WARNING: What I Think Is The Latest E-Mail Scam To Compromise Your Computer.......

[global1]

I've been getting many e-mails a day from the same person (that I don't know). The e-mails smack of legitimate advertising for products and they all make sensational claims - that you can click on to get the full story.

Fortunately for me they go right to my spam and I delete them immediately.

However - remember I said I get a number of these types of e-mails from the same named person - but every one features a new or different product. It's makes it look like you 'subscribe' for these e-mails.

Note, however, at the bottom of these e-mails - there is a link to "unsubscribe". This is where I think the computer compromise step takes place.

They make themselves such a nuisance that they motivate you to "unsubscribe" and when you do click to "unsubscribe" - BINGO - your computer is compromised.

So watch out for this new scam. Don't be fooled. Just delete these e-mails - DON't CLICK on "unsubscribe.

You've been WARNED!!! When you come to think of it - somebody got very creative with this scam.

Has anybody else seen this new type of scam?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. The address is usually something like a Mailboxes, etc. in Las Vegas. Clicking doesn't do any good.

Report it as spam and move on.

[MarcA]

2. Try to use the "block" function w/o opening the email.

This seems to work although new ones can replace them.
Began noticing these the week before Christmas.

[Captain Zero]

12. Block and 'tick off report as spam' too....

If you have those options.

[keithbvadu2]

3. I get tons of them, especially supposedly from McAfee and Norton.

I get tons of them, especially supposedly from McAfee and Norton.

[abqtommy]

4. I don't get much spam in my computer but I clean lots of it outta my son's machine.

One of those I deleted there came up with a choice to unsubscribe rather than fully delete
along with the rest of the spam. It got deleted. Thanks for your heads-up.

[Generic Brad]

5. I've gone from about 20 a day to 120 a day this month

It is extremely annoying and I have no way to make it stop.

[wackadoo wabbit]

9. Actually, there is a way. See my post, #8, below

If you bounce them back using MailWasher, it will appear that your email address is no longer a valid one, and you'll eventually stop receiving them.

[brooklynite]

6. To be clear: this is what you THINK it is...

It’s also possible that some commercial/marketing outfit got your email address from some other source. It MAY be a scam, but you don’t know.

[FakeNoose]

7. There's an easy way to know if the email is really spam

Are you reading email on a desktop computer, using a mouse?

If Yes mouse:
Hover (don't click) over the sender name. You get a popup window telling you who really sent the email. Does that sender name resemble what's shown as the sender? Yes= it's not spam / No=it's spam and they are trying to fool you into opening the email (report as spam and delete).

If No mouse:
You can click on "reply" and see what address you are replying to. Does this address resemble the name that was shown as the sender? Yes= it's not spam / No=it's spam and they are trying to fool you into clicking on images (delete the reply and report).

[wackadoo wabbit]

8. Get MailWasher

Not only can you delete these emails before actually downloading them onto your computer, but you can also see what "unsubscribe" actually links to without clicking it.

Plus, with MailWasher you can actually bounce back these emails, so that it appears that your address is no longer a valid one, and eventually they stop sending you this spam. In my own experience, after eBay was hacked a while back I was getting at least a hundred (this is not an exaggeration!) penis-enlargement-pill emails a day. By bouncing them all back, I stopped receiving them within about a month.

Firefox is first, but I love and use MailWasher so much that it's the second program I download onto a new computer. I've been using it for a couple of decades, and I wouldn't be without it.

Here's the link if you're interested: https://www.mailwasher.net/

There's even a free version, so what's not to love?

Edit: I just checked, and the bounce feature is still available with the new version. Yay!

[NightWatcher]

10. Like an earwax cleaner, translator, or kitchen knife?

I keep seeing these in my junk email.

[canetoad]

11. The Unsubscribe link

In itself, completes the scam. When you click on it, it confirms to the spammer that they have reached a real, live email address.