| Sign in: |
| Members log in here with your user name and password to access the your admin page and other special features. |
|
|
|
|
|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Spam email related to SportsShooter
Kevin M. Cox, Photographer
 |
Galveston & Houston | TX | US | Posted: 8:23 PM on 12.29.16 |
->> Ashley and I both have unique email addresses setup for use here on SportsShooter. (Meaning this is the only place those email addresses have ever been used.)
Lately we've both been getting spam sent to these addresses. The volume is pretty low, but it is easy to spot based on the address they are being sent to.
Usually when this happens with unique addresses it is a sign that either the site has sold their member list to marketers or that there has been a database breach allowing the member information to leak.
These current email addresses are different than the ones we had in use when there was the security problem on the site back in December 2013, so I don't think it is a holdover from that incident.
Has anyone else been getting spam they can trace back to the site?
Admins, everything looking good on the back-end for SportsShooter? |
|
Doug Pizac, Photographer
 |
Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 8:45 PM on 12.29.16 |
| ->> What type spam are you getting? Can you please give us some subjects/topics so we can compare if we're getting them too? And who is sending them. |
|
Kevin M. Cox, Photographer
|
Galveston & Houston | TX | US | Posted: 10:13 AM on 01.02.17 |
->> Doug, they are obvious spam messages. You wouldn't even give them a second thought as possibly being legitimate.
-----------------------------------------------
From International Company
Dear sportsshooter,
We are looking for employees working remotely.
My name is Leland, I am the personnel manager of a large International company.
Most of the work you can do from home, that is, at a distance.
Salary is $2500-$5200.
If you are interested in this offer, please visit Our Site
Good day! |
|
Doug Pizac, Photographer
|
Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 1:51 PM on 01.02.17 |
->> Kevin...
You sharing that the spam starts out with "Dear sportsshooter" identifies it telling me that the spam may be targeted. While I do get spam, I've never gotten one starting out that way. You must just be lucky. |
|
Rob Sirota, Photographer
|
Saratoga | CA | USA | Posted: 4:37 PM on 01.02.17 |
| ->> Did you dump the raw text of the email to see where it is from? |
|
Kevin M. Cox, Photographer
|
Galveston & Houston | TX | US | Posted: 8:55 AM on 01.03.17 |
->> Doug, yes, I know it is targeted. The custom email alias I use here (and nowhere else) starts with sportshooter@. If it started with bob123@ the email would be addressed to bob123. It is pretty common for spammers to insert the username (local-part) of an email address into the body of the message.
Rob, yes it came from 117.241.204.176 which is an IP in India.
The point of all this is that the two email addresses receiving the spam have only ever been used here at SportsShooter, so I know they leaked from here.
This wouldn't be unprecedented, since as I mentioned there was a problem like this back in 2013:
"In the past few months, several members have contacted us regarding an
increase in the amount of spam mail coming from their SportsShooter
member pages. In response, we've conducted an audit of our systems,
and discovered a completely unrelated and obscure security hole that
could have revealed member passwords, so we decided to take the steps
necessary to patch it immediately." |
|
Jason Burfield, Photographer
 |
New York | NY | USA | Posted: 1:42 PM on 01.03.17 |
->> Kevin,
We can tell you with 100% certainty that we have never sold email addresses from SportsShooter.com. We've never sold any information from the site to anyone. Ever. It is not something we have any interest in doing.
I, too, have a few email addresses that I use for specific things when I do not want my personal email getting out. Every single one of them has received spam.
Much of it is just guess work. Simple dictionary attacks. It's a game of numbers for spammers. Maybe they reach 10 out of every 10,000 emails they send. They are content with that.
We'll do some more digging on our end, however, I'm of the thinking that this was just spammers being spammers. Unfortunately.
-- Jason
-- SportsShooter.com |
|
Kevin M. Cox, Photographer
|
Galveston & Houston | TX | US | Posted: 10:18 PM on 01.03.17 |
->> Thanks for the response Jason.
I didn't mean to imply that SportsShooter had sold addresses, I trust y'all more than that. I just meant that it is a common way that emails get released to spammers.
I was more concerned with an incident similar to 2013. I appreciate y'all taking a look. |
|
Paul Alesse, Photographer
|
Coram | NY | USA | Posted: 7:33 PM on 01.10.17 |
->> So, Kevin, are you interested? Still waiting to hear back from you.
Love,
Leland |
|
David Rosenblum, Photographer
|
Jacksonville Beach | Fl | USA | Posted: 1:11 PM on 01.13.17 |
->> I just got an email to my personal account that I was denied membership to SS (even though I've been a member for a few years).
Here's a copy/paste of the start.
Your Submission to SportsShooter.com
____________________________________
Hello, and thank you for going through the SportsShooter.com member signup process.
Unfortunately, we are unable to activate your membership at this time.
The email is from webmaster@sportsshooter.com
Assuming this is spam? |
|
Joe Gosen, Photographer
 |
Bellingham | WA | USA | Posted: 8:14 PM on 01.13.17 |
->> I can assure you David that it wasn't SPAM.
I was clearing out old and/or incomplete applications from the SportsShooter system today (specifically anyone who's first name began with D). Although you've been a member for several years, we had an older, incomplete application or inactive member page on the servers. Some of the incomplete applications date back 10 years. When I deleted these today our server sent out the automatic notice you received. Sorry for the confusion. |
|
David Rosenblum, Photographer
|
Jacksonville Beach | Fl | USA | Posted: 3:28 PM on 01.14.17 |
| ->> OK, thanks for clearing that up Joe. Good to know it wasn't spam. :) |
|
Return to --> Message Board Main Index
|