Is anyone else receiving LinkedIn spam messages?

Anic264b wrote:

Alley_Cat wrote:

Safari has a Preference to Open "safe" files after downloading - I'd advise you to disable that in the General pane of Safari whether you use it or not, as last year malware tried to run an installer via this mechanism BUT required user intervention to install it.

Does Safari really considers an application a "safe file"? If yes, that's a mistake!

If no, then I really prefer these safe files to open automatically, as I dislike to go to the Finder to search the file in my "huge" download folder just to open it myself. Now, of course, if Safari considers an application a "safe file", it matters to think more…

Applications that are launched will always give you a warning that they are new and were downloaded from the internet, so you get a chance to cancel, but in the malware example that was mentioned it was an installer package (.pkg) that was being launched automatically. You still needed to approve the installation and in the first versions, enter your admin password, but the password requirement went away with later versions. Some people blindly do such things, which is why you should always ask yourself if this is something you expected to happen and feel confident in agreeing to. If you downloaded from a trusted source, you should be fine, but if you just stumbled across a site that offeres to "help", beware.

There are now JavaScripts that can be embedded in email, web pages, even PDF files that are considered "safe" by Safari but could contain code that would be harmful to your computer.

I have often unsubscribed from advertising mails as well. However, if it is from a company I know I haven't subscibed to personally I actually call them personally and have them take me off all mailing lists since one list is usually linked to several.

By the way, I still have these Linkedin e-mails unopened in my inbox in my .mac account. How do I get rid of them? I know I need to click on the e-mail to move it to junk but If I click on it is that sending a message to the spammer?

How else than clicking the link can one unsubscribe?

You can right click and select copy link location. You can enter the actual URL for the link in WOT and see what comes up for it. If you are satisfied it looks legitimate, then enter it in your browser. Never click on a link directly in an email unless you are 100% confident it's coming from where it says it is and you can trust it. Also, hover the mouse over the link. The actual URL should appear there in a yellow box (tool tip.) Shortened links, as in bit.ly, are much more difficult to research.

csfromma wrote:

By the way, I still have these Linkedin e-mails unopened in my inbox in my .mac account. How do I get rid of them? I know I need to click on the e-mail to move it to junk but If I click on it is that sending a message to the spammer?

Not at all. It's only possible to send a message to the spammer if you actually open the message for reading and have elected to Display remote images in HTML messages. Most spam doesn't even do that these days. I would not move it to junk, rather highlight it with a single click and hit the delete button, and if that moves it to Trash then select "Erase Deleted Messages->mac.com" from the Mailbox menu.

MadMacs0 wrote:

Applications that are launched will always give you a warning that they are new and were downloaded from the internet, so you get a chance to cancel, but in the malware example that was mentioned it was an installer package (.pkg) that was being launched automatically.

Yes, but my point also applies to pkg files: they should not be considered safe files.

MadMacs0 wrote:

There are now JavaScripts that can be embedded in email, web pages, even PDF files that are considered "safe" by Safari but could contain code that would be harmful to your computer.

If things were done right, JavaScript would be sandboxed (or similar) and not be allowed to touch filesystems or download things to the user without visual indication and way(s) to cancel. Of course, automatic execution of downloaded code is the worse thing, which the OS must prohibit (in an ideal world, that is).

Thanks for sharing the WOT link. What a useful site! I usually send phishing to US-CERT and sometimes check out their security updates. Once someone kept trying to steal my Wordpress password, I sent and email to them and I actually got a phone call! The agent didn't think much of the Wordpress service because of security and accountability issues. Pretty sites don't mean much to homeland security.

miloks wrote:

In an earlier post, I offered a suggestion as to how our email addresses are gathered:

I believe members can upload their address books in order to find connections and people to add to their network, so if you have friends who are members and they have uploaded their address book, this is one way linked in spammers have gathered your email address.

I believe spam messages to members and non-members have been an issue for linked in for a long time. It has certainly turned me off using this service.

I'm sure you're right - I don't know enough about this company - to be honest I steer clear of all kinds of social networking business related or not.

AC

Anic264b wrote:

Alley_Cat wrote:

In general if you get odd/unexpected e-mails that look official then never click on the links - hovering over them may show odd addresses. Aleways be wary/cynical and if an e-mail looks official go instead to that company's website and seek advice rather than clicking any unsubscribe buttons or links in the e-mail that will simply serve to confirm your e-mail address is real to the spammers or send you to a spoofed/unsavoury link.

Assuming you know the website from where the mail is "supposed" to come from, of course.

You gave me a good advice. I had often unsubscribed from advertising mails, because these were companies I really had visited before (I couldn't remember I had subscribed to anything, however). Thanks for your advice.

However, there are times where unsubscribing is really necessary. How else than clicking the link can one unsubscribe?

Sorry - I should have been clearer - I was really referring to e-mails from 'legitimate sounding/looking companies' (even famous names) that I'd never directly contacted or dealt with in case some scammer had copied a legitimate e-mail but altered links.

If it was from a company I regularly dealt with then I'd probably use the unsubscribe but you can never know for certain.

AC

Thanks for the reply. Fortunately, I don't know how to "open the message for reading and have elected to Display remote images in HTML messages" so I think I'm safe.

I will do as you suggested and click on the e-mail, highlight it, delete it, and then erase the message if it's in the trash. I really appreciate the help.

csfromma wrote:

Fortunately, I don't know how to "open the message for reading and have elected to Display remote images in HTML messages" so I think I'm safe.

Those are two different things. You open a message for reading by either having the preview panel open when you single-click on it or double-clicking the message. "Display remote images in HtML messages" is "Viewing" preference.

Just a tip in case anyone wants to read suspected spam before deleting.

Double click the dot at the bottom of the Mail window to expand it. When you put the cursor there, a yellow tool tip will say something about increasing the size of the message area. The cursor will turn into a cross with up down arrows.

Now, highlight the message in question and hit CMD-Shift-S. This will allow you to save the message harmlessly to the Desktop without ever opening it.

For those of you wishing to inspect the links before opening them in a browser, the new mail in lion lets you preview them. If you are using the new mail, hover over the URL and click on the little grey box that pops up to the right of the URL. It will display a preview of the page without it actually opening a browser window...

applefandan wrote:

For those of you wishing to inspect the links before opening them in a browser, the new mail in lion lets you preview them. If you are using the new mail, hover over the URL and click on the little grey box that pops up to the right of the URL. It will display a preview of the page without it actually opening a browser window...

If JavaScript is also rendered in the preview, this hint does not better than viewing the page normally.

applefandan wrote:

Not sure if it renders javascript... although I don't believe it will download anything if you attempt to do so within the window...

It does render javascript if you click a JS hyperlink and you can't disable that in the preferences. There may be a way of turning it off with a terminal command, but I haven't had time to research that. There is conjecture that an maliciously crafted email message could be executed simply by viewing it, without clicking a link, but I've not heard of that actually happening to anyone. Somebody with JS skills and some spare time could probably help us out here.

Anic264b wrote:

miloks wrote:

I'm getting the same thing! One yesterday, and 2 more today!

No offense intended, but is it actually meant to help in any way?

"No offence", but was your comment meant to help?

And yes, it does help. It lets powerbook1701 know that other people are also receiving the same messages and that he/she is not the only one. It also indicates that this issue is more widespread. Jeeez.