Email server hacked?

[#1]

I'll have a think about that when I've slept on it. It does seem strange that no-one else has reported the same, though - if Plusnets' system had been hacked, I would have expected a large number of other users to be reporting the same problem, and yet, as has been said earlier in this thread by @MasterOfReality, that is not the case.

You would also seen cries of anguish on the forum.

[#2]

I've been getting a steady stream of these emails of which some are to existing mailboxes and many more to random, never-used-before ones.

Some.have quoted an old password which I haven't used (I strengthened all passwords) for around 8 years. I get many sent to the same address multiple times and some are in Chinese!

I'm with @jab1 on this in that someone has gotten hold of a very old hack and chancing their arm.

[#3]

@bazdvd Another thought has just struck me - who hosts your domain?

[#4]

Thanks guys

Mav, the emails are not to random addresses, they are all to addresses i have previously had email sent to.

My domain is i guess now hosted by Plusnet. It has just an index file and 1 image. No other data.

The domain is around 19 years old from when freenetname first started.

I have the just mail sub which was previously with madasafish

[#5]

@bazdvd Thanks for that information - it kinda kills my thought. Just thought it might have been hosted elsewhere and the host had been hacked, but as it is with PN and no-one else is reporting a problem, that can't be it.

[#6]

I recommend visiting https://haveibeenpwned.com and check your e-mail addresses there. It will report which data breaches (if any) your e-mail addresses have been involved in - which may give you some insight as to where they came from.

Most of my (mostly disposable) addresses that have appeared in spam recently date from 5-6 years ago. I have numerous domains and run my own mail-server, so I (or rather my spam-trap) see several hundred malicious spam e-mails a day.

[#7]

i checked the site a few days ago and while my main address had been compromised (the one i use for 99.9% of the time) the ones that are appearing are not showing up as breached.

The email addresses im getting all of a sudden have never before had mail sent to them except the one off time i have used them. It isnt one or 2 old addresses out of the blue its around 30.

Had i seen spam to these addresses in the past i would not be worried and would set a rule to just delete mail to that address. Its the fact that so many have suddenly come up within 24 hours i cant get my head around. Its almost like every address i have ever used got spam from the same source

I even had one addressed to ####@freenetname.co.uk which i have never used an an email address as its the account name from when i first signed up all those years ago and as i got the domain at the same time i have only ever used my domain for email. The only time i ever use that address is to log into the mail server

[#8]

@bazdvd, that is interesting. Do you get catch-all addresses delivered too? If so do any rubbish random user names appear, or is it just the valid ones?

I collect e-mail for catch-all usernames as they often show spam up before real addresses are affected, which gives me time to train the spam filter.

If you are only getting valid addresses, then it does seem likely there has been some exploit that has grabbed them.

[#9]

i have 5 mailboxes with separate logins. As far as i can tell these have been ok.

My account (main one) also has catch all so i get mail to anything other than the other 4 mailboxes delivered.

If it were random names i could understand it but they are specifically addresses i have used and had at least 1 item of mail delivered to in the past.

[#10]

Might some spammer just be using a random shotgun approach, simply generating email addresses randomly? Concentrating on one domain at a time?

[#11]

the whole point is that they are NOT random

[#12]

@bazdvd How old are these addresses?

[#13]

well one was used for my sons car insurance, that would be either 4 months or 16 months old. probably the latter.

One is from 3 to 4 years ago.

I would guess the majority of the address are 1-4 years old.

I have no way of knowing when i used them in the past as i have changed pcs twice since that time.

[#14]

Okay, so at least some/nearly all of them could be on that old webmail hack list?

[#15]

I started a thread here about a series of threatening emails I've received recently. The Mod has locked that thread on the basis that this one, and another in General Chat, were already discussing this issue but I was actually asking for advice on whether it's possible to set up a filter in Thunderbird to block the sender when he has spoofed my own email address everywhere in the message. Neither of these threads has discussed that issue as far as I can see.

Although my query is most relevent to be posted in this Email section it doesn't really fall under the heading of this thread so I've posted it in https://community.plus.net/t5/General-Chat/You-caught-me-doing-what/m-p/1511483

If anyone is interested in looking at my OP and attachment and offering any advice I should be most grateful.