Virus and/or hacking problem with Windows Messenger

[John]

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2 and Windows Messenger v5.1.0701

About 10 days ago, I received 2 IM's, several hours apart, from one of
my contacts. Both of them asked me to go to unknown websites, a
different site in each message. I was very suspicious and cautious,
because I had never received this kind of IM before. The website from
the first message asked me to login with my MSN account and password. I
refused to do so. I never visited the website from the second message.

I sent an email to my contact and asked him if he had originated these 2
IM's. His answer was that he had not, and that many of his other
contacts had reported the same thing happening to them. He suspects
either he has a virus which is exploiting his Messenger account, or
someone has hacked into his account and is using it.

I shut down Messenger on my end and left it off until today. When I
re-started Messenger I had a notice that someone I have never heard of
has added me as a contact. I blocked that person from contacting me. His
ID is Brooke, his email and Sign-in name are brookesised@hotmail.com,
and his service is .NET Messenger Service.

I see how to remove him from *my* contact list. Is there any way for me
to remove myself from *his* contact list?

Is this something new, or is this a known and documented exploit? Is
there a fix for my contact, who apparently is the victim?

Thanks!

John
--
Please reply in this newsgroup. I never post my true
email address to prevent spam. Thank you.

 

[Malke]

John wrote:

> I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2 and Windows Messenger v5.1.0701
>
> About 10 days ago, I received 2 IM's, several hours apart, from one of
> my contacts. Both of them asked me to go to unknown websites, a
> different site in each message. I was very suspicious and cautious,
> because I had never received this kind of IM before. The website from
> the first message asked me to login with my MSN account and password. I
> refused to do so. I never visited the website from the second message.
>
> I sent an email to my contact and asked him if he had originated these 2
> IM's. His answer was that he had not, and that many of his other
> contacts had reported the same thing happening to them. He suspects
> either he has a virus which is exploiting his Messenger account, or
> someone has hacked into his account and is using it.
>
> I shut down Messenger on my end and left it off until today. When I
> re-started Messenger I had a notice that someone I have never heard of
> has added me as a contact. I blocked that person from contacting me. His
> ID is Brooke, his email and Sign-in name are brookesised@hotmail.com,
> and his service is .NET Messenger Service.
>
> I see how to remove him from *my* contact list. Is there any way for me
> to remove myself from *his* contact list?
>
> Is this something new, or is this a known and documented exploit? Is
> there a fix for my contact, who apparently is the victim?

This is nothing new. We in the tech industry have been warning users to
never click on links in IMs for years. There are many viruses and other
malware that target IMing.

There is no way for you to get your name off anyone else's contact list.
Whatever your friend is infected with has spread now. Your friend needs to
do a thorough scan for viruses and malware on his computer or take it to a
professional computer repair shop. I don't recommend using a
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

 

[Dan]

You can listen safely to Malke. His advice is good. The reason I am
responding is that sometimes you have people who put up bogus advice in
public Microsoft newsgroups and as far as your issue John "This is indeed
nothing new under the sun" Have a nice day.

<snipped John's Response for space and already in Malke's reply as well>

 

[Tom [Pepper] Willett]

Malke is not a "his" -)

"Dan" <Dan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3100479A-05AA-4F9E-8549-838F2D80E87E@microsoft.com...
: You can listen safely to Malke. His advice is good. The reason I am
: responding is that sometimes you have people who put up bogus advice in
: public Microsoft newsgroups and as far as your issue John "This is indeed
: nothing new under the sun" Have a nice day.
:
: <snipped John's Response for space and already in Malke's reply as well>

 

[Sandy Mann]

"Dan" <Dan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3100479A-05AA-4F9E-8549-838F2D80E87E@microsoft.com...
> You can listen safely to Malke. His advice is good.

Agreed. HER advice is good. If Malke was a man *her* name would be Melech.

--
Sandy

 

[Dan]

Ouch, my bad and I made that mistake before. I sincerely apologize for the
remark and humbly ask for your forgiveness. :-<

"Tom [Pepper] Willett" wrote:

> Malke is not a "his" -)
>
> "Dan" <Dan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:3100479A-05AA-4F9E-8549-838F2D80E87E@microsoft.com...
> : You can listen safely to Malke. His advice is good. The reason I am
> : responding is that sometimes you have people who put up bogus advice in
> : public Microsoft newsgroups and as far as your issue John "This is indeed
> : nothing new under the sun" Have a nice day.
> :
> : <snipped John's Response for space and already in Malke's reply as well>
>
>
>

 

[Malke]

Dan wrote:

> Ouch, my bad and I made that mistake before. I sincerely apologize for
> the
> remark and humbly ask for your forgiveness. :-<

Fuggedaboutit. -)

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

 

[John]

Malke wrote:
> John wrote:
>
>> I shut down Messenger on my end and left it off until today. When I
>> re-started Messenger I had a notice that someone I have never heard of
>> has added me as a contact. I blocked that person from contacting me. His
>> ID is Brooke, his email and Sign-in name are brookesised@hotmail.com,
>> and his service is .NET Messenger Service.
>>
>> I see how to remove him from *my* contact list. Is there any way for me
>> to remove myself from *his* contact list?
>>
>
> There is no way for you to get your name off anyone else's contact list.
> Whatever your friend is infected with has spread now. Your friend needs to
> do a thorough scan for viruses and malware on his computer or take it to a
> professional computer repair shop. I don't recommend using a
> BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place.
>
Hi Malke,

Thanks for your quick reply. Should I delete "Brooke" from my contact
list, or am I better off leaving him on the list but blocked?

John
--
Please reply in this newsgroup. I never post my true
email address to prevent spam. Thank you.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

John wrote:
<snipped>
> I shut down Messenger on my end and left it off until today. When I
> re-started Messenger I had a notice that someone I have never heard
> of has added me as a contact. I blocked that person from contacting
> me. His ID is Brooke, his email and Sign-in name are
> brookesised@hotmail.com, and his service is .NET Messenger Service.
>
> I see how to remove him from *my* contact list. Is there any way
> for me to remove myself from *his* contact list?
<snipped>

No.

Just like there is no way to remove yourself from the memory of anyone who
has met you, to remove your physical address from anything they have written
it on (beyond physical destruction), etc. Their stuff... not yours. -)

Block them, make sure your computer is secure and clean, continue proper
maintenance and backup of your stuff...

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

 

[John]

Note: I'm not the same John who started this thread.

"John" <notme@nospam.org> wrote in message
news:OPC9a$H%23IHA.4784@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> I shut down Messenger on my end and left it off until today. When I
> re-started Messenger I had a notice that someone I have never heard of has
> added me as a contact. I blocked that person from contacting me. His ID is
> Brooke, his email and Sign-in name are brookesised@hotmail.com, and his
> service is .NET Messenger Service.

There's a good chance that your messenger settings allow everyone to add you
as a contact without your approval.

> I see how to remove him from *my* contact list. Is there any way for me to
> remove myself from *his* contact list?

You can't control what's not yours. You can only control you own. If I
recall, there's a (privacy) setting that you can enable so that everyone can
add you into their contact list ONLY with your approval. You might want to
have a look at your messenger privacy settings.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Sandy Mann" <sandymann2@mailinator.com>

| "Dan" <Dan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
| news:3100479A-05AA-4F9E-8549-838F2D80E87E@microsoft.com...
>> You can listen safely to Malke. His advice is good.

| Agreed. HER advice is good. If Malke was a man *her* name would be Melech.

| --
| Sandy


Yes !

Your knowledge of Hebrew is on the spot.

--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

 

[John]

John wrote:
> Note: I'm not the same John who started this thread.
>
>
> There's a good chance that your messenger settings allow everyone to add you
> as a contact without your approval.
>
I've looked at the options, and I don't see this setting. How do I stop
someone from adding me without my approval?

I also don't see the setting that controls whether or not I sign in
automatically as soon as I start Windows Messenger. I would like to be
able to start the program and not be signed in until I want to be. How
can I do this? Thanks!

John
--
Please reply in this newsgroup. I never post my true
email address to prevent spam. Thank you.

 

[Dan]

Thanks again for her advice and glad to see you around here too David.

"David H. Lipman" wrote:

> From: "Sandy Mann" <sandymann2@mailinator.com>
>
> | "Dan" <Dan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> | news:3100479A-05AA-4F9E-8549-838F2D80E87E@microsoft.com...
> >> You can listen safely to Malke. His advice is good.
>
> | Agreed. HER advice is good. If Malke was a man *her* name would be Melech.
>
> | --
> | Sandy
>
>
> Yes !
>
> Your knowledge of Hebrew is on the spot.
>
> --
> Dave
> http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
> Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp
>
>
>

 

[Dan]

You can adjust your settings in the options tab.

"John" wrote:

> John wrote:
> > Note: I'm not the same John who started this thread.
> >
> >
> > There's a good chance that your messenger settings allow everyone to add you
> > as a contact without your approval.
> >
> I've looked at the options, and I don't see this setting. How do I stop
> someone from adding me without my approval?
>
> I also don't see the setting that controls whether or not I sign in
> automatically as soon as I start Windows Messenger. I would like to be
> able to start the program and not be signed in until I want to be. How
> can I do this? Thanks!
>
> John
> --
> Please reply in this newsgroup. I never post my true
> email address to prevent spam. Thank you.
>

 

[DeeJay]

"John" <notme@nospam.org> wrote in message
news:%23TfsJ9M%23IHA.4472@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> John wrote:
>> Note: I'm not the same John who started this thread.
>>
>>
>> There's a good chance that your messenger settings allow everyone to add
>> you as a contact without your approval.
>>
> I've looked at the options, and I don't see this setting. How do I stop
> someone from adding me without my approval?
>

I believe that's the default setting. When someone adds you as a contact,
you'll get a request message where you can deny/allow the person to add you.

> I also don't see the setting that controls whether or not I sign in
> automatically as soon as I start Windows Messenger.

On Windows Live Messenger version 2008 (build 8.5), press ALT-T then press
the letter O. Click General and look at the right side. The settings are
there.

> I would like to be able to start the program and not be signed in until I
> want to be. How can I do this? Thanks!

same location as above, have a look at the following:
Automatically run Windows Live Messenger when I log on to Windows (checked)
Allow automatic sign in when connected to the Internet (unchecked)

> John
> --
> Please reply in this newsgroup. I never post my true
> email address to prevent spam. Thank you.

 

[Sandy Mann]

"David H. Lipman" <DLipman~nospam~@Verizon.Net> wrote in message
news:u1nRjqM%23IHA.544@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> Your knowledge of Hebrew is on the spot.
>

Not really, I kick with the other foot, Google is good though

--

Sandy

In Perth, the ancient capital of Scotland
and the crowning place of kings