Bloody Spam and Mcafee (1 Viewer)

[Craig Crane]

Well, I never really used to get Spam, just the odd one every few days or so. But I thought I would try the trial version of Mcafee's spam killer for a month. Guess what, as soo as I removed it from my office system, I am now getting some 30 spams a day... just one day after removing spam killer, I was flooded. Is this pure coincidence, or are they trying to make a point over at Mcafee... ?

Just thought I'd share....

 

[John Watson]

You've opened a can of worms.

I know I suspect the worst. Like doubting Bill Gates wants to help eliminate Spam in an effective way.

 

[Craig Crane]

I'm no expert, but isnt it funny how the two coincide... its almost as if someone actually said "well, if he is so sure he has no use for this product, lets see what happens when we "pass on" his e mail address to the very people we aim to protect him from...."

I say this, because Spam has never been in issue for me in 6years, until I actually stop using a anti spam program...

So now, I have all these wonderfull opportunities that lay ahead of me. I can increase my members size, help and African diplomat launder money, order viagra and viagra like herbs from the net, keep my wife happier than I could possibly imagine, Remortgage the house with a lender that no one has ever heard of, get a diploma and adopt a small child in some country that probably doesnt exist.

Thanks M**fee

 

[Scott L]

Blah! Email them and say you decided to go with another product. It can't just be pure coincidence from every other day to 30 a day!

I have a couple of unused email addresses that my ISP provides. They currently get no jumk mail, I'll try the trial and see if the same thing occurs.

*edit- I'm having trouble finding the trial, can you point me to it?

 

[Scott L]

OK found a place to get it here, the trial seems to be more accessible in the UK. Anyways I'm gonna let it do it's thing for a couple of days and uninstall. How long did you let it run before getting rid of it Craig?

 

[Craig Crane]

I let it run for about a week or so. It filtered a lot of e mail addresses from Spam, but the funny thing was... I had never really had a problem with Spam before. As soon as I installed, I was getting spammed, but spam killer filtered it all. Then, as soon as I uninstalled the PGM, it was Spam city.

Funny that you should note that they have made it more accessible to the UK... I wonder if the FBI Computer crimes Dept would be interested to hear about this. After all, I dont beleive in coincidence. I am more of a "cause and effect" beleiver. I wonder how much my e mail address is worth to Spammers.

I logged off last night, and just now downloaded another 10 spams.... Thats all in the space of 8 hours over night.

Now, without wanting to upset the mods (seeing as I have not been around these parts for almost over a year).... but imagine if, in a paralell universe the company that says it fights virus's and Spams is actually partly responsible for said virus's and spams. After all, to be successful in business, you have to create a demand for you product... Mmmmmm

Now thats another can of worms, and although not at all related to HTPC, it is something that could have a detrimental afect on the way our beloved HTPC'S run.... So I hope the Mods let this thread run a while.... Please???

 

[Craig Crane]

...and Im sure as hell not going to subscribe to their www just so I can ask them outright if they have indeed sold my e mail address because I was sooooo confident I didnt need their product!!!

 

[Doug Pyle]

I don't know about your spam situation, but I have had terrible experience with McAfee. I cut short a 3-month trial of the McAfee Security Center that came "free" with my new computer. It would send up "alerts" that sounded urgent, only to find my work interupted & wasting my time following links to McAfee's website for sales of more products. I wanted out of McAfee's advertisement trap.

When I tried to uninstall, it refuses to go. I called Dell's tech support, who said, "oh yeah, get that all the time with McAfee. You have to go into the Registry to remove it and we don't recommend that unless you know exactly what you're doing."

To make matters worse, they tell me, if I install a competitor software with McAfee lingering in the registry (e.g. Norton, which uninstalls cleanly), it will be interfered with by the remaining McAfee registry keys and bog down performance or worse.

Lesson learned: no spam is worse than a McAfee product! Beware it's free trial versions!

(Plus, they made once-free PGP virtually inaccessible.)

 

[Craig Crane]

I e mailed them last night, and the response this morning was interesting to say the least.... further more, this morning was my first SPAM FREE moning in a week or so.... interesting.

They blamed something called spyware.... here, have a read...

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

Subject
I am not happy!

Discussion Thread
Response (Dwight) 07/10/2003 04:27 PM
Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your e-mail to McAfee Security.

SpamKiller is a software program that stops spam from entering your email inbox, ensuring that you only receive email you want from people you know.

SpamKiller does this by blocking email addresses of known spammers and analyzing the sender's address, subject line, body text, and message header. In addition, you can create new filters using an easy-to-use wizard and add trusted email addresses to a "Friends" list so their email is never blocked.

SpamKiller doesn't contain advertising technologies or spyware.

Spyware is basically a sophisticated cookie which sends information back to advertisers about your system information and browsing habits. It's generally installed with a shareware or freeware program.

For further assistance, contact our Technical Support. To contact Technical Support, do the following:

1. Review your telephone and online chat options below.
2. Select an option and follow the instructions.

Contacting Technical Support

Pay-Per-Minute - Everyday from 5AM-11PM PST
Register for a case number to speak with an experienced technician for complex and simple issues. Available in the US only. Cost is $2.95 per minute. English only at this time.

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Purchase a pin and speak with an experienced technician for more complex issues. Cost is $39 per single incident. Available in the US and worldwide. English only at this time.

Free Online Support - Available 24 hours every day
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#############

Back to me now...

Looks like an automated reply if ever I saw one. Perhaps I am not the first to complain...

 

[JamesHl]

Well, get adaware or spybot search and destroy, see if it digs up anything.

 

[Vincent Matis]

I have a "good" trick to trace from where the SPAMmers got my mail address. I have the beldvd.com domain, so I manage the email accounts... Each time I register on some websites, I use a different email addresses ([email protected]@beldvd.com...), this way I know who "leaked" or was "harvested"...

Cheers,

Vincent