Recently I've had to im's from an online casion company. And I'm not to happy about it! Here is the message from last night


[23:48:15] Get a $50 Free Gift! says: Welcome New Players!
Get a $50 Free Gift!
Play With Our Money,Not Yours!
Total Jackpots:$9,800,371.68
More.....
http://www.casinolux.com/CT1C6K/
I was marked as "AWAY" when this message was sent to me. Thanks one anoyed SKYPE user.

Club_d1,

If this contact is not in your list, he/she can't see your status so doesn't know you are set to "away".

If your privacy settings are set to receive chats from anyone, he/she can send this SPAM. You can block this user so the next SPAM doesn't arrive.

Ike

I know all about the privacy settings. How are they alowed to SPAM users? Is this not an infringement of the EULA?

[quote=Club_d1]How are they alowed to SPAM users?[/quote]
How would they know a user is SPAMMING?

Ike

[quote=Club_d1]I know all about the privacy settings. How are they alowed to SPAM users? Is this not an infringement of the EULA?[/quote]

see here:
Abuse Link:
Send details to abuse@skype.net

Privacy Agreement:
http://www.skype.com/company/legal/privacy...cy_general.html

Yes, spamming is a violation of Skype's EULA and Terms of Service. Unfortunately no legal remedies have really ever stopped spammers and probably never will. Fortunately, in Skype spam is easy to block -- just block the spamming users. For more protection, you may want to configure your privacy settings so that only authorized users or your contacts can contact you.

Yes, spamming is a violation of Skype's EULA and Terms of Service. Unfortunately no legal remedies have really ever stopped spammers and probably never will. Fortunately, in Skype spam is easy to block -- just block the spamming users. For more protection, you may want to configure your privacy settings so that only authorized users or your contacts can contact you.

That is a cop-out. The same can be said of email spam: "just delete it and block the sender".

What good does that do about the next fifty people who skype-spam me over the course of the next month? My privacy settings set so that only people on my contacts list can skype me, but that doesn't prevent the incessant "XXXhookersinChina is asking to be added to your contact list" invitations. I'm sick of them.

Why is my skype user ID published for every sleezebag skype spammer to use?
Why can't my skype userID be unpublished?

I've been using IM since the 80's and I have *never* had a problem with spam until I started using skype. Frankly, I don't think it is worth it and I'm probably going to dump Skype for a setup where my name won't be given to spammers, and where every time I have a message, it is legitimate!

at 08.00 today I had a skype call from " his lordship"
( lordship.pua) skype user, He claimed to work for my bank and they wer doing some work on my account !!

Could i please confirm my sort code and account number.

This is a clear example of trying to get skype customers to divulge private details.

I do not have a uk bank account .

This post has been edited by kibrisnige`: Tue Aug 5 2008, 06:56

Hello.
I bought credits and after receveid e-mail confirming it. but, in my account don't show my credits, what can I do?
is terrible to searcg by help in this site, better, we dont have a help service.
thanks

I am having hourly skypes at times from spammers.

The suggestion to not publish is absolutely necessary. Ideally publication should be optional and done on an opt in basis.

As it turns out, Skype may have some legal responsibility, because all communications are governed within skypes own domain. Since they control the whole network, there is no question there about who is responsible for protecting users.

Failure to provide proper tools is a serious issue of self regulation in this industry, and more than creating legal issues for Skype will create a regulatory problem for the industry.

The US Commerce department avoids legislation in industries that have taken it upon themselves to help protect users from fraud, spam and other harassing or fraudulent activities. The email industry is a great example of this. Spam has been cut way down as a result of industry efforts, and the industry has avoided restrictive legislation.

Telemarketing companies, because the indsutry failed to protect people, ended up with the national do not call list and some major consequences if they violate the laws they brought upon themselves.

Its up to Skype really...nothing we can do to make them behave. I would dump it if there were a good widely used alternative.

I think I will give my friend Carlos Gutierrez a call...maybe he can help

I've been getting spam on Skype for as long as I can remember. I've been using it for about a year and a half.

I always set my privacy settings appropriately (so only contacts may message me) but I am constantly bombarded by spam from people whom I have not added to my contact list.

Skype v2.7.0.330 on Mac OS 10.5.4

at 08.00 today I had a skype call from " his lordship"
( lordship.pua) skype user, He claimed to work for my bank and they wer doing some work on my account !!

Could i please confirm my sort code and account number.

This is a clear example of trying to get skype customers to divulge private details.

I do not have a uk bank account .

Still no responce from skype !!

That is a cop-out. The same can be said of email spam: "just delete it and block the sender".

Very well said.

I'm surprised that a company as savvy as Skype ignores this problem.

I understand that Skype offers "solutions" to the spam problem. However, I agree with Adam: When we complain, we receive burdensome pseudo-solutions.

Let's take the Send an email to Skype response as an example. That pseudo-solution requires customers to complete a 5-step process:

1. Copy contents of a spam message
2. Go to your email program
3. Find the Skype abuse email address
4. Paste in the info
5. Send the email

Having to jump through hoops like that significantly reduces spam reporting (by over 90% perhaps?) of what it would be if a one-click solution were provided.

Now, I can already hear someone declaring, "It's an exaggeration to call that a '5-step' process. Sheesh! Copy-paste-email. Bing-bang-boom. You're done. What's so hard about that?"

What's wrong with it is that your perception doesn't matter. If a significant number of customers find the process burdensome, that's what matters.

All major email providers contain reporting mechanisms (usually one-click solutions, e.g., Craigslist or Gmail) so that they can stay on top of the spam problem.

Skype should be no different.

Ultimately this is a customer service issue. Customers are responding with frustration and discouragement to the standard answers, e.g., "Change your privacy settings," "Block that sender," and "Send a report by email to Skype."

Keep in mind that roughly 1 out of 100 frustrated customers--and given the technology limitations of some customers, it's probably more like 1 out of 200 or more--will assertively communicate their concern.

All you need to do is look at the forums and the low ratings of the answers in the Knowledge Base to recognize that spam is a growing concern among Skype customers.

When I started using AOL in 1994 they were king. Unfortunately for Time Warner stockholders, AOL increasingly demonstrated a cavalier attitude toward customer concerns. And if you don't already know, look what happened to them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Aol_sub...s_Q201-Q407.png

The moral of the story is that [b disregard[/b] for well-reasoned, sincere customer complaints will hurt any company.

Mark

This post has been edited by Mark Worthen: Sat Oct 4 2008, 06:58

My problem with changing our privacy settings to known contacts only is, we are then not using the full extent of skype. I'm a writer, apart from making some great friends through "skype me" I've also met other writers, two want to collaborate, without using "skype me" we'd never have met.

It's just such a shame that women in particular have such a hard time on skype with the ammount of perverts that are allowed to rome freely and go unpunished.

The point is that the privacy setting is obviously not working as expected. Although I have defined it such that only my contacts can IM me I am getting spam IMs from others. I am using version 3.8.0.139.

Hi Everyone. There has to be someone playing game. I got a chat message toady.

[Sat Oct 11 2008 11:53:59] Update ®: WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
=============================

ATTENTION ! Security Center has detected
malware on your computer !

Affected Software:

Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
Microsoft Windows Win98
Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution / Virus Infection /
Unexpected shutdowns

Recommendation: Users running vulnerable version should install a repair
utility immediately

Your system IS affected, download the patch from the address below !
Failure to do so may result in severe computer malfunction.

http://www.registryservice.org/?q=scan

I didn't go to the site, nor would I. I am running Linux. As the name says. But I don't trust anyone these days.

I didn't know where to post this. For I am never here. Oop! but Now!

I only use Skype on my PSP or Linux box.

Solution to the spam problem:

I have been putting up with Skype spam for some time now and haven't known how to sort it out. I only allow people in my contacts list to call or text me but that still doesn't stop the perverts from trying to contact me using a crude picture and invitation to add them to my contacts...

I was about to remove skype as I share the computer with my kids and won't have this kind of rubbish on it. Then I fiddled around and this is what I came up with:

1) Open Skype and click Tools - Options on the menu
2) Click privacy
3) Click Show advanced options
4) Allow Calls from 'only people in my contact list', Automatically receive video from 'no-one', show that I have video to 'no-one', Allow chats from 'only people in my contact list', Uncheck 'allow my status to be shown on the web'....

Those are the basics, but to do it properly:
5) click Notifications
6) Uncheck 'pop up a window when someone requests my contact details'
7) Uncheck 'Display notifications in the Windows tray when someone comes online'
Uncheck 'Display notifications in the Windows tray when someone requests my contact details'

7 and 8 did the trick properly for me - hope this helps someone.

All major email providers contain reporting mechanisms (usually one-click solutions, e.g., Craigslist or Gmail) so that they can stay on top of the spam problem.

Skype should be no different.

Right on, Mark! Even the status quo of simply blocking a user could be made into a powerful distributed spim reporting system, if Skype/eBay had the foresight to collect these anonymous statistics and quickly act upon upticks in blocking trends. Innovate or die, Skype.

Although I hate it (numerous latina based naked girls selling services) - you have to ignore, but you have to understand that Skype does have a captcha system in place but it probably would not work. Why? Because these scam artists hire people to sign up and get user names, so they can bypass any human systems. They PREY on people on skype and on chat systems as being weak and frail and DESPERATE for attention from the opposite sex. Don't fall into it. If it sounds weird, it is. Please use your mind to judge. If they PM you, ask them something they'd never expect. If they answer in a way you don't expect (like what is your weight, your dog's age) - then it is a Bot. Bot's default to random questions if then can't figure out what you say BASED on a dictionary of words. If you ask adhoc, they answer random. Hope this helps a little, it has me

Ps. I was an AI aficionado until I got a life

If I don't know them and didn't request the conversation, I block them.

If they appear to be selling/advertising something, I report them.

I get about one spam IM a day. Not too bad.