spam,spam,spam !

[Pip]

Since my return home two days ago I have received endless e mails of the spam sort.  I have no idea where they got my e mail address from.  I have tried to block them but because a different name is used each time, and the subject matter is a photograph, this has been unsuccessful.

My ISP has suggested that if I use a message board then my e mail address could have been picked up from there.  As I rarely stray from LF, except for sending personal e mails, I wondered if anyone else has had the same problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm at the 'pulling my hair out' stage - and that hurts !! [:'(]

Thanks

Pip

[Dick Smith]

I'm sorry to say that it is the price you pay for using the internet. You can keep a number of different account names etc., but in the end the spam gets you. A sudden increase may mean that your details have now been sold on a CD of perhaps a million addresses, which cost very little.

As your address is never publicly stated on the forum it should be secure here, I would assume that your address has been picked up elsewhere, possibly in someone else's address book.

Best thing to do is to invest in a spam blocker - if you are using a PC I have heard Mailwasher recommended.

[Pip]

Thanks Dick for your reply.  My OH has just returned from France and has found exactly the same spam on his PC !  We both have spamblockers on our PC's so cannot understand why these are getting through.  It's probably because they are produced in such a way that they are not recognised as spam. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr !!

[Quillan]

As Dick says it's all part of the internet. We get hundreds every day but mainly aimed at our website email addresses but we are now starting to get them sent to our wanadoo.fr address.

I invested some money in a product called Mailwasher Pro which uses several commercial databases that log spam. It also has a learning capability. I used the free version for 30 days which has some of the functions like 'bouncing' emails locked. I did try many others, well all the ones I could find with trial periods and this came out the best. One nice thing is if you use Outlook it takes your account details from there so it sets it's self up automatically. I have to say that I don't let it run in full auto mode but after two months my confidence in the product is getting to the point where I may. If you want further details drop me a PM and I will give you their web address.

[Pip]

Thank you Quillan.  I have sent you a PM.