Spam e-mails described as coming from facebook friends

For the past few weeks, from time to time, I have been getting emails that initially appear to be coming from facebook friends. But they are not. In fact if I click reply the email would go to some unheard of person with a yahoo.com address.

And the names that it looks like the emails are coming from are the facebook names of some of my friends who don't use their actual names on facebook. For example, one uses the European spelling of her last name which she does not use in Canada. Another uses her maiden and married names combined on facebook but otherwise just goes by her married name.

The emails contain links to websites that either relate to investing or working from home and earning money.

I don't know why I am getting them but no other of their friends are getting them.

I changed my password for facebook but that didn't stop them. My email address is not available to anyone who checks my facebook page.

Any suggestions on why this is happening and what if anything I can do about it?

Thanks!
Twoman

Hello Twoman,

My first word of advice would be to STOP clicking on links in e-mails when you don't know the person who sent them. These can be advertising links as they appear to be in your case or links to malicious websites that can download viruses or worse to your computer. Just by clicking the link and/or viewing the webpage.

Second, SPAM e-mail is almost a normal thing now. Eventually, if you sign up at enough websites, one of them will sell your information and you will begin receiving SPAM. There are other ways this can happen as well. If one of your friends e-mail accounts gets compromised, they can access their address book which contains your e-mail address and can begin sending you SPAM e-mails. Companies or web sites' e-mail databases can also be compromised and if your e-mail address is in that database, they can begin sending you SPAM e-mails.

Since you've clicked on links already, my suggestion would be to change both your Facebook and e-mail account passwords from a computer that you know is not infected by viruses or malware. Next, I would follow these instructions below on your computer just to make sure you that you haven't picked up anything along the way.

::MiniToolBox::

Download MiniToolBox and save it to your Desktop.

• Double-click MiniToolBox.exe to run it.
• Check mark the following boxes:
  
  Report IE Proxy Settings
  Report FF Proxy Settings
  List content of Hosts
  List IP Configuration
  List Winsock entries
  List last 10 Event Viewer Errors
  List Installed Programs
  List Devices (Only problems)
  List Users, Partitions and Memory size.
  
• Click the Go button and post the log file (Result.txt).
  
  (NOTE: The Result.txt should appear when the program completes. If the log does not automatically appear it should be on your desktop or in the folder the file was downloaded to.)

::Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware::

Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and save it to your desktop.

Important!! When you save the mbam-setup file, rename it to something random (such as 123abc.exe) before beginning the download.

Malwarebytes may "make changes to your registry" as part of its disinfection routine. If using other security programs that detect registry changes (ie Spybot's Teatimer), they may interfere or alert you. Temporarily disable such programs or permit them to allow the changes.

• Make sure you are connected to the Internet and double-click on the renamed file to install the application.
• When the installation begins, follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
• Malwarebytes will automatically start and you will be asked to update the program before performing a scan.
• If an update is found, the program will automatically update itself. Press the OK button and continue.
• If you cannot update Malwarebytes or use the Internet to download any files to the infected computer, manually update the database by following the instructions in FAQ Section A: 4. Issues.

• Under the Scanner tab, make sure the "Perform Quick Scan" option is selected.
• Click on the Scan button.
• When finished, a message box will say "The scan completed successfully. Click 'Show Results' to display all objects found".
• Click OK to close the message box, then click the Show Results button to see a list of any malware that was found.
• Make sure that everything is checked and then click Remove Selected.
• When removal is completed, a log report will open in Notepad.
• The log is automatically saved and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab.
• Copy and paste the contents of that report in your next reply. Be sure to post the complete log to include the top portion which shows the database version and your operating system.
• Exit Malwarebytes when done.

(NOTE: If Malwarebytes encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be asked to reboot your computer so it can proceed with the disinfection process. If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot normally will prevent Malwarebytes from removing all the malware.)

-- Some types of malware will target Malwarebytes and other security tools to keep them from running properly. If that's the case, go to Start > All Programs > Malwarebytes Anti-Malware folder > Tools > click on Malwarebytes Chameleon and follow the onscreen instructions. The Chameleon folder can be accessed by opening the program folder for Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (normally C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware or C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware).

::ESET Online Scanner::

Please run a free online scan with the ESET Online Scanner.

• Tick the box next to Yes, I accept the Terms of Use.
• Click Start
• Accept any security warnings from your browser.
• Check Scan Archives
• Click Start
• ESET will then download updates for itself, install itself, and begin scanning your computer. Please be patient as this can take some time.
• When the scan completes, click on List of found threats
• Click on Export to text file, and save the file to your desktop using a unique name, such as ESETScan. Include the contents of this report in your next reply.
  (NOTE: If Eset doesn't find any threats, it will NOT produce any log.)

regards,

swagger

Twoman - please let us know if you get more info on this. The same thing is happening to me. It appears that spammers with yahoo email addresses are getting names from one of my Facebook accounts and using them to spam me. I've changed my password but it's still happening. Thanks.