Strange email from Bernard Towers

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Just got an email asking if I was free to liaise using email. Looks as though Bernard’s email list has been hijacked?

Andrew.

[NealebParticipant @nealeb]

These kinds of emails usually have a note saying something like, “I have laryngitis and cannot talk on the phone.” A definite red flag!

Unfortunately, our email addresses are protected by other people, so have to be regarded as vulnerable to this kind of address misuse.

 

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Often compromised by people using reply all to an email with a long list of addressees when they only want to reply to the sender. Just needs one of the recipient’mail to be hacked for spam merchants to get a whole load more. When sending an email to a long list always put your own address as the recipient and bcc the distribution list.

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

Also received the sale this morning.

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

OOPS, should have typed ‘the same’.

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Bernard’s email has been compromised. I got a similar message and was suspicious of the wording so I messaged him to confirm.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks for doing that, Pete

… and condolences to Bernard !

MichaelG.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I had the same message (how?). I have no idea who Bernard Towers is, and as the message was so strange I reported it to BT’s phishing-investigators, and blocked him!

Initially I thought of responding with “Sorry, wrong address” then realised he needed my normal e-mail name and address, which I thought very unlikely if the question is bona-fide. I did wonder if he is someone on here, but thought that unlikely too because private messages are buffered by the site – you receive a notification but not the message itself.

I now have half a feeling I’ve seen the name on various contributions on here. If so my apologies to the real Bernard for thinking him a scammer!

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

its most probably because I have contributed to this forum and the email is conn to that. as my email has been hacked plkease disregard any comms from me and sorry for your inconvenience

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Thankuou for explaining it.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

It may not be directly forum related. But as Bernard has sold items via the forum in the past or possibly carried on personal messages by email those getting the dubious emails may simply be on Bernards contacts list.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

It may not be directly forum related. But as Bernard has sold items via the forum in the past or possibly carried on personal messages by email those getting the dubious emails may simply be on Bernards contacts list.

Fair comment, Jason, BUT …

To the best of my knowledge, I have never conversed with Bernard outside the ‘safe confines’ of this forum … So how would I come to be on Bernards contacts list ?

Bewildered

MichaelG.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

That puzzled me, too. I’ve just looked at my messages list but Bernard’s not on it.

Though I don’t know if we’d corresponded prior to the site being re-built, which deleted past conversations and threads.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Unlikely the forum is the source: had it been, the hacker would have extracted all our email addresses, and – so far – only a few members have been pinged.  And there are easier alternatives to extracting emails directly from the forum. Whilst possible, suggests the leak is elsewhere.

Might be Bernard, (also a victim), or his name has been chosen at random. Display Names are not proof of identity.

Can anyone who’s had an email from “Bernard Towers” look at the message header.  Who really sent it?  View->Headers in Thunderbird.  Looking at a delivery email sent to me by “Amazon.co.uk”, reveals that’s an alias of <[email protected]>, and the senders actual address is <0102019bdabcec71-b58cfb19-1a34-4efe-ae02-062ecd34fecb-000000@eu-west-1.amazonses.com>

• If the email was really was sent by Bernard, or rather from his computer, then Bernhard has been hacked, and the computer needs to be cleaned.  Also, needs a new email account, because anything sent from the old one must be treated by recipients as spam.  And change the email passwords used to connect to the Internet Service Provider.  More than one way of gaining access:  “Microsoft” ringing-up and persuading the victim to let them fix his computer; another is installing software from iffy providers.
• If the email wasn’t sent by real Bernard, then, he, or some other member, may have exchanged email with a crook who’s manipulated the human or email system into sharing addresses. Mr Dodgy then applies the same trick to all the addresses he garners, to build target groups.  In this example, Mr Dodgy has built a list of model engineers who might expect an email from Bernard.  Many ways of collecting addresses: from individuals replying to crafted emails or providing them to anyone who asks; discs retrieved from old computers; from legitimate businesses who sell on email and other user data; from dodgy websites; and hacking big business, some of whom have leaked millions of addresses!   Bernard doesn’t need to clean his computer or change his email address.

I mention “some other member”, because Bernard may not be involved at all. His name may have been chosen at random, perhaps picked from the forum’s for-sale section because an email apparently from a model engineer known to be selling stuff is a shade more convincing than one arriving out-of-the-blue from a stranger.

Be careful. Fraud is by far the UK’s biggest single crime, much of it committed online. £Billions. Don’t be naive.  Minimise the personal data you share, and try to stay anonymous.  The more information you share, the easier it is for criminals to bespoke a convincing con-trick. Avoid gambling, porn, off-colour humour, and other dubious honeypots. Above all, don’t assume no-one will notice little you.  The bad guys scan the herd looking for innocents abroad.  Much easier to take money off thousands of weaklings than break into a bank. (Though that’s done too!)

The answer to Michael’s “why me” question might be group building as outlined above.  There are many ways and means of collecting computer information, many of them remarkably devious.  The history of computer security is no different from anything else: a technology is released, flaws found, fixes applied, revealing more flaws, until the product matures.   Took 150 years to get from Maudsley’s invention of the slide-rest, lead-screw and change-gears to the Myford ML7.  Computers and software are far more complicated!

🙁

Dave

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

< blush >

My error … and this may be significant

I’ve just searched on the Mac [which appears to do it better than the iPad], and have found an eMail exchange with Bernard, back in April 2022, concerning images of a tailstock driller.

If Dave, or Bernard, need to discuss this, then please send me a PM

[Bernard’s eMail address is currently blocked on my system]

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

^^^ 

That would date it back to this forum posting:

Lever operated tailstock attachment Myford

MichaelG.

 

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