Question Do Scammers Have Access to Email Accounts?

[lacampbell2005]

Made a deal today via DM only and within a couple of hours I got a scam email that seemed semi legit. The email was asking if I was interested in another knife being sold on the same sales thread.
Email wasn't quite right, so I checked in with the seller and he confirmed it did not come from him.

Has this forum been breached in the past that scammers have a list of emails? Or, do they have access to DMs? I am really struggling with how my email was found out...

 

[Blues]

Not breached.

Folks have publicly posted their contact info publicly and it has not gone unnoticed by scammers who use it to their advantage. Somewhere along the line the info got out, on this site or another, and once it's in the wild...it's out there for good.

DMs are the way to communicate.

 

[lacampbell2005]

I have not publicly posted my email here.

 

[Blues]

I have not publicly posted my email here.

Try putting your email in search and see if anything comes up. No one else will see the results of your query.

I don't see anything associated with your user name, but I don't know your email and don't have access to it, so I can't search. None of the staff members do. In fact, I'm not sure that Spark can access it offhand.

 

[lacampbell2005]

Nothing came up in the search and I’m pretty darn careful with putting any personal info out there.

The curious part is the scammer knew to use another knife for sale in the thread. So, they are obviously monitoring this forum. Is there a way to track people down and kill their IP?

I have taken steps to be sure my account is secure on my side, but I really feel there has to have been a breach for this email to have gotten out there. It’s only been shared via DM…

 

[Blues]

Only the site owner can make changes to the software and any filters etc.

 

[Retired UPS Driver]

Nothing came up in the search and I’m pretty darn careful with putting any personal info out there.

The curious part is the scammer knew to use another knife for sale in the thread. So, they are obviously monitoring this forum. Is there a way to track people down and kill their IP?

I have taken steps to be sure my account is secure on my side, but I really feel there has to have been a breach for this email to have gotten out there. It’s only been shared via DM…

There is NO breach. Somewhere, either on BF or another Forum, you had/have posted your email and user name, even if for the briefest of moments. Even another member “quoting you” will show your email somewhere if you have EVER posted it in the past 9 years. This forum or another forum, using the same user name.

It’s (your Email) that is out there somewhere and associated with your user name here. At some point in time, at some place, SOMEWHERE, you posted it (your email).

That is the ONLY way that it could be accomplished. NOT even the Super Mods gave access to your email. It HAD to initiate from you, whether this BF Forum, or another forum of some type, somewhere else.

They (the spammers) got you, and it’s in their log book/notebook to be able to repeatedly be able to attempt this scam on you now.

Get a burner Email account for BladeForums, and use only that, as your LEGIT email has now been compromised forever

ALSO, keep doing business by ONLY PM/DM as this will drastically cut down on the chance you will be scammed by EMAIL. Can still happen by PM/DM, but the chances go way way down of it actually happening.

ALWAYS use caution and VERIFY first.

Best of luck to you buddy

 

[lacampbell2005]

There is NO breach. Somewhere, either on BF or another Forum, you had/have posted your email and user name, even if for the briefest of moments. Even another member “quoting you” will show your email somewhere if you have EVER posted it in the past 9 years. This forum or another forum, using the same user name.

It’s (your Email) that is out there somewhere and associated with your user name here. At some point in time, at some place, SOMEWHERE, you posted it (your email).

That is the ONLY way that it could be accomplished. NOT even the Super Mods gave access to your email. It HAD to initiate from you, whether this BF Forum, or another forum of some type, somewhere else.

They (the spammers) got you, and it’s in their log book/notebook to be able to repeatedly be able to attempt this scam on you now.

Get a burner Email account for BladeForums, and use only that, as your LEGIT email has now been compromised forever

ALSO, keep doing business by ONLY PM/DM as this will drastically cut down on the chance you will be scammed by EMAIL. Can still happen by PM/DM, but the chances go way way down of it actually happening.

ALWAYS use caution and VERIFY first.

Best of luck to you buddy

Ok, I follow you. I guess the safest thing is to also change my username?

 

[Blues]

Ok, I follow you. I guess the safest thing is to also change my username?

I wouldn't worry about it. You're not going to respond to anyone contacting you via email, just deal by DM.

Report any instances of scammers in Feedback for the community to be aware of. Easy peasy.

When I retired from federal LE, our personnel and clearance records were hacked at the highest levels by foreign entities.. Everyone's info is out there. It's how you deal with that knowledge that matters. You don't have to be a victim.

 

[lacampbell2005]

I wouldn't worry about it. You're not going to respond to anyone contacting you via email, just deal by DM.

Report any instances of scammers in Feedback for the community to be aware of. Easy peasy.

When I retired from federal LE, our personnel and clearance records were hacked at the highest levels by foreign entities.. Everyone's info is out there. It's how you deal with that knowledge that matters. You don't have to be a victim.

I hear you and I’m very careful on oddly solicited emails like I got. So, I wasn’t really in any danger of being scammed. I just was very surprised at how quickly and kind of specific the email was…

To whatever scammers that are out there watching this forum, you will need to face the good lord someday and atone for your behaviors. You may want to start that atonement now and turn your abilities for the good of mankind.

 

[David Mary]

Made a deal today via DM only

You may have hammered out the details of the deal in DM but you announced to the whole internet that you were making one. You posted in the sales thread “DM”. That’s what put the target on you.

 

[David Mary]

track people down and kill their IP?

A VPN can let someone post from a host of IP addresses not their own, so even if this could be done it would not reliably stop anything.

 

[lacampbell2005]

You may have hammered out the details of the deal in DM but you announced to the whole internet that you were making one. You posted in the sales thread “DM”. That’s what put the target on you.

Yup, I agree this is what tipped them off. I’m assuming there is a bad actor or two just watching for these types of posts, with an excel list with usernames and emails they search and then they just go phishing…

 

[David Mary]

If you’ve ever watched those “scamming the scammers” type of YouTube channels you can see there are entire call centers set up in some countries just to run these and other types of scams.