Friday, December 19, 2014

Alan, ist dat du? Apparently I pissed off somebody in Washington state. Notice to readers. My email is under attack and at the same time someone is spamming with my name in the header.

Heads up. Today I have been under what amounts to a DOS attack with hundreds of emails (perhaps thousands by now) jamming my inbox from someone claiming to be Kevin Thomason with the header "re: U OK?" The text is beyond obscene. At the same time, apparently, someone is claiming to be me in emails. Received this from a reader:
Hi Mike,
My wife received this email today, and I just wanted to give you a heads up that someone is spamming, or sending malicious emails under your name. I noticed right away that this email was not sent from your email address. The only thing I can think of is that my wife donated to your paypal account a couple of times. I am not sure if someone got a list of the people that have donated to Sipsey. I just wanted to bring this to your attention so you can warn others not to be duped by this email.
Thank you, (NAME REDACTED)
From: Mike Vanderboegh [mailto:larsblomquist@bredband.net]
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2014 1:29 AM
To: (LONG list redacted)
Subject: from Mike Vanderboegh
Hi!
How are you?
It works! http://agence-evenementiel.info/begin/read.php
Mike Vanderboegh
Given the list of recipients (which included Oathkeepers), I do not think it has anything to do with PayPal. I have no experience with this and have no way to deal with it myself. Any suggestions?
LATER: Apparently someone is also using the email address dbardeen@rochester.rr.com to do the same thing. Lord alone knows how big this is.

27 comments:

Kent McManigal said...

I've seen the same thing from several friends' "emails" over the years- people not even remotely political- so I think it's just a random spammer.

Anonymous said...

Not necessarily anything more than a virus that got into several like minded folks address book.

No offense intended, but not everything is a plot...it may just be some dirtbag hacker or virus randomly hitting you.

Welcome to the interwebz!

Best of luck.

Anonymous said...

If it is the aol email address, you can setup a filter to send the unwanted email into another folder using these instructions http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/microsite.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=73222


Wobby

Anonymous said...

This happens to folks every day. It's akin to the Moms directive to call the cops anytime they view a "person with a gun". It's Saul SMEAR.

There is no help to give you beyond either you or a lawyer sending a communicatio to that email (and its owner via snail mail if you can find out who it is) with a cease and desist....possibly a threat of action pertaining to libel-slander.

You are left with only your self defense capability via free speech. You must match that list with a mail of your own explaining that this example is not you- but instead an imposter impersonating you.

In days long past, a violation of honor and decency like this would be settled simply. Hunt the lying offender down, expose them publicly and deliver the earned ass whipping. But sadly, the ONLY one to be in trouble would then be YOU for daring to defend yourself.

Sorry to tell you mike - there is no defense to this beyond spending LOTS of money that you will never ever recover. Such is the concept of "ordered liberty"......

Anonymous said...

Change your email account password

Anonymous said...

This is the digital equivalent of a temper tantrum, by someone (or some group) who is, at the very least, emotionally retarded.

prambo said...

Hi Mike,

The "rochester.rr.com" address is a Time-Warner email address, possibly in Rochester, NY. I don't know if Time Warner is in Rochester, MN.

I'll dig around at Time-Warner, I have an account with them in NYS.

I can say I received false emails from that address and see what they say.

I'll send an answer here "en clar" if I discover anything.

CY6

Joe said...

Mike , you've been hacked and your email address list has been compromised. You'll need a new email address. (Make up several.)

Notify your ISP and email provider of the intrusion.

Anonymous said...

You have done the best thing you can by notifying everyone here on your blog.

The word will get out.

Don't worry this happens to all of us who stand, snakes like to slime around and bite you from behind because they are really low life coward retiles.

Comrade X

Anonymous said...

The "rr" means russia....

So what happened is someone spoofed your email in order to get anybody to click on the link....(planting not only a virus to clone your email contact list, but it waits until you make on online purchase and steals the credit card info)....

DO NOT CLICK ON IT EVER!

just delete the email.

prambo said...

Hi Mike,

I sent a "Ping" message to the "dbardeen@rochester.rr.com" address, with greetings from Sipsey Street and Oathkeepers (I'm a member of both) - I haven't received an answer yet (don't know if I want to either), and it hasn't bounced back because it doesn't exist, or the inbox is full, or if it's a "spoofed" email address running out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Since I also have Time Warner for phone, internet and cable TV at home, I also have a Time warner email address which is "******@*****.rr.com". The "***.rr.com" is definitely a Time Warner RoadRunner email address.

So, I called Time Warner and told them I was receiving "weird", but non-threatening, emails at my GMail email address (which I use for Sipsey Street posts) from an email acccount with the name "dbardeen@rochester.rr.com".

The Time Warner tech told me this is definitely a Rochester, NY email address. I didn't expect him to tell me who the individual is, and he wouldn't.

So, I dug around some more - I checked LinkedIn, which is a professional/business "Facebook" type of website, since I am a retired molecular microbiologist with a lot of international contacts. There are 4 or 5 "D*** Bardeen's" in Rochester, NY.

So, it most likely is a real person in Rochester, NY.

What I think you are having done to you is an "email bomb"/"denial of service" attack on your email address, so you can't use your email for comms. I am NOT an IT specialist, I fooled around with DNA and parasites - BUT, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I'm GTG ;-).

I'll keep digging, and let you know what I find, if anything. If you want me to do an "alien probe" on any of the Rochester, NY members of LinkedIn, let me know, and I'll make up a BS reason for contacting them. I'm retired, so this would be fun, if it wasn't you being targeted.

Post any answers to me "en clar" on Sipsey Street Blog - at his point in my life, and living in NewYorkistan, I just don't care anymore. I'm a law-abiding citizen and veteran, and if someone doesn't like it, they can "F off", or "go P up a rope.

With best regards and greatest respect,

prambo

PS - REALLY CY6 now.

Anonymous said...

Mike, North Korea must have thought you were making a movie about them.

Anonymous said...

Well, you did call out the demigod Gates after all.

Liberty Clause

Anonymous said...

Lawlor and friends?

Anonymous said...

Mike, get in touch with Jim Quinn over at "the burning platform" blog. He went thru this sort of attack a few months ago and can tell you how he dealt with it. It was so bad he was tempted to throw in the towel.

Anonymous said...

The "reply-to" address is trivial to spoof. That requires no hacking at all. There are lots of trojans out there that will collect your address book and send it off. If that has happened, then it is out there already and nothing you can do about it except tightened down the hatches on your own machine so that it doesn't happen again.

As to the crapflood clogging your on e-mail in box, there are ways to filter that but it depends on how you have your mail service set up.

parabarbarian said...

I received two of them. The first was from a machine in Columbia. The second was sent via an open proxy in Uruguay. The embedded links lead to sites offering to sell some magical weight loss formula. That all looks like ordinary spam. That your name is being associated with it may be an attempt at character assassination.

Steve said...

Loop all the header info through spamcop.net and see if it can parse out who it really came from.

prambo said...

Hi Mike,

Used an online email address "ping" utility (http://verify-email.org/) to check the dbardeen@rochester.rr.com email account.

Here is the result:

"dbardeen@rochester.rr.com - Result: Bad

MX record about rochester.rr.com exists.
Connection succeeded to dnvrco-pub-iedge-vip.email.rr.com SMTP.
554 ERROR: Mail Refused - See http://www.spamhaus.org/query/bl?ip=verify-email.org"

The larsblomquist email returned the following:

"larsblomquist@bredband.net - Result: Ok

MX record about bredband.net exists.
Connection succeeded to mailgw.bredband.net SMTP.
220 mailgw.bredband.net ESMTP

> HELO verify-email.org
250 mailgw.bredband.net

> MAIL FROM:
=250 sender ok

> RCPT TO:
=250 recipient ok"

Bredband.net is a Swedish outfit (http://www.aboutus.org/BredBand.net).

It would appear that others here might be correct, and this is just a nasty spam attack. See: http://www.spamhaus.org/ who track spammers & spam services.

Don't know if this helps any, but I'll poke around more if you like.

Maybe a pay-to-play info service like Intelius would be useful.

I agree with other posts here that you need to change your email, password, maybe even email provider.

Best regards,
prambo

Anonymous said...

I've recently seen "how are you" spam email in that exact body layout sent to addresses that are not associated with Mike, Oathkeepers, 3%, etc.

Based on that, my guess is that a new general email spam campaign has been launched, which may not actually be part of a larger attack by, say, associates of fedgov.

==
From: rmercado11@cfl.rr.com
Subject: from [friend's name]
Hi!
How are you?
It works! [suspicious link]
[friend's name]
==

-PG

AJ said...

Could be a random spam. My wife and a couple of friends have had to change their email passwords over the years. Or, it could be a DDOS. Hard to say.

skybill said...

Hi Mike,
'Not a 'puter whiz by a long shot!! But, it helps to be semi-well-versed in the ability to be a "Keyboard Komando!!" I am not. However, seems like as Chuckey 'Egger said 'bout the guys who were gonna' be the "Mercury 7" they're just,"SPAM-in-a-can!!!" Or maybe Eric really got a case off the "Red Ass" at ya' for all the sh*t stirrin' ya' do??? Hehehehehehe!!
Blue Skies Buddy!!!!!
III%,
skybill-out
PS, It's all about "Being There!!!" In the movie "The Right Stuff" at the end when that reporter was interviewing Gordo Cooper, he asked him who was in his opinion the "Greatest of thee 7," Gordo (don't remember the name of the actor that played him, but he just smiled and with that "Sh*t eatin' grin" said,)"Yer' Lookin' at him!!" "Spam, eh?"

j said...

YES, Mike, send me the Miracle Weight Loss Formula Guaranteed to Shed Pounds By The Minute, right away. Here is my credit card number! ****-****-***** I am ready to get my Beach Body in 30 days with no effort, exercise or dieting!

Anonymous said...

That is a Time Warner "Road Runner" email address in the Rochester, NY area. I have several like it, myself. Most likely this is just someone who's PC got some malware on it who runs in similar circles and so has several Oath Keepers and 3%ers in their contact list. If there is any indication that it is truly malicious and you get any leads on the source, give me a ring. It's in my AO.

Mark III

Steve said...

I mentioned Spamcop earlier. You might look into getting an account and loop your 'critical' email addresses throuh it, or at least have it available to throw the occasional mail at.

It is pretty easy to use for 'one offs' as well, (just cut and paste headers/body into the webforms,) and statistics generated after it figures out the email can give you an idea if it is targeted, or just a widespread 'campaign' that you were caught up in.

Steve said...

One further item, it is the actual header info that tells where the email really came from. (Or at least the last 'hop.') Addresses in an email generally don't mean squat. Embedded links, on the other hand, can give a clue as to what type of scam it is, and who is running it. NEVER use your browser to 'chase' those though. You could get infected pretty quickly. Another plug for spam cop here, it automatically chases them down with out any danger to you.

Anonymous said...

This may be the culprit "Maxwell D. Bardeen Jr." he's got ties to BOTH gun-grabbing states Ma AND N.Y. and works/worked for UBS financial Services (link: http://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Individual/826585)