Address book hijack Forums

highwayman

Hi folks
My darling son has somehow sent emails to people in my address book from a site called flixter inviting them to take a test and see how they're score compares to his.
My question is, how on earth has he done this? and how the hell do i stop it?
He's in Norwich and i'm in Kent !
Any help gratefully recieved

Pusser

While Flixter is to all intents and purposes a reasonable looking site it is using an almost virual approach to people who sign up encouraging them to add more and more friends to their profile with the opportunity to add their whole address book and thus adding to their portfolio sometimes hundreds of new clients in one hit.

The reason behind this is mainly to get a huge amount of people very quickly to build up their advertising revenue and possibly to get big enough to sell the company quickly for megabucks.

The only way that may stop this but I doubt if it will, is if your son closes his account and then presumably there is nothing left to compare with. I don't fancy going into the site to find out so I cannot be more specific. Very Happy

spykal · Moderator

Hi highwayman

There is no way that he could share the contents of YOUR address book from his computer.

BUT .. are you guilty, like almost all others online , of sending or rather forwarding to him jokes or interesting snippets that you received ... if so you also forwarded all the names and addresses of your friends ( and friends friends) to him... I would bet my MHF wages Laughing

that is how they have been "lifted" from his computer.

Try using BCC* when you wish to send one email to many.

Mike

*

highwayman

Aha
I think you may have-it there, when we changed our email address we sent notification to everyone in our address book at once.
I guess that's how it's happened.
Oh bless his cotten socks. Evil or Very Mad

Thanks folks

...nige

spykal · Moderator

Hi Highwayman

Just realised that the link I gave to the BCC "how to " was for Outlook...

Here is a link showing how to do it in

sallytrafic · Southern Rally Co-ordinator

I am so annoyed by people sending emails to many without using bcc. My email client (if that it that the term) does one better if you send to a group it allows as a default just the group name to appear on recipients emails.

My email address recently appeared on a mailing that had about 500 names all people like me who had once belonged to the civil service sailing club but who had terminated their membership in a way disliked by the powers that be.

When I complained and asked why my name and email address had been copied to every one else I was told that I was the only one who had complained - thats all, no apology - so I've told my isp they are spammers. Evil or Very Mad

So if you belong to the cssc and are with plusnet and no longer get their emails its my fault. Sorry

Regards Frank