Spammers using Oook to find email addresses?

Therem Harth · June 19, 2010, 03:50

I just got a spam from someone, no doubt a scammer, claiming interest in me for whatever reason. Nothing unusual there... Except that they claim they saw my profile on angband.oook.cz.

This seems pretty weird to be by pure chance. Is it possible that spammers are somehow harvesting email addresses from these forums?

pav · June 21, 2010, 15:45

Your email address shouldn't appear anywhere on this website, unless there's bug in the forum software. methinks.

Psi · June 21, 2010, 15:59

I got the same email a couple of days ago too - said they saw my profile on oook etc.

Adley · October 7, 2010, 12:12

E mail adress appears in ladder. At least sometimes...

Nick · November 30, 2010, 08:24

I just got an email a bit like this, too - didn't mention Angband forums in the message, but some of the addresses were identifiably from other people on the forums.

Pav, I've forwarded it to you.

pav · November 30, 2010, 08:32

Yes, these are all addresses from this board (most of them are spammer's autoregistered accounts, so spam goes to spammers, hehe). It's astonishing to me -- I don't know how they were lifted, if there was/is an undisclosed vulnerability in the forum software that would allow this or something...

RogerN · December 6, 2010, 18:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adley

E mail adress appears in ladder. At least sometimes...

This. Just looking at the first page of the Angband ladder, 42 of the 50 characters are listed by e-mail address rather than an account name. And I bet that even users with valid accounts occasionally submit dumps to the ladder using an e-mail address rather than logging in to their accounts.

pav · December 6, 2010, 18:26

No, those are different addresses tha what was in Nick's forward. Plus the emailused to set up forum account is never leaked in Ladder, always only the handle is shown.

Timo Pietilä · December 6, 2010, 20:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by pav

No, those are different addresses tha what was in Nick's forward. Plus the emailused to set up forum account is never leaked in Ladder, always only the handle is shown.

There is one message with email address in latest poll about wilderness in variants-area....correction, there was one message with that. I'm pretty sure it was in variants wilderness poll, I was tempted to post a message to warn that using email-address as nickname is not a good idea. However now I can't find that message.

Timo Pietilä · December 6, 2010, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timo Pietilä

There is one message with email address in latest poll about wilderness in variants-area....correction, there was one message with that. I'm pretty sure it was in variants wilderness poll, I was tempted to post a message to warn that using email-address as nickname is not a good idea. However now I can't find that message.

Scratch that. It is a poll about winners in latest comp, where that email-address is shown as one of the competitors in ladder.

June 19, 2010, 03:50	#1
Therem Harth Knight Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 632	Spammers using Oook to find email addresses? I just got a spam from someone, no doubt a scammer, claiming interest in me for whatever reason. Nothing unusual there... Except that they claim they saw my profile on angband.oook.cz. This seems pretty weird to be by pure chance. Is it possible that spammers are somehow harvesting email addresses from these forums? __________________ The Great Wyrm of Law breathes litigation...

June 21, 2010, 15:45	#2
pav Administrator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Prague, Czech republic Age: 32 Posts: 746	Your email address shouldn't appear anywhere on this website, unless there's bug in the forum software. methinks. __________________ See the elves and everything! http://angband.oook.cz

November 30, 2010, 08:24	#5
Nick FAangband maintainer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Canberra, Australia Age: 47 Posts: 3,722 Donated: $60	I just got an email a bit like this, too - didn't mention Angband forums in the message, but some of the addresses were identifiably from other people on the forums. Pav, I've forwarded it to you. __________________ "There is no safety. There is no end. The word must be heard in silence. There must be darkness to see the stars. The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss." - The Farthest Shore, Ursula Le Guin

November 30, 2010, 08:32	#6
pav Administrator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Prague, Czech republic Age: 32 Posts: 746	Yes, these are all addresses from this board (most of them are spammer's autoregistered accounts, so spam goes to spammers, hehe). It's astonishing to me -- I don't know how they were lifted, if there was/is an undisclosed vulnerability in the forum software that would allow this or something... __________________ See the elves and everything! http://angband.oook.cz

December 6, 2010, 18:26	#8
pav Administrator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Prague, Czech republic Age: 32 Posts: 746	No, those are different addresses tha what was in Nick's forward. Plus the emailused to set up forum account is never leaked in Ladder, always only the handle is shown. __________________ See the elves and everything! http://angband.oook.cz

June 21, 2010, 15:59	#3
Psi Knight Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Age: 37 Posts: 724	I got the same email a couple of days ago too - said they saw my profile on oook etc.

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