Chat Spam

Jonathan,

If I block anybody who isn't on my contact list, they can't send me
messages. Whether or not I'm on their list. Whether or not THEY
realise that they can send messages to folks not on THEIR list.

Janek,

Amen. That is exactly what I've been saying.

..NET Messenger spam is not rare. It happens several times / day, and
is getting worse.

Two spams for me today (and it is just noon):
Pam
Hot_Girl

On Thu, 10 Apr 2003 03:22:35 -0400, "Jonathan Kay [MVP]"
wrote:

Hi Janek,

I would guest that nearly 80% of the Messenger user base isn't even aware that you can send a
message to someone without adding them to their contact list. Turning off this option just
prevents people from doing this, it does not prevent people from adding you to their contact
lists.

As I've said, .NET Messenger spam is still and has been rare, but you're going to find spam
on any public IM network.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

"Janek Czekaj" wrote in message
...
Stopping people who aren't on your Contacts lists from contacting you kind
of defeats the point of Instant Messaging - not everyone I know is on my
Contacts list and so any of my friends/colleagues who may use MSN in the
future will not be able to contact me.

Manually deleting the crap ones is also a nonsense as you end up in the same
mess as occured with all that porn Hotmail users find in their in-boxes -
Microsoft needs to sort this out. My mistake appears to have been to have
STUPIDLY allowed my Hotmail address to be published on the Hotmail
Directory - I advise everyone to not do this now - but, long-term, there
needs to be something done about this - a technical solution and not a user
manual one. Otherwise, I will be spending hours each day maually blocking
porn via IM and simply go and use a different IM client instead.


"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote in message
...
Hi Janek,

There's no "port scanning" or anything else going on. These messages are
sent through the
.NET Messenger network, using a modified Messenger client and/or a
dictionary program to
"guess" at e-mail addresses (note that nearly all the people effected are
from @hotmail.com
addresses?).

If you still have the Passports responsible for this, please forward them
to me. You can
stop these messages by stopping people who aren't on your contact list
from contacting you.
To do so, open up the main Messenger window, click Tools, then Options,
then the Privacy tab,
click 'All other users' (or 'All users' in MSN Messenger 5) and then click
the Block
button.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

"Janek Czekaj" wrote in
message
...
Thanks Jonathan,

No, it is NOT the Messenger Service. It is MSN. It is as if someone has
got
hold of my Hotmail account and are now bombarding me with MSN Messages.
It
is no different as if a friend of colleague contacts me but, sadly, it
is
from persons unknown sending me information on Porn sites.

I have done some research on various SPAM NGs and this appears to have
become quite common in recent months. Some people are suggesting that
some
kind of Port Scanning is going on but... I would have thought my
Firewall
would have taken care of this.

Janek.


"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote in message
...
Greetings Jan,

Does this "spam" that is appearing have "Messenger Service" in its
titlebar? If so, what
you're seeing is the Messenger service built-in to Windows, *not*
Windows
Messenger (which
are two different things) which spammers are exploiting -- this is not
Microsoft, nor can
Microsoft control them anymore then they can control spam to your
e-mail
inbox.

To get rid of these pop ups, you'll need to disable the "Messenger
Service", click Start,
then Run, enter "services.msc"and click OK. Scroll down to
"Messenger",
select it,
right-click and then choose Properties. Under startup type, choose
'Disabled' and then
choose the 'Stop' button. After the service is stopped, click OK.
Nothing
in Windows or any
real third-party applications should be effected by this.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

"Janek Czekaj" wrote in
message
...
My MSN Messenger has suddenly begun to be inundated with SPAM for
porn.
Is
it possible to stop this other than waiting for it to occur and then
using
the Block?

Jan.
















Chuck Croll

Spam sucks - Get rid of the spam to email me

How do I eliminate the random chat spam that I am
constantly getting? I see no way to "Accept Chat Only
From Friends" option. If this is not stoppable, I guess
I will be removing this product. Totally unacceptable.

Greetings Mitch,

There has been an upsurge in some Messenger (that is .NET Messenger) spam in the last few
weeks. This conversation did go through the Messenger server, but you may not be aware that
anyone can actually send you a message through the .NET Messenger network without being on
your contact list. For example, if you right-click your Messenger icon, choose "Send an
Instant Message", the Other tab, you can actually type in a Passport e-mail address and send
a message to them, without being on their contact list.

However, you can change this behavior, so that people will have to add your to their contact
lists before they can send you a message (which will have the effect of blocking these spam
messages in the future), open up the main Messenger window, click Tools, then Options, then
the Privacy tab, click 'All other users' (or 'All users' in MSN Messenger 5) and then click
the Block button.

If you still have the Passport that someone used to send you a message, please respond back
with it, so I can send it in to be investigated/banned.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com


"Mitch" wrote in message ...
How do I eliminate the random chat spam that I am
constantly getting? I see no way to "Accept Chat Only
From Friends" option. If this is not stoppable, I guess
I will be removing this product. Totally unacceptable.