Monday, June 21, 2010

Singing That Do-Do-Do-Do Voodoo Song!

As if I didn't have enough garbage, crapola, junk and just plain bad vibes floating about in my own private little Idaho here, this morning when I checked my e-mail I found a rather strange message there.

It was an e-mail from a good friend who lives down in Florida but with whom I hadn't had any communications for the past few months. In this message, she (supposedly) was writing to tell me that they were in England, stranded by customs, couldn't get their hotel bill squared away, etc., etc. You probably recognize that drill as being one of the many, many spammers sends, don't you?

Well I did anyway -recognize this note as such -spam and a scam!

Then, about three messages after that one, there was an e-mail actually from my friend's husband telling me-and various other friends and relatives -that their e-mail account had been hacked into and someone was spamming folks in their address book with the above cited message.

Hmmm. I was just in the process at the time of getting ready to e-mail them and tell them there was some fishy stuff going on with their e-mail so the timing on that note was impeccable.

But as I went to reply to the legitimate note, it dawned on me that if I did reply to their actual message, who would receive my note then? Would it be received and read by the spammer or would my friends actually then get my note?

So, I decided against replying right then to them and was going to try to find someone with more knowledge than I have about e-mail, the internet, spammers and cyberspace stuff -which shouldn't really be all that difficult as my knowledge really isn't near what a lot of folks tend to think it is about these things. Many of my friends think because I am frequently camped at the computer that I know ALL there is to know about this stuff when in essence, I am actually quite ignorant about many things pertaining to those areas -or maybe I should rephrase that and say that really applies to most things internet/computer related! LOL

Now, here's where the singing of that "do-do, do-do" music comes into play.

I had the e-mail to my friends open, ready to to a reply and just left it there till I had acquired some more information but when I went to go back to their real message, it was no where to be found within my e-mail!

It wasn't hanging around in my in-box, nor was it showing up in my out-box or my junk mail folder or my trash! Just sort of had evaporated into thin air -or whatever kind of air constitutes cyberspace!

So that's my song today -Do-do, Do-do!

Anyone have any suggestions as to where that pesky but legitimate e-mail may have gone?

I haven't a clue!

7 comments:

Smalltown RN said...

Actually I really can't help you. But here's a thought. If the hackers got into your friends email account...what's to say they didn't get into yours....you left your screen open to their account....hence the hackers could have gone in and retrieved the legitimate email and destroyed it....a tad futuristic...but possible.

Note to self....don't leave your computer open....and when in doubt with emails...don't even open them...

Hope things work out!

Dianne said...

change your password
as annoying as that is, if nothing else it always makes me feel better

and check your spam folder the next day or two
if you see a lot of those 'delivery failure notifications' then your e-mail may be being used by someone else
that's how I found out when it happened to me

I came over to tell you that your message to Bobbie's family was so sweet and comforting

you're a good soul Jeni

... Paige said...

that is freaky and sorry don't have any answers

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Oh, Jeni...that is TOTALLY weird...and I'm afraid I am not techie at all...so I'm no help on this one!!! But so glad you recognized the scam...I've had those come to me as well...ridiculous!!! Have a great week!!! Love, Janine XOXO

CiCi said...

Sometimes it is better to start a new email to someone after you read the email they sent you. I do that with people I don't know real well.
Yes, lots of us have heard those same words in bogus emails trying to sound like they are in a different country and in distress.

Travis Cody said...

I wouldn't even reply to the email that seems legit. Delete any spam you find and empty your spam folder.

I look at it this way...I'd rather delete a "real" email by accident than open one that turns out to have a virus or something. I can always explain and apologize to a friend.

Linda said...

Why on earth are they always people out there who are trying to scam their way through life rather than making a legitimate living like others? Nothing like ruining things for other people and making life tougher than it has to be.

I don't have any answers for ya but I'd agree with Dianne - change your password if for no other reason than for your own peace of mind.