Has Dick Cowen's email account been hacked?

[Rich_S]

Email received from Dick Cowen's account:

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Hi! How are you?


Have you seen this "http:// web address removed for safety" before? Oprah had been using it for over a year!

Dick Cowen

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I did not attempt to click on the real link in the email fearing it would take me to a site that I really did not wish to visit. Has anyone else received this email? Has anyone notified Dick Cowen about this email?

Kind Regards,
Rich S.

[buzz456]

Why don't you send him a PM?

[mrennie]

I got a similar email from my cousin, but it was so obviously bogus. I asked him about it anyway and sure enough, his email account had been hacked.

[Rich_S]

I just received word from Dick Cowen, the email address used is not associated in any way with him. If you receive this email, just delete it as it did not come from Dick Cowen.

[OldProf]

I get that kind of message every now and then, usually with the name of someone with whom I've exchanged e-mails previously and ending in various come-ons, none of which really interest or attract me. Last year, flocks of them descended from the ether, supposedly sent by a close relative and obviously phoney. Rather than just delete them or even mark them as spam, I tag them as phishing attempts. Irritations such as this are part of the price we pay to petty hoodlums for internet use, much as we pay for the convenience of telephones by putting up with unsolicited calls. Junk is everywhere, unfortunately.

I don't see these messages as indications that someone's e-mail account has been taken over, just that someone has discovered an e-mail address and plugged it into a message that clearly does not come from the person behind the address. They're a bit of trash dumped on your front lawn, not a home invasion.

from the

[Chacal]

Yes, but the reason you get phony messages seemingly from people you know, is that their account was hacked, with some malware gathering their contact list.

We see this rising trend in large part because of mobile apps. When a game, or even a flashlight app wants access to your contact list, you should ask yourself why, deny the permission and remove the app.

In any app store, you will see a great number of free clones for every legitimate game or app, these clones were usually created for the sole purpose of stealing information.

[ex-railwayman]

Yeah, this has happened before, a few years ago, OUR Dick Cowen is not the Dick Cowen on the e-mail letter, who I'm sure was an American, our 'Tricky Dicky' is British, so, no association at all.

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.

[OldProf]

Yes, but the reason you get phony messages seemingly from people you know, is that their account was hacked, with some malware gathering their contact list.

We see this rising trend in large part because of mobile apps. When a game, or even a flashlight app wants access to your contact list, you should ask yourself why, deny the permission and remove the app.

In any app store, you will see a great number of free clones for every legitimate game or app, these clones were usually created for the sole purpose of stealing information.

I'm finally learning to be sure that an app or program I search for comes from, preferably, its maker's or owner's website. Recently, something I downloaded without sticking to this rule has stuck me with some kind of Google related piece of junk that opens a small yet annoying window almost every time I start my preferred browser, Firefox. At first, this parasite would flash a variety of ads. I learned how to get rid of the ads, but the empty frame now stares me in the face. It isn't that it's difficult to get rid of, it's having my little private world invaded. "Who ya gonna call?"

[Rich_S]

Yeah, this has happened before, a few years ago, OUR Dick Cowen is not the Dick Cowen on the e-mail letter, who I'm sure was an American, our 'Tricky Dicky' is British, so, no association at all.

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.

I know Dick is from the UK. The thing that caught my eye was, a few other train simmers (Both MSTS and RW) were listed on the "To" line of the email. Coincidence, maybe, but it's better to be safe than sorry