Ever since I downloaded the latest version, I get several requests daily from "people" to share my contact details and they are all porn names. Is there any way to either block ALL requests or remove my screen name from searchable fields or download the last version again?

Make sure your online status is NOT in "SkypeMe" mode.

You might also want to strict your privacy settings to allow calls and chats only from your contacts.

I have the same problem and my privacy settings have been adjusted as you suggest. It doesn't work at all. I also never use the 'skype me' mode.

Is there anything else to do? This is very annoying to say the least.

you can stop these requests from popping up 'in your face' by adjusting your notification options

click Tools|Options|Notifications and UNTICK the option to "Pop up a window when someone requests my contact details"

this won't prevent the requests -- you will still get a notification flag attached to the systray icon and near the top of the client window, but at least the window won't pop up

I also understand that Skype is considering suppressing the display of the requestor's avatar until AFTER details are exchanged, so that should help

blocking the Skype Names of these porn spammers won't help because all they do is create new ones and carry on

Skype also makes every effort to track down and disrupt such activities, so you might also consider reporting the issue to Skype by using the Abuse topic when submittng a support ticket

http://support.skype.com/?_a=tickets&_m=submit

...............also report these cases to : abuse@skype.net

This porn spam is getting ridiculous. Skype needs better spam filtering. I tried the suggestions above, still getting porn spammed daily. I only want to talk to one person on skype plus my family members. Skype needs to have a feature to "Ignore all others" unless they are on my contact list.

There is one and only one spammers have my skype address:
skype provided it.

My skype address is not guessable.

All that is needed to harvest skype addresses is enter a few partial names into the search function.

It is time for skype to end the spam and shut down the directory service until it is rethought so that everybody's address isn't provided so easily to spammers.
In the meantime, PLEASE provide a privacy setting not to be listed!

I'm so sick of the incessant porn spams that I am ready to dump skype even though it is the defacto IM system at work. If they want to IM me, they're going to have to use yahoo or some other system that doesn't cater to spammers.

here, here,skype's response to these lice is pathetic. It is skype that allows scammeds to access my account.
I have always had my privacy settings to only allow messagesfrom my contacts - it simply doesn't work.
Stop avoiding the issue and fix it skype.
It doesn't happen with other IM services like iChat

...clearly I'm not the only person with this issue, but I'll pile on that this is getting ridiculous.

I have the 'share my details only with people on my contact list' checked and it simply does not work to block the contact requests and even more irritating, the chat requests.

It's broke, and Skype needs to fix it. This is especially important for those of us that use Skype in a professional setting.

Reporting or blocking individual IDs is worse than useless, it's waste of my time and energy. Skype fixing the root of the problem is the correct course of action.

There is such a thing as making things too easy- like when user IDs are easily indexed/culled and spam sent out.

there is no such setting in Skype options

the Skype client works as designed -- you are asking for a design change -- currently it is not possible to block requests to exchange contact details

it IS possible to limit incoming calls and chats to only those that are already on your Contact list

Hi Skype-peeps.

I agree. The amount of Spam I am getting is insane. I have a suggestion: Please add a REPORT THIS USER right into the skype pop-up window. Let us click lick for an instant notification of spam. On your end, just add a small counter. If you get too many reports, assume that your friendly customers (thats us!) know what we're talking about, and then ban his butt from returning.

(DAMMIT! While I wrote this, I was spammed again. The username is DEEP DEAM!)

'later!

m

I never ever get any spam messages or invitations from strangers.

Why is that some people receive spam on Skype, some don't?

Is it the same as with e-mail, i.e. harvester bots gathering Skype names from web pages? I wanted to put my Skype name on my web page just the other day, but reading this thread made me change my mind. I didn't even know that "skype spam" existed!

halabund
try to set "skypeMe" mode =)

Just to bump this thread up...

Even if you set all your privacy settings to max, the spammers are still sending add requests like crazy. I run Skype conference servers and everday I have to remote into these instances and cancel 10-20 requests from spammers. Skype (the company) really needs to put some urgent development into stopping spam on their network.

I have 20 faculty on Skype at the public school I work for, and it is very unprofessional that all the teachers are getting porn/virus/worm/phishing messages via Skype. This reminds me of the old days of ICQ, one reason they died (yes I know ICQ still exists, but no market share) is because MS messenger has great spam filtering. MS hunts spammers and stops them before they can even hit people. I don't think I've gotten MS live spam in over 3 years, I get at least 1-2 a day on Skype.

Edit Update:
I was pleasently surprised to read that Skype 4.0 beta 3 has begun working on an Abuse reporter function. See Here "feature: Abuse reporting - allow users to report unwanted contact requests and Spam"

Kudo's to Skype Devs, TBH, I thought it would be another 2 years before our concerns were addressed. I hope to see this in Skype 3.8.x too for those who don't take the 4.0 leap. And please, please, Skype - implement tough automated controls and advanced blocking based off what you are doing with this abuse report system. You're losing more Skype users from spam aggrivation than you would from accidentally blocking a couple people.

THANK YOU SKYPE FOR SENDING ME ALL OF THESE DATING IS EASY GIRLS TRYING TO CONTACT ME! WOW I FEEL REALLY SPECIAL, WTF! I tried to call one of these idiots back and they don't respond, probably some fag on the other end with his hand down his trousers. I cannot believe this service allows this crap!!!

PLEASE GET RID OF THESE PEOPLE PLEASE!!!!!!! FREE MEANS I HAVE TO LIVE WITH FAGS AND IDIOTS TOO?

THANKS FOR BRINGING MORE PORN SPAM INTO MY HOME AND COMPUTER YOU IDIOTS!!!~!!!!!!

I HAVE YOUNG CHILDREN...THANKS ALOT

WHY DON'T YOU SEND OVER SOME METH AND BAG OF WEED TO MY SON TOO! IDIOTS

Is there a solution to this problem? I am using version 4.0 (not beta) and can't leave Skype running because it would freak out my wife if she saw these web messenger pop-ups. This is a critical flaw in Skype for family use. I have tighted down the privacy/IM & SMS as much as I can. I am disappointed that Skype is not being more proactive in addressing these concerns.

Neil, I think Skype is pretty amazing and a really well designed app, but unfortunately it does little to prevent spam from egtting through.

I think you are being a little unkind in your reply. The post was correct, in that checking the privacy setting for either chat or calls to be restricted to only people in your contact list, doesn't actually do this. Spam from people (or bots) who are not on your contact list still persists, even if you have checked these options.

It is possible that, at some point in the past, checking these privacy options actually did work, but it is now misleading.

It really is an issue Skype should try to resolve asap, otherwise they will very quickly start to lose out to competitors ion the market. I sincerely hope they do manage to tackle this problem, as I'd like to continue using the, otherwise, very well designed and well thought out application.

the post was not correct -- a request for details is not a normal chat and never has been

it works the same now as it always has, except that now the picture/avatar that usually accompanies such requests, is now suppressed from being displayed until you deliberately click on it, and the request for details can be configured to NOT pop up in your face (you still get a notification flag however)



like I said, it has never ever been possible to suppress requests for contact details

Neil, put the handbag down, just for a second.

Fact 1: Skype has a privacy setting that allows users to check a radio button to only allow chats from people in your Contact List.

Fact 2: After checking the privacy setting above, users still receive 'INSTANT MESSAGES' from accounts, outside the user's contact list, as well as requests for contact details (which Neil is correct about, but incorrect in referring to).

This is what the original post was referring to, not the requests for contact details, ergo, it was not incorrect at all.

The fact that users are offered settings that do not work is misleading and something that Skype needs to look into.

For the time being I am setting my status to invisible, which appears to be working to prevent spam (by spam, I mean INSTANT MESSAGES, NEIL), but this does unfortunately also mean that people who I do wish to see that I'm online, cannot.

correct, and the setting works as designed -- always has



they will only receive requests to exchange contact details, not instant messages



the original post said 'I get several requests daily from "people" to share my contact details' -- that is what the poster meant and the poster is correct that this is possible -- the original poster is incorrect, however, that the situation changed when they installed an upgrade



the settings work just fine -- it's just that you (and others) don't like how they work -- they have worked this way forever



changing your online status to Invisible DOES NOT prevent anyone from sending you a request to exchange contact details -- all the spammer need to know is your skype name

and if your privacy settings allow it, being invisible does not prevent anyone from chatting to you or even calling -- in your case it is that privacy setting that is preventing strangers from sending you instant messages

I would suggest you test again

Please do NOT confuse a contact request for a 'INSTANT MESSAGE', which you are doing.

If you feel a Skype function/feature is NOT working, please file a support request here with as much detail as possible so an attempt to reproduce it can be done http://support.skype.com/en_US/search_first/

Could you also please provide enough detail, here, so that others can attempt to emulate "your facts"?

Here is are the facts:

"Can you provide some guidelines about managing my Privacy settings?

The default privacy setting allows anyone to contact you when you first launch Skype. If you are happy to be contacted by people you do not know or you want to meet new people, then you can keep these settings. If you would prefer to only be contacted by people you know, which will stop any unwanted calls or chats, you can change the settings to allow only people you have authorised to contact you."

From: http://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA140/Can-...h&q=privacy

The user who says the privacy settings do not work (or more precisely are not reliable) is correct. It happened to me today too.

Here are some details:
I have privacy settings set to allow only chat/calls/video only from people in my contact list.
I received INSTANT MESSAGE (!NOT CONTACT REQUEST!) with spam message. One interesting thing is that after that i found the name of the sender (harrietta-veeh589) in my contact list, with status "This person has not shared their contact details with you"
I didn't add this person to my contact list, in fact i never received the contact request.
Another important thing - this never happened to me before, but i did recently upgrade skype. My installed version is: 4.0.0.227
I am running it on fully patched windows XP, with avast antivirus and i also regularly scan for spyware.

It seems like there is a weakness in the protocol allowing any user to add himself to the contact list of his target. From the status of the spammer i guess they do it by simulating a reverse contact request some way ... like if i want to add myself to others contact list, i will trick skype into thinking he send me contact request, and then i simply accept it. Could this work?

Regards,
Lubo

I just noticed that in the chat window in the person info is a status message "harrieta-veeh589 has added you as a contact" with buttons "Add to contacts" "ignore" and "block" below it.

So, is this a feature (if so please provide an option to disable it) or does this confirm my guess about reverse contact request?

Also, i submitted a bug report to the jira tracker ...

Here are the news from one of the developers.
I am still waiting for clarification, but it seems like Skype 4.0 has a new "feature" which allows chatting in the contact request window. So it seems that the chat window i and the other user complained about was in fact a contact request.
Second, it seems that the requester of a contact is automatically added to the contact list prior to the user confirming the contact request, even if you have the option allow chat only from people in my contact list enabled. Then, you have the option in the "contact request chat window" to remove that person from contacts, or ban him and report a spammer.

If this is indeed the case then we should have the option of disabling this new feature. I think the old behavior where there was no chatting allowed in the contact request window, and especially where there was no change in contact list prior to user confirming the request was much better.

Thank you for explaining what is happening. I was extremely disturbed to find people in my contact list which I had not added. I have always had Privacy set to "only people in my contact list" and I never used SkypeMe. I have Skype 4.0.0.277.

Privacy is critical to me and my family. I completely agree that there needs to be an option to eliminate the "requests". They look like IM's and it is frightening to see strange people appearing in my contact list.

There is a very simple answer to this. Skype should only show someone in your contacts once both you and the other person have added each other's skype contact name. At this point I am looking at dropping Skype until this is resolved.

Ha - I thought that I don't have any contacts that I didn't add - and what a surprise - I have, though it's with the option of enable, disable etc.
But again - you're right - it should occur - I want in my contact list only people who I want.
There could be another list of people who want me to exchange contact details - but not mixed with my main contacts.

Reverting back to 3.8 will stop having this occur.

Just adding in to this conversation also. I was just searching for this same issue since I just started seeing it the past couple days. Glad to see I'm not the only one with this issue. I only 'reluctantly' went up to version 4 due to the rest of my office using it. Now I'm getting these SPAM contacts about once a day and are a pain to have to go through the process to block each one.

Please see this as well:

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic...t&p=1710591

to Lubo0755254 ~ thank you for explaining what's going on with the Contact Requests that look like IMs and why they are showing up seemingly added to the contact list without approval. this post http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic...p;#entry1710591 by TheUberOverlord was particularly helpful too. thanks.

Thanks that helped explain it to me also.

I'm still puzzled by the behavior changes in 4.0. I've followed all the recommendations on verifying privacy settings, making sure that I am not notified of contact requests, and hiding people I haven't shared contact details with (this is the only setting I changed). But I am still seeing notifications in the system tray and I am still seeing requests for contacts that I did not previously see. This behavior IS different than previous versions of Skype. I know we've been told that default settings have changed, and that contact requests appear differently. But even when changing the defaults and disabling the pop-up windows, the experience still is different, and still sucks.

In addition, today I have a message in my history that shows that I shared contact details with jphkrug yesterday. I didn't even use Skype yesterday. So what does it mean that I've "shared contact details?" If jphkrug can obtain my contact info without intervention from me, this is a bad UI message and something like "jphkrug obtained your contact details" would be more clear.

Click to view attachment

I still think that there are some contact-related bugs in the new version of Skype. The obvious ones that others have posted are that contact requests show the options of adding *and* removing the contact, and contacts have to be removed twice to actually be removed from the contact list. (This is even true when hiding from the contact list and removing just from the conversation list -- it takes three actions to completely remove the conversation and contact request: remove from contact list, remove from contact list, delete conversation, or something like that.) The ones that are harder to prove are around the behavior of contact requests.

The power users/moderators claim that those of us reporting the issue just don't understand the software. If these people were from Skype, I would say thay they just don't understand usability and customer service.

I must also agree with everything said above. Tje pron spam seems to come and go. Some days I can get bombarded and other days are fine. The one thing I really cannot understand is that I leave my machine for half a day and then suddenly when I come back I find ten people inserted into my contacts - all jibberish. If you open one it clearly states that I have shared contat details with this person, which I obviously did not do.

Neil, and others, I've already seen you dismiss this question in several topics. Please, don't do this but look into the issue. There is some clear change in this department, please, believe us seasoned users.

Today I received a similar one, too. Somebody tried to contact me, I was offered by the program to accept, to reject or to block. I did block and I did report it as abuse (because that's what I consider it) but while the dialog box offering these alternatives was displayed on screen, this new "user" already appeared in my contact list in the main window. When I voted for rejecting and removing, it disappeared all right, however, it still remains in config.xml under <CentralStorage><SyncSet><u>.

It is obvious that contact requests can't be blocked everywhere because then, even legitimate contact can't be established anymore. However, do change the current behavior. Don't add the contact into the list and offer it to remove but the other way around: it shouldn't appear anywhere (either in the contact list temporarily or in the config file permanently) unless I authorize it.

I#m sure that this is a very well known "feature" of Skype.
But they still try to ignore it. You can see it by some typical answers.

Any one can send you an "invitations".
Any stupid automatic crawler will simply harvest theses names in the Skype forum and other places you left back your Skype name, as it is as your obligation is to use your Skype name in this forum as well..
In "Privacy" you can set to any possibility, nothing will help to ignore your "new contact". All settings in Privacy are set to
people in my Contact list ONLY.

Any "invitation" once reached your Skype, this will automatically as as new contact. This "new contact" will be stored on your PC AND immediately will be sent to the Skype server and there will be added to YOUR Contact list.
What you can do is ONLY BLOCKING this new contact.
This blocking will be done ONLY on this specific PC you are working on.
Skype BLOCKING only means: "make this contact invisible but leave it and don't touch it".
Please note carefully:
Blocking will NOT be done on the Skype server - only on your actual running machine.
If you go to any other machine and there start Skype with your account, ALL blocked contacts are visible again. ---> You have to block them again.
AND If you do a Skype profile reset, its the same.

If you have some knowledge about Skype and your PC, you will find all these contacts in your Skype config.xml. Here you can delete the specific contacts.
With next restart of Skype you will find them back on that place you just deleted. With every restart of Skype, your Skype will call back home and ask for the contacts. As you are not able to delete these contacts, you will get them ALL back.

Conclusion:
This contact list you only can pop up with new names - you never can reduce this list by those names you don't like.
This is a marriage for lifetime.
What you can do is:
Open a second Skype account and use it in public like forums etc.

Uh...no, you don't have to use your Skype name on the forums. I don't. I don't post any actual user name anywhere.

Surely the real issue is that anyone can search and find me in the skype directory. This means our details can be harvested automatically.

How long will it be before we're inundated with so many contact list requests that it's impossible to get anything else done? The only solution will be to stop using skype.

I would like to be able to keep my skype name (and all other details) private. If I want someone to add me as a contact I can tell them my details. This doesn't seem to be possible currently, and I'm worried that it may be too late - once my name gets onto someone's list it can be passed around...

May be I am very luck with this problem as I receive no more that 1 SPAM request per month if that. The only difference if my account setting to Skype's standard was I removed every piece of information from my profile that I could and set my Skype privacy settings to only receive contact from people on my contact list.

Actually, this is not what's happening. The blocked entry will indeed reappear in Config.xml but not from the server (it does so even before you sign in) but from your local Main.db database. Nonetheless, the problem is very real and can become annoying.

I've also been having problems with spam. If I make my privacy settings so that I only receive calls/chat messages from people in my contacts list (I never use SkypeMe mode), I cannot receive phone calls to my SkypeIn number (people get a busy tone, not even voicemail or announcement). I have missed several important phone calls because of this and didn't know the reason. I paid money for a year subscription, but it looks like I'm going back to using a landline.

Neil and Uber both know exactly what we are complaining about, but instead of addressing the problem they simply tell us that we don't know what we're talking about. Over the last few days I've read most of the posts on several different threads complaining about the problem of having unsolicited requests to be added as a contact. These requests appear in the Contacts column of the Skype window, leading us to believe that they have actually been added to our contact list. The requests are not im's, nor are they actual contacts. We've all set our privacy settings as instructed by these representatives of Skype, but the bad behavior persists - we still get unsolicited requests to be added to a porn spammer's contact list, and to add them as one of our contacts.

Skype, WE ARE SICK OF THIS AND WANT IT TO STOP! If you cannot change the programming to not allow anyone to send an unsolicited contact request, we can no longer continue to use Skype.

Folks, vote with your feet. Close your Skype account, uninstall the software, and don't look back. There are several alternatives to Skype (just do a search for skype alternatives), one of which I have installed on my laptop and my home computer, and have asked all my contacts (all my family members) to do the same. This may not be a viable alternative for some users, and I'm sorry for you. Until Skype actually responds to the problem, you're just gonna have to live with it.

Farewell, Skype. I'll never be back.

I'm a bit concerned that nothing is being done about this. It's all well and good for the Skype team to dismiss them as 'contact requests', but I'm receiving at least two contact requests per day which all include messages that link to unsavoury or potentially dangerous sites. Only a minority of users who have this problem will come to the forums so you can tell them that you don't care and we're wrong. The rest will just get fed up with the spam and stop using Skype.

Shouldn't contact requests appear wholly separate to other contacts by default? I was convinced that they were bypassing the privacy features and sending me messages without my consent. I've only discovered that this isn't the case by coming onto the forums. Do you expect most of your users to research this and fiddle about sorting out contact groups? It's especially annoying that you point out that we're wrong when they appear listed under 'Conversations'. How do you expect us to deduce that they're friend-requesting us, rather than bypassing the privacy options to send spam messages?

I'm downgrading to an earlier version which doesn't have this problem (sorry, 'feature'.) Or preferably, finding alternative software.

Its clear that since upgrading to ver 4 it is now possible for spammers to put their wares onto my desktop. Whether they are doing it via contact request or IM is immaterial the fact is it can pop up at any time exposing me and my family to their filth.

Instead of nit picking how about getting some momentum behind a change being made to the software to stop or lessen this problem. Yes I know I can go back to a previous version but really I have 5 PC's is this the best Skype can do?

All credit to Lubo for actually taking the time to think before putting down the lowly masses.

This is an issue that did not exist before the new version and if it is indeed by design it should be designed back out! I get more than 15000 spam emails sent to my email address every month and I get more offensive messages on Skype than I get in my inbox thanks to Gmail spam checker!

It cannot be too difficult to either

1. Make an privacy option to stop messages being transmitted along with the contact request.
2. Block these spammers at source they must be picking up abuse flags like crazy how is this being policed?
3. Make a new privacy option that says 'Don't let anyone contact me directly unless they are in my contacts not ever ever ever not even to say hi'

There are settings and options to deal with this currently.

Please see this video to see how you can use them:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/TheUberOverLord/videos/12/

I have done the only thing I can figure out to do to perhaps remedy this problem: I've canceled all Skype premium services, effective immediately. The only way to get the eBay/PayPal mafia's attention is via the pocketbook.

I am an IT proseffional with 15+ years of experience (Skype even tried to recruit me few years ago).

I "think" am able to check and understand all the skype security, notification and visibility settings. I have notification off when some one adds me to their contact list. I have everything in privacy set to "my contact list only", I naver used the "skype me" - mode (which apparently no longer even exist) I have "invisible" mode on. and I STILL get the porn spam.
They even somehow add themselves to my contact list !!!!!
I have pretty hardcore firewall and I scn my pc requently with anti-spam and anti-virus software. I leave the computer on for few hours and when I come back I have 1-2 "pornbabyxyz352535" conversations and some of those are added to my contcact list.

I'm guessing spammers are using Skype API and the new "conversation" system seems to have some SERIOUS security holes and bugs. This problem started few months back around the time the "conversation" feature was added to skype.

This is just an guess, though an educated guess, that spammers start conversation between 2 spammer accounts and then add random victim accounts to this conversation. Then one spammer account sends spam to the other which accepts/authorises it and this somehow allows the spam to leak through the security of all the conversation members.

This spam is getting so bad that I think I will stop using skype.

Please see this:

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic...t&p=1851021

I am sure you know, with your background, we in the forum, can't fix this.

I have read these threads, and I can concur that the "solutions" to the spam IM's are not adequate. I have been using Skype for 2 years now, and generally have been satisfied with the program. I use it to contact relatives in the US, the Middle East, and the Balkans, using online and the online-to-landline service. I think that I know my way around the program - but frankly, I am flustered at the number of junk messages that pop up every time I log on. More than that, it is embarassing to have these messages appear when another member of my household uses the account. Even after engaging all the various privacy measures, the number of annoying IM's is actually increasing.

I'm one or two steps away from chucking Skype into my recycle bin.

Does Oprah get this crap in her account too?

Here's the problem Skype, I'm not using this product in hopes my long lost friend finds me like you might on MySpace or Facebook I'm using Skype as a communication tool, like it was advertised. Remember Skype, the cheap long distance and international calls. Now you are trying to mix in other features and act like you know what's best for me and what I want. Well, I don't want someone to "request authorization". Do I get calls from Porn spam on my Verizon cell phone? No!!! Because it's bad for business! Right?! Hey Skype, you know how annoying it is when I open up the Skype Application and I get 30 "request authorizations" and they're all porn spam? You know how annoying it is to have to block each and every one of them and then report abuse? Does report abuse even work? The abusers got it figured out, I block and report abuse on Caroline300, and the next day I get a "request authorization" from Caroline301. Skype, do you see the problem, blocking and reporting abuse is pointless. I don't even want to open the application on my computer anymore. Thank God the abusers haven't figured out how to take advantage of your "request authorization" feature on my iphone/ipod touch or your software would be useless to me! I am a paying customer, I paid for a year of service and an online number, this is not what I paid money for, and I trust you will have this thing figured out before my renewal period. Also, "theguberoverlord" if your on the Skype payroll forward this message to someone who can do something about this! Thanks! Here's a link explaining Skype's great idea for the "request authorization" feature. (https://support.skype.com/faq/FA132/What-is-the-difference-between-authorizations-and-contacts?frompage=category). I also copied it below.

What is the difference between authorizations and contacts?

Having someone on your Contacts List makes it easier to communicate with them -- they're just a mouse click away to call. In the latest versions of Skype for Windows (and the newest Mac and Linux versions) your contacts are stored centrally on our servers.

Authorizations are different in that they grant the right to see the online status of the other party. Often people set their Privacy settings so that only authorized people can contact them or see when they are online. If someone's settings require Authorization in order to contact them then you must request authorization, once authorization has been granted you will be able to see when they are online and contact them.