Our forum is infected by a spam bot that originates in China. This bot has many IP addresses, and thus it may be some time before all the activity can be blocked.
I am writing to remind you not to click on any of the URL references in the messages placed by this bot. The name of bot seems to be stable at keai753.
I have notified Kirk. I am removing the posts as soon as they come up but they just keep coming. I]m getting about one a minute.
Did you get a virus Seasage?
How long has the forum been infected?
The Forum is not infected. It's not a Virus...it's a Spam Bot or Spamer. Kirk got right on this and has found the source and blocked it. It doesn't harm members but it does clutter up our Forum.
I will notify him immediately if it starts up again. He can come into my computer and take over whenever he needs to. That's why I recently go a Mac like his.
There may be more such posts but so far so good. Since the Spam source has to register to be able to post, Kirk has tightened up the security on registering and posting. Please continue to hit Notify Moderator just in case I miss one or they come in when I go to bed.
We made it though almost two years without getting hit. Sorry this has happened. Sending love...
I am not a computer geek and no very little about this.
What am I looking for?
Thanks
Thanks for clarifying Luise.
A lengthy post that makes little or no sense from a User Name you are not familiar with.
ok. I hope I dont come across one because I dont know everyone in here yet. But I am sure Kirk is on top of things. Thanks Luise
Like your picture bh...
It's wise to never follow links here or through your home email if you are not familiar with the sender. Life is full of potholes and then there is the internet :)
Thanks Laurie
I loved the easter hat. I always said one day I was going to be a red hat lady too. I Love those woman!!! Right now I can only be a purple hat lady :-\ ;D
I dont ever click on anything that I dont know what it is.. I learned my lesson when I first started using a computer...lol
Bots are bbbaaad.
I love hats, too. But I just can't carry them off at all. I have a straw hat for gardening that I wear but feel like a dork.
I got a notification from I tunes, that I bought something on my acct which I didn't. After talking with them, it seems someone
hacked into my email acct. I wonder if I clicked on one of those hacker links. I need to send my tech support person
an email and get his advice. If anyone else has advice let me know. I changed the password on my emails and my
itunes this morning.
I was a little hesitant to power up this morning after receiving one of those crazy postings every minute before I called Kirk last night...but he has once again done his magic for us and all is well. Sending love...
Tara--I received a bill from Itunes once as well and found it was kitchen help that helped themselves to my bank card the waitress put down on a counter before swiping.
Never, ever let your cards out of your site to pay a bill. Learned that the hard way.
HD,
By kitchen help, do you mean in the restaurant? Yikes.
Happy is right. I lost $3000 during a dinner just because I gave my waitress the card. Turns out someone in the back of the restaurant got my number, made a duplicate and went to Sam's Club and bought themselve a big screen.
I got the money back, but this is so common it is nauseating.
I'm glad you got your money back.
The strange thing with my situation is that I didn't have a credit card attached to my itunes acct, only a 12.00 credit.
The intruder used 5.00 for a 'texas holdum' app and left me 5.00. now isn't that unusual?
THe guy at Itunes said he thought my email had been hacked into. I don't know.
I may get a special program from b of a for a few months to watch my accts and let me know if something unusual
happens or anything at all. its cheap and cheaper than a real problem like someone buying a big screen tv!! on my
credit card 8)
Your number can be copied in so many ways.. after it's swiped in an old fashion machine, the entire number is exposed and I'm sure for every way you try to prevent fraud someone has come up with 3 new ways to get your money. For that reason I place a huge amount of emphasis on the banks fraud department who issued my card... our fraud dept is pretty good about alerting us.
Yes. Dh and I stopped at a little roadside restaurant on Memorial Day, after our travels. When thru with dinner, I handed our waitress the card who then left the dining area. She paid for our bill in the bar.
She left the card on the bar to take care of something, I was to find out by calling and finding where the purchase originated, went to, all that. Anything I could find. The time stamp was what alerted me to where we were at the time the order was placed. I called the restaurant and spoke to the manager and she said the matter will be handled and apologize profusely. Also, informed me our next meal was free.
From what I could gather, the bus personnel, (one in particular) had done this at the restaurant before.
Sheesh. I had to cancel that card.
My Visa (B of A) watches my card and lets me know if anything unusual happens. They even stopped me from buying my new iMac and I had to call and convince them it was me.
How would my bank have known at the time, if the card was being used illegally? It was a very small purchase. I didn't realize it was even made until I brought up the account online and looked thru each and every transaction.
I even called my dd to ask if she had used it online to purchase Itunes? For I wasn't sure it was a fraudulent purchase right then and there.
The card was not stolen.
banks will not usually catch small purchases unless someone is testing the waters with 1.00 charges and usually the flag only flies if it is a international charge. We are required to notify our CC company if we are traveling outside of our typical area.. and if we are making large purchases, as in the case of Luise's new computer... while a hassle at times, it's a pretty valuable service
B of A did such a good job of watching my card after a huge illegal purchase that I couldn't buy anything lol. I was getting declined everywhere. When I spoke to a manager they said their card fraud department looks for signals, several purchases within an hour, a large purchase etc.
Do you feel BoA has certain clients that they don't want to question? In the event it may slow purchases?
Like me? ;D
LOL, I was so darn irritated and DH was delighted.
Why is that? Mine absolutely despises the use of cards. So, I take up the slack for him.
Because they were slowing down my spending lol
I feel like we are taking our energy and time to help stimulate the economy .. charge by bloody charge
Hey, I know for a fact we were able to get a better quote on our refi because of my credit rating. Ok, his job figured in there too, but they really liked my credit history. And I will continue to work on that. *wink wink wink
I have a Neiman Marcus feed on my FB--just for fun. Was sent a shoe ad. Looked up price of gorgeous beeeeUtiful pumps: $2975.
groan
Ouch! The big screen TV!
My PNC card sends me a text if my card is used for a purchase over $100 or if it is used online. It is really nice. :-)
Plus, I am a checkbook fiend! I balance it pretty much every day lol
adil.. you and my daughter both... I asked her if it was due to boredom.. she said yeah well mom at least I know how much is in the account.. ok i'm bad about that.. but I think there is enough in there to cover my cc bill.. I hope :)
I'm a rather obnoxious account balancing fiend too. DH told me he'd leave me if I didn't stop doing it right at the checkout counter.
But, I did catch that $3000 purchase within 25 minutes of it happening...and that was on Friday at 4:30. It does pay off sometimes.
yes it does pay off... I need to become one with my accounts.. it's just disheartening sometimes
Well, I'm impressed. Are you frugal Holly?
You guys are all embarassing me. Is it awful that I only have an allowance debit card? I have no access to a credit card or the main family account lol
I like to think I am, although the mortgage payment and cost of daycare really has me thinking otherwise. I caught the $1.00 scams a few times too; particularly in Italy. If I didn't look, I'm not sure I'd have caught them.
I do sew ripped clothing and try to rehem/let out pants if I need to. I do use leftovers a lot. But, I don't take the train (due to safety), so I spend a lot more than I should in gas. If DH and I go out to eat, I can't turn down dessert. LOL. So...I guess it depends. I've tried shopping at the thrift shops, but I was never able to buy something I half liked just b/c it was "deal." So, that hasn't worked out quite like I planned.
I even drove up to the Sam's Club where the transaction took place. I wanted videotape of the cash register the TV was purchased at. They told me it was between them and the bank.
Pam...are you really that bad!? LOL. That's too funny. Maybe your DH is too strict. ;)
Yes, I'm pretty bad. DH calls it my Toy Fund and doesn't want to see it lol. It can get embarassing, I will be at the check out and they'll decline my card and I know it's because he forgot to put my allowance in so I start muttering that I didn't get my allowance while I'm calling him in front of the cashier....
LOL. At least you're a good sport about it!
I'm better with money when I don't have it. You got 20 bucks to last you to pay day next week? You just come over here and I'll tell you how to get through it lol
Quote from: Holly on April 20, 2011, 05:39:46 PM
I'm a rather obnoxious account balancing fiend too. DH told me he'd leave me if I didn't stop doing it right at the checkout counter.
But, I did catch that $3000 purchase within 25 minutes of it happening...and that was on Friday at 4:30. It does pay off sometimes.
That's AWESOME!!! You are my Idol! lol
Quote from: pam1 on April 20, 2011, 06:58:39 PM
I'm better with money when I don't have it. You got 20 bucks to last you to pay day next week? You just come over here and I'll tell you how to get through it lol
DH and I each get an allowance (in cash) each week. That's it. I'm the finance manager so if he needs to pick up something and he doesn't have the cash to cover it, he always calls me to "okay" the purchase first lol
Yeah, actually...that's a good point ADil. DH and I are BOTH on allowances. LOL.
Pam...does your DH have an allowance too?
No, but he doesn't spend any $$$. The man will wear 10 year old pants with holes and the zipper not working -- to work! He even still has shirts from when he was a kid, I think he may be a hoarder.
If he does want something he will always ask me though lol, like I know what the account looks like. It's not really as bad as it sounds, I love it.
But, there are plenty of reasons to ask permission aside from money!
Dh seemed to think a great spot for a pull up bar was the doorway between the kitchen and living room. Yikes. Ugh.
He just doesn't do things like that, it's kind of weird. He really does leave everything alone in the house, it's my domain. So it's good in some ways but bad in others, I have labeled him "aggressively lazy"
Gosh, I wonder if there's a Passively energetic? ;D
Of course! That's my label 8) I can share if you want
Pam,
a good friend of mine is a retired md and prides himself in being frugal and is similar to your dh in his dress. He became
a widower and then married a wonderful woman (a friend also) in our community who is an artist type and she started working on his
clothes situation lol. little by little over time. He finally has some of those outdoor clothes (bought on sale of course) that are durable and look cool. What a difference.
Tara, I bought him clothes and he just gravitates to the old stuff. I guess I can't complain too much, it leaves more room in the budget for me! And then I got a good look at his co-workers and they all dress like that
My uncle was a well-off, retired professional who dressed like a bum. In fact, a wealthy couple handed him money one evening outside a theatre...and he took it!
Pen, that is so funny! DH kept telling me about this older gentleman he saw every morning at the coffee shop who would ask him if he was looking for money lol. I finally figured it out when I noticed that his back pocket flaps were always up and the pocket out.
Pam reminds me of a documentary I saw not long ago about scientists types.
Quote from: pam1 on April 23, 2011, 03:40:07 PM
Tara, I bought him clothes and he just gravitates to the old stuff. I guess I can't complain too much, it leaves more room in the budget for me! And then I got a good look at his co-workers and they all dress like that
I feel ya Pam - I have one of those too! If one person ever compliments something he is wearing, it becomes the "IT" thing to wear every time. No matter what.
Scientist is right, I feel like I'm on Big Bang Theory every day. And of course, I'm pretty Penny!
HappyDays, our men must be related. Someone told him a blue shirt brings out his eyes some time ago and I had to break it to him that the shirt was no longer blue, it's gray.