Somebody in Russia joined the site today using the member name MichaelaBanks and tried to send a PM to each and every member of Songcrafters. Fortunately, the site's limit of 20 PMs per hour prevented most of these from getting through.
If you were one of the people who did get this PM, do not click on the link in it. It will most likely install malware on your PC. I haven't seen the actual message yet, but I've been told that it purports to be from an admin of Songcrafters (I assure you, it is not). It claims that you are responsible for spreading malware and, unless you clean up your PC immediately, your membership will be terminated. It has a link to a page that is supposed to clean up this malware. Do not click on that link!!! It will almost certainly install malware on your PC.
Of course, MichaelaBanks has been banned from Songcrafters.
QuoteOf course, MichaelaBanks has been banned from Songcrafters.
Whatta:
(http://iangamache.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dickhead.jpg)
I think we should invade.
I think that 64 Guitars has some good advice, don't click on any link that is posted here unless you trust the poster. Most of the stuff is MP3 but there have been links posted too.
It's worth bearing in mind that there is a risk on line. If you do happen to get unlucky there is a good collection of willing helpers and advisors here to assist in the repair of the damage.
Lets be careful out there ;-)
I got caught by a bit of a conspiracy tonight.
You know who you are guys, I love you all....
I got an email from a russian girl yesterday. I think she wanted to give me a virus.
Then there is the stupid girl who stayed at my place for a while. I stupidly let her use my laptop. There is so much malware and junk on it now (I think from her MSN account) that I am just going to trash it and reinstall everything. I think my registry is kaput.
It's happened again. This time from a waste of space using the name JoshuaEvanss. He's been banned. Ignore any messages you may have received from him. DO NOT click on any links in those messages. They will most likely install malware on your computer.
Other message boards have been hit too:
http://lirr.thermomods.com/index.php?topic=2732.30 (http://lirr.thermomods.com/index.php?topic=2732.30)
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1174751&sid=57da358f4b4a0753736fc6efcfc23fa8 (http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1174751&sid=57da358f4b4a0753736fc6efcfc23fa8)
http://www.lewiscountybuzz.com/showthread.php?s=eee47f6d639fbb6ff586bf8bc9840ded&p=157363#post157363 (http://www.lewiscountybuzz.com/showthread.php?s=eee47f6d639fbb6ff586bf8bc9840ded&p=157363#post157363)
As a temporary measure to make it a bit harder for these morons to spam our members, I've reduced the number of PMs per hour from 20 to 10 and the maximum number of recipients allowed in a PM from 10 to 6. I've also enabled a reporting feature in PMs. At the bottom right of each PM you will see a new link to "Report To Admin". If you get any suspicious PMs in future, click that link to report them.
Never trust any PM or email that tells you your computer has a virus, and never click on any link that claims to scan for viruses. These sites don't check for viruses - they install them!.
I'll try to find better ways of preventing PM spam so that I can restore the PM limits to their previous settings. Until then, we'll have to manage with the reduced limits.
Nice response 64G. I'm glad you have the time to be vigilant.
Just to warn everybody, I've received a PM from JoshuaEvanss claming that he's a forum administrator and that my PC is sending out spam and I'll be banned from Songcrafters if I don't click on the link he sent me which is supposed to be a virus/trojan scanner. I've reported the PM to admin.
Sorry! Just noticed 64 Guitars had aready posted about JoshuaEvanss.
We've had a few reports about JoshuaEvanss since I enabled the "Report To Admin" feature. I should have mentioned that you don't need to report these messages once we've acknowledged them in this topic because we've already dealt with it and banned JoshuaEvanss. So please just report any new personal message abuses from today forward.
I'd also like to remind everyone that the admin team currently consists of myself (64Guitars), oldrottenhead, Flash Harry, and cuthbert. If you get a PM or email from anyone else (MichaelaBanks, JoshuaEvanss, etc.) then it's obviously not from this administration, despite any claims to the contrary, so that should raise your suspicions. Don't click on any links in such a message and report it to us by using the "Report To Admin" link at the bottom of the message (unless it's already been acknowledged in this topic). If you're ever in doubt about who the current administration members are, check the site's home page (https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php) under Forum Staff in the rightmost column. Anyone else who sends you a PM claiming to be from songcrafters administration is lying. The same goes for emails except that you may also get legitimate emails from admin@songcrafters.org.
vEry well said. ive not gotten any messages and never would click or open mail
from someone i dont know even i my e mail. it s bad enough that we have to
have 2 internet securtiy programs and internet track eraser and privacy controls
beside spyware malware etc removal.i m so tired of worrying aobut that or
viruses. i only stay with sites i know r safe. for get about web browsing.
anyway thanks for the head sup . have a great week NEIL
excellent warning ...dosnt matter how savvy we are ....and by that I mostly mean ME you get one of those emails and for some strange reason always a niggle at the back of your mind saying I better click on it just in case....I got one from Yahoo a few weeks ago saying I needed to click on a link and put new password in....did a bit of a check it was bogus ...but the only difference between a genuine Yahoo message was one letter in the IP address.....
One solution: Locate offending dung beetle and call in an air strike. Shake and Bake.