E-mail virus spew: detective work

[womzilla]

Some computer that has both me and tnh in some e-mail address book has been contaminated by an e-mail spewer. I've received at least half-a-dozen virus e-mails pretending to be bounces of messages that I sent to her Gmail account. However, before I got these I didn't actually know her Gmail account, so they can't be from my machine.

The clincher that these aren't just harvested randomly from the web but are instead from someone we both know is that I just got the same e-mail except this one claimed to be a bounce from info @ salwar kameez india.com. tnh is an evangelist for custom-made salwar kameez purchased online. This, too, is an address I didn't have before. (My company dress code barely puts up with the way I dress now. Blousey, colorful unisex Indian clothing would probably be a firing offense.)

It's possible that the contaminated machine is tnh's own. It's also possible that it belongs someone who knows both of us and has followed her advice about clothes shopping. If you qualify, please investigate your system. Thank you.

Postscript: One interesting thing about writing this post is that I had to re-write several sentences to make it clear that the computer, not the person, was infected. My computer acts as an extension of my will in so many ways that the distinction between it and me often seems blurred.

Comments

[nppyinzer.livejournal.com]

"Postscript: One interesting thing about writing this post is that I had to re-write several sentences to make it clear that the computer, not the person, was infected. My computer acts as an extension of my will in so many ways that the distinction between it and me often seems blurred."

Watch yourself. There's a fine line between a Mother Box and a Borg cube.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

"And here at the Dr. Science Laboratory, we've managed to erase that line completely!"

[ckd]

Making Light is getting harvested for email addresses (the "see all comments" links leak them). That may be where they're coming from.

(I've seen bounces for virus emails and spam from an address which I only use for comments on ML, so I'm sure it's the source.)

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

I don't thn has ever used her Gmail address on her web site. Maybe some others, though.