Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
retiringtype
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri May 20, 2016 11:00 am

Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by retiringtype »

It started a couple of days ago. Hundreds of spam emails are appearing in my Gmail inbox each day. I'm going through them one by one, categorizing each as spam and blocking the sender. It's maddening. I assume it's a form of hacking. Is there anything I can do? I really, really don't want to create a new email address. That would be extremely difficult given how many institutions (banks, vendors, Vanguard, etc.) I'd have to update.
User avatar
galawdawg
Posts: 5231
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:59 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by galawdawg »

If you can tell by the subject or sender that it is spam, you don't have to go through them one by one. Just go to your All Mail folder, click the check box at the top of the list which will select all messages (usually 50) on that page. Deselect any that are NOT spam so only the spam messages are checked. Then click the spam symbol at the top of the page (it is an exclamation point inside a stop sign) and it will report all of the selected messages as spam, leaving your deselected messages untouched. Repeat that process until all that is left in your All Mail folder are emails you want to receive.

If you haven't done so already, change your password. I recommend that you use a random password generator to create a robust password (no less than eight characters and preferably sixteen characters comprised of upper and lower case letters, numbers AND special characters).

If you don't already use a password manager, I also suggest you use a trusted and reliable password manager, such as Bitwarden (free), to store your passwords. Your master password for the password manager should be one you can remember but that won't be guessed. No pet names, anniversary dates, nicknames, etc. Use a mnemonic password by choosing a memorable phrase and using the first letter of each word, capitalizing some, such as all vowels or all letters between A and J. Don't write down your passwords or store them on anything, such as a Microsoft Word or Google document, that is not secure and encrypted.

Bitwarden has a password generator included. If you don't have robust passwords already, consider creating new passwords (as suggested above) for all of your email providers, financial accounts, etc. Use a different password for each.

Hope that helps!
Last edited by galawdawg on Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Topic Author
retiringtype
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri May 20, 2016 11:00 am

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by retiringtype »

I have a second question: At some point, will nthe hacker leave me alone and move to another victim? Not sure why this is happening.
User avatar
galawdawg
Posts: 5231
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:59 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by galawdawg »

It doesn't sound like a hacker. A hacker would use your email to spam others, access your financial accounts, send viruses, etc. I've experienced the same deluge of spam once or twice in the many years I have used Gmail (since 2004). I don't know the cause, but it quickly stopped. Now it is rare (once every six months or so) that a spam email gets into my inbox.

I also guard my primary email address jealously and have a secondary one I use with online merchants or anyone that I don't fully trust to secure and not sell or share my email address.
drekce
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2017 5:41 pm

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by drekce »

Spam bombs are often used to hide something else that a bad actor is doing. The most typical situation is where someone with access to a different account of yours does something with that account that they know will email you. They try to hide that email in the midst of the spam bomb.

Let’s say they have access to your Amazon account. They order a bunch of stuff and change the shipping address to a PO Box somewhere. This will of course email you that something was ordered on Amazon, so they try to make it difficult for you to see that.
HomeStretch
Posts: 11415
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:06 pm

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by HomeStretch »

galawdawg wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:51 am …I also guard my primary email address jealously and have a secondary one I use with online merchants or anyone that I don't fully trust to secure and not sell or share my email address.
+1

I use 3 Gmail accounts - a personal one (rarely given out), one for online shopping/etc., and one used only for financial institutions that spouse can access too as we have joint accounts.
User avatar
Marmot
Posts: 592
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 1:44 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by Marmot »

HomeStretch wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:01 am
galawdawg wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:51 am …I also guard my primary email address jealously and have a secondary one I use with online merchants or anyone that I don't fully trust to secure and not sell or share my email address.
+1

I use 3 Gmail accounts - a personal one (rarely given out), one for online shopping/etc., and one used only for financial institutions that spouse can access too as we have joint accounts.
I do the same, I use "burner" email accounts for most everything not important. I pay for an "Fastmail" account for security and privacy. Don't have any of this crap. I know the OP didn't want to change, but you get what you get. Gmail....google....hmmmm. I think Google owns the rights to anything in gmail. You get what you get.
Marty....don't go to the year 2020....Dr. Emmett Brown
User avatar
lthenderson
Posts: 8525
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:43 am
Location: Iowa

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by lthenderson »

retiringtype wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:35 am Is there anything I can do?
Absolutely, just like phones, one should use extreme prejudice when giving out email account info. I have two email accounts. One that I use freely and enter into online forms and one that I only use for personal communications and linked to sensitive accounts. Since you current one has already been uploaded onto spam lists, I would create a new email and with time, slowly transition over your more sensitive accounts and never never never put it on the web where bots can search for words with the @ symbol in them.
csage
Posts: 113
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:00 pm

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by csage »

GMail has a feature called "filter messages like these" that will help you set up a manual filter. If you're careful, you should be able to avoid false positives. Both times this has happened, there has been a clear pattern letting the mails into my inbox:

1) The spammer was sending them all to an address "myname@aol.com" which has never been a real address. So the filter is "to:(myname@aol.com)"
2) The spammer was sending them all under a specific mailing list id: "list:(<xxxxx.xt.local>)"
RetiredAL
Posts: 3537
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2017 12:09 am
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by RetiredAL »

Before I retired 5 years ago, I was chatting with a buddy of mine who worked in the IT Security Dept. He stated that 97% on the mail hitting the Corp Mail gateway was deemed as spam or dangerous and was thus blocked. I think most ISP mail gateways filter out what they know as spam.

My mail is usually fairly spam free, however last week several showed up across 3 days, but it's been back to quiet this week, so I assume my ISP got the filter rules better.
MishkaWorries
Posts: 1362
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2019 4:39 pm

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by MishkaWorries »

galawdawg wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:41 am If you can tell by the subject or sender that it is spam, you don't have to go through them one by one. Just go to your All Mail folder, click the check box at the top of the list which will select all messages (usually 50) on that page. Deselect any that are NOT spam so only the spam messages are checked. Then click the spam symbol at the top of the page (it is an exclamation point inside a stop sign) and it will report all of the selected messages as spam, leaving your deselected messages untouched. Repeat that process until all that is left in your All Mail folder are emails you want to receive.

If you haven't done so already, change your password. I recommend that you use a random password generator to create a robust password (no less than eight characters and preferably sixteen characters comprised of upper and lower case letters, numbers AND special characters).

If you don't already use a password manager, I also suggest you use a trusted and reliable password manager, such as Bitwarden (free), to store your passwords. Your master password for the password manager should be one you can remember but that won't be guessed. No pet names, anniversary dates, nicknames, etc. Use a mnemonic password by choosing a memorable phrase and using the first letter of each word, capitalizing some, such as all vowels or all letters between A and J. Don't write down your passwords or store them on anything, such as a Microsoft Word or Google document, that is not secure and encrypted.

Bitwarden has a password generator included. If you don't have robust passwords already, consider creating new passwords (as suggested above) for all of your email providers, financial accounts, etc. Use a different password for each.

Hope that helps!
I wish tech support at work was as good as galawdawg.
We plan. G-d laughs.
realclemsongrad
Posts: 328
Joined: Sat May 16, 2020 4:37 pm

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by realclemsongrad »

drekce wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 6:13 am Spam bombs are often used to hide something else that a bad actor is doing. The most typical situation is where someone with access to a different account of yours does something with that account that they know will email you. They try to hide that email in the midst of the spam bomb.

Let’s say they have access to your Amazon account. They order a bunch of stuff and change the shipping address to a PO Box somewhere. This will of course email you that something was ordered on Amazon, so they try to make it difficult for you to see that.
+1

This is spot on what happened in my experience.
clemrick
Posts: 448
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:46 pm

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by clemrick »

I use several email addresses for different things. Several months ago, I noticed lots of spam on the address I use for "trusted" sites. The address I use for dodgy sites is practically spam free. A couple weeks later I got a notice from the security service that comes with one of my credit cards that the trusted site email was listed on the Dark Web. I figure that is where all this stuff is coming from.

The email server for my website does a great job of marking the spam as spam and Thunderbird (my email client program) sorts it into the spam folder, so I only see it once a week when I go to empty the spam folder.
gotlost33
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2021 11:53 am

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by gotlost33 »

Agree with some of the others on the fact that they are trying to hide something amongst the spam. Had this happen a few years ago while traveling and before I had gotten into some better password habits...

The spam did eventually slow/stop as I tried to unsubscribe from some of the mailing lists that seemed legitimate, and the rest usually end up in Gmail spam filter pretty reliably.

Any passwords you use across multiple sites need to be updated now. Develop a system for passwords and start using a password manager.

Three email accounts seems ideal 1 highly restricted to trusted financial accounts, 1 for general personal use and some other trusted accounts/service, and a third for trial and potential junkmail.
cbeck
Posts: 640
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:28 am

Re: Help requested, I'm being spam bombed!

Post by cbeck »

Everyone should have serious email account which is closely held and a junk account for giving out to untrusted sites.

Or you can open an account at 33mail.com and name your own domain there, e.g. myjunk.33mail.com. Thereafter you can create a new recipient in your "domain" on the fly, e.g. jose@myjunk.33mail.com and direct that email to be forwarded to one of your real accounts. You would use a new recipient for each new account anywhere that requires an email address. Then if someone is spamming you to jose@myjunk.33mail.com you can login to 33mail.com and delete that recipint. 33mail.com is free.
Post Reply