What would you do....

MyLuvBugs wrote: if some stranger was trying to hack into your personal email address, was sending you tons of spam emails, and using your PERSONAL email address on their business cards and fraudulantly (sp?) trying to pass of your email as theirs?

This has happened to me resently , and I've alerted all the "proper" authorities when it comes to email harassment, but I'm totally at my wits end. I'm angry, I'm upset, I just don't know what to do anymore. Stupid hotmail "blockers" don't work all that well, and the emails keep on coming. What would you do?

luvmykids replied: Geez I have no idea, maybe call a computer type guy and see if they have any ideas? DH have any? That sucks!

Nina J replied: Get a new e-mail adress if it's really bad? It's hotmail, so there isn't much anyone can do I don't think.

Or, block the email adress of whoever is sending you spam?

mammag replied: I agree, I would change my email address. I know it will be a pain in the but if it is registered with a lot of sites but I would think it would be better than the harrassment. Then just completely close the other email account.

C&K*s Mommie replied: change e-mail addy. I am not sure if they can gain any information from using your e-mail, but I would change that.

MyLuvBugs replied: But I've had this email address for 6 years without a problem. It's like he's trying to bully me out of it b/c he wants it Then I started thinking last night that maybe he thought he'd created my email address, but had actually had a typo in it, so he has a completely different email address and just doesn't realize it. However, he's being REALLY rude about the whole thing.

I don't know. I've contacted the abuse department and tech support at hotmail for assistance. Not sure if they can help, but it's worth a shot right? I've blocked all the emails that keep coming in, but since he's handing out these business cards with my email, it's different people all the time.

Here's a thought....since we're both photographers, and have the same company name, maybe I could just tell his customers that I'll take their pictures. lol Just kidding. That's so horrible.

CantWait replied:
Hmmmmm there's an idea. I don't think it's that terrible if he's harrassing you.

Cece00 replied: Why dont you email his customers back and tell them what is going on, and keep after hotmail to do something about it....if you bug them enough, maybe they will do something about it.

If its still a problem after awhile, consider the new email address.

Cece00 replied: AND you said he's trying to hack into your email...change your password a lot and make your password questions (the ones you use if you forget your password) very hard, and change them often, it should make it very hard for him to hack into.

MyLuvBugs replied: Yeah. I've written back to a couple of his customers. One was really sweet. The other...not so much.

And I've set up my account with a "strong" password, and it can't be changed without me approving it from my work email address (if that makes sense). That's how I know he's been trying to reset it. I keep getting emails to reset it at my work email, and I keep denying them. I feel sorta safe that he can't get into my account (sorta! ).

Now it's all up to the advice of hotmail staffers as to what to do next. It just sucks that after 6 years, this happens.

DVFlyer replied: I don't understand. I'm assuming with a password, no one can send an e-mail through your account. If he figured out your password, he'd either have to be VERY lucky or be a genius hacker.

If he's putting your e-mail on his business cards, wouldn't that be good for you?

What am I missing? Of course, it sucks that someone is trying to do it, but you can block the e-mail spam from him easily enough.

I don't know how, but I understand it's fairly easy to make the "from" address look like anything you want. The spam blockers usually pick these out, though, since the "from" doesn't match with the return address.

MyLuvBugs replied:
I didn't say that he had been sending email FROM my account, but TO my account. Email after email after email, and most arent' all that nice. Saying that it's his email and that I need to let it go? Whatever that means! And he's been trying to reset my password for the last month about 4-5 times a week.

And yes we are both photographers, however NO it's not good for me since he's in the soft core PORN industry side of photography and I do weddings and the like. PLUS he's in Texas and I'm in Nebraska. Sorry it's so confusing, but I thought I'd mentioned all this before.

I do Block emails as stated previously. However, since it's different "models" or "talent" that is contacting me I get emails everyday from different email addresses all for him about his business, plus his harassing emails that go to the junk mail folder now (finally) . Stupid hotmail.

The tech support people for hotmail are totally non-helpful either. They say do this and send it here, but that doesn't work, so they say ok well send it to us, so I do and then they say well that's not what we wanted, so do it again. WTH?!?!? Maybe I'll see if they have a phone number so I can talk to an actual person. Wouldnt' that be genius!

DVFlyer replied: Sounds like your getting it a handle on it.

My wife is a wedding photographer and coincidentally, someone from Texas has approached her because they have the same business name and she wanted to see if she would release her domain name to her. Nope

He's in the soft porn industry and wants your e-mail? What is it? xxxweddingphotgraphy?

TheOaf66 replied: wow, that is a new one, I wouldn't know how to cope with that one.

MyLuvBugs replied:
Not exactly. LOL It's my maiden ititials and then the word photography. lol It's funny b/c DH found his company website, and he's trying to say that he's a "model" photographer, but if you look at all the pictures you start thinking.....modelling? or porn? VERY risque' for my taste, but to each his own I guess.