Major increase in spam

[truoc]

First off I apologize if this isn't in the right forum as I didn't know where it should go so feel free to move it! The past couple of days I have noticed a HUGE increase in the amount of SPAM I receive in my email (Usually 15+ an hour). I use an @live.com email address and pretty much all of them end up in the JUNK folder upon arrival so it isn't really that big of a deal, but it has prompted me to figure out why this has occurred. I consider myself a careful web surfer and don't download random things. I pretty much only visit the major news sites and forums. I am a really boring internet browser or I would consider myself rather boring. Anyways my main browser is Google Chrome coupled with Adblock and Lastpass as my addons. I use the built in Windows Defender in Windows 8 along with Zemana Antilogger free. For secondary browser I use the latest version of Firefox with Adblock Plus and Lastpass as the only addons. I have ran a full system scan with Windows Defender and it came up clean as well as full scans with Malwarebytes (found 2 Hijack.Regedit files that I promptly removed), HitmanPro (just showed cookies), and Trend Micro HouseCall as a second opinion antivirus scan (found nothing). So my system should be fairly clean. I DO NOT give my email address out randomly and can't remember the last time I've had to provide it in order to apply for something. Anyone have any ideas why I would be seeing such an increase in SPAM, how to possibly avoid this in the future, and how I can go about getting rid of it? Thanks for your time!

 

[Ink]

Maybe one of your contacts' accounts have been compromised?

 

[truoc]

Maybe one of your contacts' accounts have been compromised?

Ah yeah that could be. Didn't even consider that, but definitely a possibility! Since I wrote the original post I have received 23 more spam emails and 3 of them got through the junk filter so not too bad.

 

[Littlebits]

Most of the time increase in spam emails doesn't indicate a malware issue.
You probably have signed up or shared info without knowing it to a third-party which has give you email to spam sources.

You have to watch very closely when you signup on webpages, social networks or other online services and read their privacy policy. Many will share you email with third-parties but some will give you opt-outs options.

If the spam problem gets worse, your best option is to create a new email account, give your new email only to trusted sources and abandon your other email account.

Once spam takes over there is no much you can do but just abandon your email account and create a new account.

Enjoy!!

 

[Jack]

The past couple of days I have noticed a HUGE increase in the amount of SPAM I receive in my email (Usually 15+ an hour). I use an @live.com email address and pretty much all of them end up in the JUNK folder upon arrival so it isn't really that big of a deal, but it has prompted me to figure out why this has occurred.

15 new spam emails at every hour is certainly a considerable amount of spam.
Did you check who is the sender? Is always the same or are different emails addresses?
Is the same subject or is a different one for each spam email?

TIP: Do not click any kind of link or download email attachments that you may find in these spam emails, as they might be a source for malware.

 

[jamescv7]

Some possibilities that some website you've visited for registration have options to send for offers, newsletters and etc.

If tick mark

Or random spams that just guessing on email address and turns out that you received it but not to be every hour or so.

Legitimate websites could also rated spam emails.

 

[McLovin]

I get spam all the time. Mostly it's from these fake companies that want to sell Viagra. If it's from an email I don't know I delete it and if it from an email I know, I shoot them a text/IM/what ever else I can contact them and ask if they sent it.

 

[truoc]

Most of the time increase in spam emails doesn't indicate a malware issue.
You probably have signed up or shared info without knowing it to a third-party which has give you email to spam sources.

You have to watch very closely when you signup on webpages, social networks or other online services and read their privacy policy. Many will share you email with third-parties but some will give you opt-outs options.

If the spam problem gets worse, your best option is to create a new email account, give your new email only to trusted sources and abandon your other email account.

Once spam takes over there is no much you can do but just abandon your email account and create a new account.

Enjoy!!Big Grin

I usually watch very closely, but could have missed something at some point. Hard to tell. I have really considered giving up this account in the past, but there is one big problem. Since it is my first @live.com account it is tied to all of the Microsoft services that I use on a daily basis (Skydrive, Win8, Windows Phone, Xbox) and I am not aware of anyway to *merge* a @live.com account with a new @outlook.com account without it being an extreme pain and/or losing data in the process or I would do it in a heartbeat!

15 new spam emails at every hour is certainly a considerable amount of spam.
Did you check who is the sender? Is always the same or are different emails addresses?
Is the same subject or is a different one for each spam email?

TIP: Do not click any kind of link or download email attachments that you may find in these spam emails, as they might be a source for malware.

I have checked the sender and *most* of the time it is from the same ending email address ( @privatefundingservices.com), but sometimes the address is changed slightly and some are from other places. I definitely would never click on any of the links and if I was ever tempted to do so I would run the url through virustotal or another link checker first before I did to stay safe.

 

[Jack]

Hey truoc,
So you are using Windows Live as your email client right?
If yes, you can easily block the sender (@privatefundingservices.com) by performing the following steps:

1. Sign in to your account, and click on the Gear Icon (top right part of your window), then click on More mail settings.
   
   
2. In the Option tab, in the Prevent junk email section, select Safe and blocked senders
   
   
3. In the new window, click on Blocked senders
   
   
4. To block all future messages from that specific sender or domain, you can add in the spammer detail into the Blocked email address or domain box.
   
   

 

[Viking]

Or just use the SWEEP button!

 

[truoc]

Thanks for the tips, I will definitely do them! On another note I just noticed this morning that some of the emails have the name "Carla" in them and I am definitely not named Carla yet my email address does begin with a "c". Maybe a Carla out there mistakenly typed her email address wrong or something along those lines or is that how spam is with random names when your email address begins with the same letter as the name? Thanks for all your help everyone!

 

[Jack]

If it's a subscription based spam, at the end of the email you should have an Unsubscribe link.
While I would not recommend that you click on this link, you could sandbox your browser with Sandboxie, and click on it (if it even exists)..... Nevertheless, my previous steps should be enough.