.

Its amazing the dumb Uhh's I get when I pick it up right after the Solicitor instructions. People that know me think its funny. Seems to work well.

Below is a link to a guy who has taken matters into his own hands....not tolerating being 'violated' in his own home.

I too have been getting some of the health related and pill spams...and no, I'm not feeling ill.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: cases against spammers

This thread is a reminder to include a spyware detector to your computer maintenance programs. Almost every computer, even with a firewall, is going to be infected with all manner of spyware including keystroke trojans,tracking cookies,trojans that examine your virus ware protected wastebaskets,etc. It's very easy to get phone numbers,pins,passwords with spyware. I never go one entire week without finding spyware.

There have been some interesting articles written on spyware and virus tools and it's been said that not ONE program will do it all for you. In testing these products, they found that one program, for instance, would find 98% of the threats but then had to use other programs to find all of them. It was said that you would have to use 30 programs to find all of them. Gosh---the evil people of the world give us no chance at all.

So I guess what I'm saying that it might be a good idea to have a different spyware program than your virus protection which may have a spyware product with it. Just so that, AT LEAST, you're scanning with 2 different products that might find the majority of the spyware.

Stay safe out there.