Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

l008com · Jan 2, 2011, 09:40 PM

Is anyone else getting flooded with AIM spam lately? I haven't gotten that crap in years, but over the last few days, I've been getting tons of them. Every few hours I get them. It is the most annoying thing ever. Spammers really have no soul. I hate them with a fiery passion.

bstone · Jan 2, 2011, 09:41 PM

No I haven't gotten any AIM spam as I don't use AIM.

l008com · Jan 2, 2011, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by bstone

No I haven't gotten any AIM spam as I don't use AIM.

Damnit where's the "Thumbs Down" button?!

bstone · Jan 2, 2011, 09:48 PM

I don't understand. You asked

Is anyone else getting flooded with AIM spam lately?

and I answered the question. Is there something wrong with how I answered?

l008com · Jan 2, 2011, 09:48 PM

*yawn*

You done?

turtle777 · Jan 2, 2011, 10:20 PM

No AIM spam here. And yes, I do use AIM / iChat.

-t

imitchellg5 · Jan 2, 2011, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by bstone

I don't understand. You asked and I answered the question. Is there something wrong with how I answered?

Because lately you've been replying to threads with answers of "no" because you haven't experienced whatever it is the topic is about? That's annoying.

To the OP, what are you specifically referring to?

l008com · Jan 2, 2011, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by imitchellg5

Because lately you've been replying to threads with answers of "no" because you haven't experienced whatever it is the topic is about? That's annoying.

To the OP, what are you specifically referring to?

The "no" isn't annoying, the "no and btw I don't even use AIM", that's just being a dick.

As far as what I'm specifically referring to,

21/f click to see my pics {link surely to porn}

l008com · Jan 2, 2011, 10:32 PM

... then after a death threat or two from me, the screen name signs off. It's always a different screen name. Always. Even if it's an hour apart.

Brien · Jan 2, 2011, 10:39 PM

They're bots. Duh.

l008com · Jan 2, 2011, 10:41 PM

I know but it feels so good. BTW just got another one

bstone · Jan 2, 2011, 11:04 PM

Isn't it a felony to threaten to murder someone? (it's a question, not an accusation)

l008com · Jan 2, 2011, 11:06 PM

Oh no, lucky for me, bot's aren't people yet.

mduell · Jan 3, 2011, 01:52 AM

Yea, a couple a week.

brassplayersrock² · Jan 3, 2011, 02:02 AM

/me adds l008 to his aim contacts.

I haven’t gotten any aim spam, but tons of it on skype

ghporter · Jan 3, 2011, 05:25 AM

I have a Yahoo email account-a holdover from fairly long ago. I get Yahoo chat spam on occasion. It's always been on the form of "come look at my naughty cams!" I dutifully report and block each of these whenever they show up. But I use AIM...never, really. I was an "early adopter" of AOL, and when I told them I was no longer going to pay for the privilege of using their services my favorite handle became inaccessible to me, so I don't even bother with AIM. I occasionally fire up Adium, which I use to chat with a variety of systems, but it's so seldom that I think everything has sort of missed me.

seanc · Jan 3, 2011, 06:33 AM

I wonder if the bots are harvesting your AIM screen name from the forums...

imitchellg5 · Jan 3, 2011, 07:16 AM

Have you set up iChat to block people who are not on your buddy list?

l008com · Jan 10, 2011, 12:20 AM

Its really getting out of control. I'm getting maybe 10 of these spams per day now. I went around to all of the forums I use the most, to check my AIM screen name. Turns out that on most forums, I'm still set up to use my old SN anyway (one that I stopped using a few years ago). I don't know where else it could be coming from.

mduell · Jan 10, 2011, 12:40 AM

After posting in this thread I'm now getting it once a day.

Laminar · Jan 10, 2011, 08:40 AM

I'm not getting any AIM spam at all.

But I don't use AIM. Sorry.

bryanus · Jan 10, 2011, 01:13 PM

steadily increasing over the last few weeks. Now I'm also getting between 5-10 a day. Funny, I reply with similar messages of bodily harm and penetrating anal attacks.

I'm going to try setting my account's security privacy levels to "only allow people in my buddy list" and see if that helps.

l008com · Jan 10, 2011, 01:17 PM

Well of course restricting messages to only buddys will stop the spam all together, since the spam is always coming from a new random screen name. But that setting makes it much more complicated to talk to a new person you meet, on aim. They have to add your screen name, then you have to add theirs before they can message you. Hassle. Maybe instead, AIM should just get their shit together.

bryanus · Jan 10, 2011, 01:23 PM

Yeah, but it's not an issue for me since I've maybe added one person to my buddy list in the past 10 yrs. When it's time to add a new person, I think I can deal...but if AIM shapes up, I'll be watching this thread for any news! glhf.

Originally Posted by l008com

Well of course restricting messages to only buddys will stop the spam all together, since the spam is always coming from a new random screen name. But that setting makes it much more complicated to talk to a new person you meet, on aim. They have to add your screen name, then you have to add theirs before they can message you. Hassle. Maybe instead, AIM should just get their shit together.

illegalprelude · Mar 4, 2011, 08:55 PM

Holy crap, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I use Adium and have 3 different screen names hooked up to it and I've been getting spammed to hell lately. It's odd because 2 of the SN's are for my business so very few people have them.

mduell · Mar 5, 2011, 02:21 PM

It stopped for a while (since about the last time I posted in this thread), but I've had 5 this week.

The Final Dakar · Mar 7, 2011, 10:06 AM

I got like 3 "Message xxx, they will know you" spams late last year, but they seemed to have stopped.

As far as logic goes, I find the messages unfathomable. The intent seems fairly clear – to discern active accounts, but the premise that someone knows me and needs an intermediary to contact me to contact them seems mind-blowingly stupid.

l008com · Mar 7, 2011, 06:51 PM

I find that I've gotten a few lately from screen names that got me two months ago, that i didn't bother blocking. So seems there are a limited number of screen names. And blocking them is effective, even though it first, it seems pointless.

turtle777 · Mar 7, 2011, 07:36 PM

Is there a reason you guys set your privacy settings so that anyone can start a chat with you (w/o having to be approved first) ?

-t

l008com · Mar 7, 2011, 07:40 PM

Maybe we have dull friends.

j-fryk · 05:02 PM

"AOL Lifestream" is the culprit.

do a Google search for:

"+AIM +<your AIM username>" (no quotes) and you'll find it. Looks like it publishes your away messages, etc, along with your screen name. Login to A I M (www.aim.com) and crank up the privacy settings.

l008com · Sep 13, 2011, 10:06 PM

I don't see anywhere on aim.com where you can log in?

reader50 · Sep 13, 2011, 11:50 PM

The "Settings" link at the bottom will take you to a page with a Sign In link.

l008com · Sep 13, 2011, 11:51 PM

Looks like I already have lifestream off. Or private / no one