I think pos personals has been hacked !!!!!!

[randym431]

I chat with a few thru pos personals. Lately I've been getting junk mail (ads and junk mail) from a few that I sometimes correspond with from pos personals. This comes in under their email address with no subject. Just a link to some ad for a pharmacy offering cheap meds. If this was only coming from only one person I'd just think it was them. But duplicate links to the same pharmacy are coming from various people I have once or twice exchanged emails with. What I believe happened is someone hacked into the pos personals listing and got peoples listed email account registered to their pos personals ad, and emails of those they have corresponded to. Then send out junk mailings under that persons email to anyone they have emailed with in the past.
Anyone else using pos personals seen this? Im deleting my pos personal and the linked registered email.

[Matty the Damned]

Email timh@aidsmeds.com.

MtD

[skeebo1969]

   I don't even have a membership to poz and I get those also.  What's really crazy is that everyone on my contact lists gets them forwarded from my email as well.  My wife called me the other day from work and said I was sending out viruses...lol

[randym431]

wOnDerFuL ....   
And being all the links are for sites offering medical supplies makes me really wonder just who(m) is behind this?

[Matty the Damned]

Randy,

The internet is a wild old place. If you've got your anti-virus/anti-malware software up to date and running correctly you should be ok.

Like I said, send Tim an email and I'm sure he'll look into it and provide you with a suitable reply.

MtD

[skeebo1969]

wOnDerFuL ....   
And being all the links are for sites offering medical supplies makes me really wonder just who(m) is behind this?

   Yeah, if I get another email from Barbara White trying to hock her "dollar a pill" Viagra on me I'll scream.

[Jeff G]

I have been getting them also and forwarding them to Tim .

Don't ya see . Its a government conspiracy . First the man gives us teh aids virus and now he gives us a computer virus to send out Viagra ads to stimulate our crotches and the economy at the same time .  

I think this thread should be moved to the Am I infected forum at once .   

[skeebo1969]

I have been getting them also and forwarding them to Tim .

Don't ya see . Its a government conspiracy . First the man gives us teh aids virus and now he gives us a computer virus to send out Viagra ads to stimulate our crotches and the economy at the same time .    

  Shhhhh... hush man, they'll hear you...

[Tim Horn]

Randy (and everyone):

We have thoroughly reviewed our web servers and have found no evidence that anyone's confidentiality has been violated.

The spam you mention has the characteristics of a worm -- a self-replicating Malware program -- that is making the rounds on the internet (networks of POZ/AIDSmeds users who communicate via e-mail are no less susceptible). It infects individual computers by tricking users into executing malicious code. The most common scam we've seen contains misleading hyperlinks to nefarious sites selling pharmaceutical products, notably erectile dysfunction drugs (Click here for an example of how this works).

We strongly recommend that everyone use anti-virus protection and keep it up-to-date. We also recommend, as do most security experts, that you change your passwords every 90 days.

Rest assured we're monitoring and upgrading our web servers with the latest security techniques.

Thanks for understanding,

Tim  

[emeraldize]

Hi Randy, MtD and Tim,

My anti-virus/anti-malware software is up to date and running correctly and I just wanted to add that yes, I've gotten several recently. There seems to be a correlation to the site and in each case it's been pharmaceutical site links being sent.

Em

[tednlou2]

Great!  My virus software just expired.  I need to renew it.  I believe it will still look for stuff it knew about before it expired, but not future threats. 

Do ya think virus software companies are behind any of this to keep business going? 

[Matty the Damned]

Do ya think virus software companies are behind any of this to keep business going? 

Nope.

MtD

[fearless]

And I thought you were gonna say that you actually found someone genuine on there. lol.

my yahoo account, which i've not used for 12 months, spammed everyone on my address book the other day with a viagra link, including a number of senior managers at work and my aunty, the nun. hehehe

[leatherman]

Great!  My virus software just expired.  I need to renew it.

Though the ComputerTutor (my other alter-ego) is not a spokesman for this software, once again let me recommend Spybot Search and Destroy to get rid of and keep spyware off your computer. http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html After installing this software, make sure to run the IMMUNIZE function, and do a SCAN. After your issues are fixed, and "bad site and software" are automatically blocked, once a month update, scan and re-immunize your system to avoid most issues.

If you do not have, or your software has expired, I would suggest AntiVir for your antivirus protection. http://download.cnet.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html  Free, just like spybot, for home use, all that is required after the installation and initial scan, is to simply click OK on the company's ad (unless you want to buy their super-duper-duper version) that pops up after AntiVir updates itself every few days.

edited to add
and a big thanks to mr. Horn for his tireless efforts lately fighting off the hacks . My antivirus wouldn't hardly let me onto this site all evening complaining about the most recent hack going on. Though Tim said the problem might not be resolved until in the AM, he's got it going again already. WooHoo and Thanks

[Ravhyn]

my mom called me yesterday and wanted to know why i was sending her thespam mails about viagra...

[Tim Horn]

We secured the breach late last night -- everything seems to be in working order.  

Tim

Edited to add: Fresh batch of malicious code uploaded to server overnight; working on it now.

[Moffie65]

I just had a new window open, and it was an ad for "Latino AIDS".  Not a bad idea, but this only happens on this site.  Fortunately my anti spam, and firewall are in place, but doesn't seem to matter when reading this site.  More and more, I find my computer being confused when reading AM, so it is my assumption that someone who doesn't like us is trying their damndest to screw up every member here.  I understand the spam thing, as I have also gotten e-mails from other members who didn't actually send them, but this is different, it is a completely new window that takes over until you close it.

[Jeff G]

I just had a new window open, and it was an ad for "Latino AIDS".  Not a bad idea, but this only happens on this site.  Fortunately my anti spam, and firewall are in place, but doesn't seem to matter when reading this site.  More and more, I find my computer being confused when reading AM, so it is my assumption that someone who doesn't like us is trying their damndest to screw up every member here.  I understand the spam thing, as I have also gotten e-mails from other members who didn't actually send them, but this is different, it is a completely new window that takes over until you close it.

Have you considered safer surfing ? .... put a condom on your mouse .

[leatherman]

put a condom on your mouse .

I tried that ; but just like in the 80s when things got messy because I put a condom on my head and bew it up like Howie Mandel used to do with the surgical gloves (if you're too young, here's a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGmjj8U-rgM),
when I put the condom on my mouse, the lube got all over my hands and the keyboard 

[tednlou2]

Today, I noticed my profile pic is blank as well as several other member's in the threads.  However, some member's pics/avatars are still there.  Is this due to the problem?

[Tim Horn]

Today, I noticed my profile pic is blank as well as several other member's in the threads.  However, some member's pics/avatars are still there.  Is this due to the problem?

http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=32457.0

[tednlou2]

Thanks Tim.  I totally missed your post about that.  I think I glanced at it and thought it was your other recent post about the problems.  I apologize for having you to have to repost it.  I have a photobucket account, so I'll do that.

[Ravhyn]

yea, i plan to re upload mine too after i get out of lazy mode...haven't had coffee for three days -_-

[leatherman]

haven't had coffee for three days -_-

and by the looks of your new avatar, I think you need to drink a few more cups to catch up 

[Ravhyn]

after my husband gets home from the store, seriously i'm just taking the pot mixing in cream and sugar and downing it. 

[emeraldize]

"as I have also gotten e-mails from other members who didn't actually send them, but this is different," (Moffie) yep, my experience, too.

[skeebo1969]

"as I have also gotten e-mails from other members who didn't actually send them, but this is different," (Moffie) yep, my experience, too.

Same here...  My wife got one from me on her work email address, and unfortunately she opened it on her work computer.

[randym431]

I have full security installed. I do not believe I am sending out spam. I said I am receiving spam from other pos personals members. I have no idea as to their installed virus protection. My question was if "they" were infected thru pos personals or some other method. We will probably never know. I was just putting the issue out there in question to other members here. I doubt any virus protection would stop incoming emails from other members. At least members you allow mail to come in under. Virus protection should stop your PC from sending out spam emails, but if a known friends system is sending out spam under his/her emails address, no virus protection would know a good incoming from a bad if that person is someone you allow incoming from. Protection would/should catch and stop the worm if attached to mail, but not stop the email itself. That is as long as you have not blocked that senders address in the first place.
(as Ellen would say...) ANyway.....   

[randym431]

BTW... If anyone needs protection, you might consider Microsofts free protection

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx?mkt=en-ca

(I think its still a freebe)

[leatherman]

I doubt any virus protection would stop incoming emails from other members. At least members you allow mail to come in under. Virus protection should stop your PC from sending out spam emails, but if a known friends system is sending out spam under his/her emails address, no virus protection would know a good incoming from a bad if that person is someone you allow incoming from.

yes, when your friends' computers get hosed, or your clients, or your family, or anyone who might have YOU in THEIR email address book, then YOU might suffer the barrage of crap emails with spam and/or viruses. That's how it's been happening for years.

for a long time, I've been using a program called poptray (http://www.poptray.org/). It reads and displays the email headers before I actually download the emails into my email reader. This gives me the option to delete the ones I don't want (all the spams, all the aidsmeds notices that I've already known about and read through) along with letting me get a preview of what my friends, family and clients have sent to make sure those are "valid" emails before I allow them on my system. Sure it's an extra step and a nuisance but it's a helluva lot better than getting my computer infected.

I also use several yahoo accounts when I surf the net, so if any spamming does go toward that email, it doesn't come to my system but to yahoo, where they deal with the virus/spamming issue for me. I use my main email account ONLY with banking, utilities, and other important billing. Ebay, paypal, political alliances, etc are all done on an outside acct (yahoo, gmail) to limit and hopefully prevent my main acct from ever being hit with "bad" emails.

As the ComputerTutor, I often explain to my clients, that just like sex is good but needs to be done safely, so is using the net. Because spamming does make money, there's no way spam and viruses will ever be gone. Because we like instantaneous communication through websites, emails, and chat program, we will all always be vulnerable. That's just the way it is. To wish it never happened or to wish you didn't have to do a little bit of prevention/protection on your part is just foolish thinking in 2010.

mikie
(who thinks he needs to work up that idea - of safe sex like safe surfing - into another speech to use for his ASO's Speaker Bureau. That would be a good analogy to use when talking to high school and college groups. )