Unexplained Spam in Hotmail

I have a friend who is having some trouble with spam and it has me stumped.

She is a VERY conscientious internet user. She surfs safely, has her browser history set at 0 days, does not use a toolbar, and clears out her personal data (cookies, temp internet files, etc) at least once a day. We just about a month ago set her up with a Hotmail address to use to register for online shopping sites. She has placed one order from Amazon. That is the only thing she has used the address for.

She has noticed that soon after she does a web search using the MSN home page, or even clicks a link on the MSN home page, she will receive spam at her Hotmail address that is related to the subject of the web sites she has visited. For example, she searched for diets and she received an email about weight loss aids.

I have had a Hotmail account for years now, have my history set at two weeks, use a variety of search methods, use my Hotmail for MANY registrations, and almost never clear out my data and I have never had a problem with true spam in my Hotmail inbox. I get junk, but it is stuff that I am responsible for.

She does not have a problem with spam on her POP mail account, though it may be filtered at the server. I am unsure.

What is going on here? Today I ran an Ad-Aware scan, and as usual, it came up with very little - 4 "data miner" cookies, but were these enough to be the culprit, esp if she deletes them daily?

She says she has done regular routine virus scans, which come up with nothing. (I have not personally seen the results of recent scans)

Here are more stats: XP Home with SP2, using Windows Firewall, Avast Home antivirus, uses IE6 primarily.


PK

 

HI!
I have an MSN mail account and have also been getting way more than the 'usual' spam. I checked at the site and it seems they are trying out new ways of dealing with spam and some of those ways didn't 'cut it'.
It's mainly a test thing they didn't tell users about because they didn't want to alert the Spammers.
I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless the spam is really nasty stuff.
Then I would be suspicious and run scans online to see if anything's wrong.
Read about it here: http://mail-support.spaces.live.com/?lc=1033

 

Hmmm...it's still odd that the spam is related to her searches.

PK

 

May I suggest disabling Windows Firewall and installing a software firewall?....much better protection.
Here are some choices:
Protect my computer with a firewall: (Pick only one)

Zone Alarm Free: http://www.majorgeeks.com/ZoneAlarm_Free_d388.html
Sygate Personal: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Sygate_Personal_Firewall_Free_d3356.html
Kerio Personal: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Kerio_Personal_Firewall_d738.html
Outpost: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Outpost_Firewall_Free_d1056.html

...and using IE6 I would also recommend:
SpywareBlaster: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2859
SpywareGuard: http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpywareGuard_d3045.html

Just a suggestion.

 

I agree with Toni as windows firewall does not stop outgoing traffic. The related e-mails she's getting means that something is being sent out.

 

[EDIT] Unnecessary, unhelpful comment removed.

AbbySue [/EDIT]

 

@ Bladesofhalo...please read this thread --> Sticky: To Those Offering Help To Others

 

Didnt mean for the comment to be offensive, sorry abby.

 

It wasn't offensive..it was as stated, an unnecessary, unhelpful comment...it did not address the OP question as replies to threads in the tech forums are suppose to.

General comments, etc. are reserved for forums such as IWL & the lounge.

 

Ill keep that in mind for future posts, thanks Abby

 

Now I am curious...what exactly was said?

Also, I need to try to keep everything simple for this user. She is an older lady who is gaining confidence in her skills, but I know that the constant pop ups of a outgoing connection firewall would freak her out.

In fact, I consider myself to be an intermediate user, and even I got tired of it and turned Kerio to simple mode to avoid pop ups. At one time, I had everything configured for outbound but had to reinstall the program and lost my config file. I just didn't have time to mess with it again.

I guess I figure that if your system is clean then outbound is not as much of an issue.

We definately should scan using another antispyware product, that I will admit.

PK