How Does This Happen?
 

My son-in-law called me this morning asking if I had any idea why a well-known firearms auction company would send him an email indicating they had several Parkers he would probably be interested in bidding on.

I told him they probably got his email address as one of the email addresses in my addresses file but that was bordering on hacking into my AOL email file. I told him it probably would never happen again... probably just an oddball reach-out.

He called me a half-hour later to tell me the same auction house telephoned him and insisted they had information that said he had an interest in buying Parker shotguns at auction.

At this point he got very rude with the auction house representative and hung up.

My son-in-law has absolutely no interest in firearms. He's not an "anti" - he just has other interests that don't include guns at all.

I think this is an outrage and I wonder how this auction house can be made to stop this tactic!!??






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That's totally annoying and an invasion of his privacy. It would tick me off too!

And the auction house is.......? Unfortunately Dean anything we do on the internet is open to these intrusions. Precisely why I'm don't twitter, twang, tweet or facefart.:banghead:

Right Daryl, but they would have to have actually intruded (hacked) into my private email address file....






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I think email accounts must be the easiest thing to hack there is. I get a lot of emails, supposedly from people on my list. They're easy to recognize and are always some kind of product ad. I always thought someone had hacked MY list but was told that it was the other persons list that was hacked, which means I have a lot of friends who have been hacked. It's either that or the email providers sell lists. Nothing would surprise me these days. I don't trust any of them. AOL, facebook, google, xxxxx fill in the blanks; they'll all sell lists if someone is willing to pay for them. That's my operating assumption. I'd be pissed too Dean. Getting a phone number is odd. You can barely get that using the people search engines these days unless you pay for it. Used to be you could get everything using the "Free White Pages" engine; now they all want to charge for it.

I'd call the auction house and have a very direct discussion

Lots of scams and viruses hack into address books.

Outlook was a common one to get into. I have had a couple via AOL- got one once from a friends address that said he was in Scotland and had been robbed and needed me to wire him money. :rotf:

So I turned and asked. Are you in Scotland?


But. For an otherwise ligitimate business to pull such a stunt is unpardonable

Look what happened with Facebook - I think it's rampant in/on 'social media' connections. To me, its scary and dangerous - like "Hal" the computer in '2001, A Space Odyssey', taking over the spacecraft. What's next??

I hate to break the news... But "Hal" has been running Spaceship Earth for some years now. Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, et al. The Cloud knows more about you than you'd ever imagine. You'll be lucky to finish your own Odessy and become a star child.

I can't believe that this week is the first time "you all" have experienced this spreading of advertising material among your computer screens.

All email service is sold whether you know it or not(aol,gmail,bell south,etc..)The only way to slow it down is with your own email account.Even then your email can be captured in any number of ways.Everytime you interact on the internet you give little bits of info.

Hacked
 

Dean how rude for an Auction House we may even acknowledge as good guys to do such a thing. They are desperate skimming the bottom of barrels to make a sale!! Sorry it happened.

I was told long ago "Dont put it in writing unless you want to see it again." This goes in spades for e-mails, tweets, facebook postings, etc. I cancelled my facebook account a year ago (although I made very, very little use of it) when I got a popup ad asking if I wanted to buy some more ammo from Academy Sports. Aargh!

My son wanted me to add an app the other day so every time I bought gas at certain stations he would get a refund and so would I.

The app wanted access to my address book, location, photos, camera, essentially everything on my phone. I told my son I would not add it. He said there was nothing wrong with adding it. I guess people never learn not to share info with the whole world. Even a weather app rated the best one wanted the same info. Nothing is private anymore. One of the reasons I have never had a Farcebook account.

The only hope is to be off the grid so to speak, I do not tweet text or do voice mail still I get the crazy calls I have started answering with this, Hello Joe Levins Junk Yard, they usually hang up. and the callers always call at dinner time f***em feed em fish heads! gary

When you pay for your email service, you're paying for a product. If your email service is free, you are the product.

I pray they don't find out about the sheep.

:shock:






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The internet is the new Wild West and sadly the only way to assure any semblance of privacy is to not be connected. We give classes to Law Enforcement on Cyber Security and the "Dark Web". Very scary stuff.

I was looking at a banjo on the web the other day; never signed in, gave my name or email address, etc. Later that day I get an email from the site saying "are you interested in _______________ and what can we help you with? Man, the days of anonymity are over!

Let me tell you a secret, there are no secrets and so called privacy is an illusion.

Private Sector or general commercial enterprises, it does not necessarily mean they get all your info from email and apps anymore. AI is rampant and they have an algorithm to figure out everyone's consumer habits. If you have a smart phone and or computer and do a search for anything or use someone elses wifi to search the web, they pick that up. There are AI programs out there see when you go to certain sites and then they will send you advertisements for something similar or interest. I think its targeted marketing profiling. They all do it.

There is a so called amusement park that offers free wifi an when people are waiting in lines and playing with phones they are tracking what you are searching and looking for profile opportnity. If perhaps are searching for a something to eat they will follow that and then you will immediately start getting local ads for certain food places. Car companies and high end retailers are really into this.

If you are really into conspiracy theories and scared of Big Brother, then I have also heard that government can track every single key stroke your computer makes. Even scarier, and I know this is true, even if not connected to wifi or internet they can gain access to your machine thru the power chords. I have a friend that unplugs his computer whenever he is not using it.

Well now. If some dude selling banjos can find you that easily, just what do you think the government is capable of? Or Google? Or Facebook? Or... Heaven forbid, The Russians!!

Dean you are very vulnerable because of your prominent stature on this forum. If you and your family communicate regularly by emails, facebook, and tweats, you maybe contributing to unsolicited contacts directed at family members.