How do I prevent these whores from leaving me messages?

[Argent Towers]

On AIM, I'm constantly getting messages that read like this:

Lcy88923: Hi, I just saw your profile, My Name is Mariah, 18 from Cali, Just wondering if you might want to chat sometime. I have some pics on my page if you want to check it out, do you have any pics I can see? Here is the page, www~Mariah~us~tf (replace the ~ with a Dot or period so you are able to go to the site, sign my profile please!)

First of all, before I even say anything else, what kind of sob-moronic swine would actually fall for that? "Oh, yes, I've always had a thing for girls from the French Antarctic Territory. And the tildes in your website address, no, I don't think there's anything weird about that. I think I'll do it!"

Secondly, what insidious entity is sending out these messages to me?

And thirdly, how in the hell do I stop them from coming forever? Some of them say "to stop, type 'remove me'" and I do it, but other whores with different names still leave me messages. It's so annoying. What do I do?

[Mangetout]

Messages through what medium?

[tim314]

You could try editing your profile and un-checking the "allow people to search for me" check box.

[tim314]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

Messages through what medium?

AOL Instant Messenger, apparently.

On AIM . . .

[Mangetout]

Damn. Missed that. Sorry. Carry on.

[Thin Lizzy]

I don't think you can ever totally escape it.

[roger thornhill]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

Damn. Missed that. Sorry. Carry on.

What, no advice now you've ascertained the medium? Did it make that much of a difference?!

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by roger thornhill

What, no advice now you've ascertained the medium? Did it make that much of a difference?!

It might have done; having overlooked the mention of AIM, I was unsure whether these were spam emails (in which case a spam filter, locally or at ISP level, would be required), or if they were Windows pop-up messages (in which case turning off the Windows Messaging Component would be the fix), or something else altogether (as it actually turned out to be.

Having been pointed out to me that this is an AOL-related issue, I deliberately refrained from offering further advice, but if you really want to know what it would have been, here it is: "Don't use AOL - this is only one of the good reasons not to use AOL".

[bluecanary]

Anyone can use AIM, not just those who have AOL as their ISP. It's just an alternative instant messaging service to MSN Messenger, or ICQ.

[bluecanary]

Oh, and, if it's anything like MSN Messenger in terms of options, you can switch on a setting that only allows messages from 'friends' (i.e. authorised senders) to get through to you. This should prevent the 'whores' from getting their messages through. Its a while since I used AIM though so I'm not sure where the option is in the program.

[Mangetout]

I suppose you're right - although I'm not sure what the statistics look like as regards people who have installed AIM standalone and those who got it along with the whole AOL package.

I may be guilty of over-reacting here, but having attempted to repair quite a number of computers after the user had inserted an AOL CD and ultimately screwed everything up, I have a somewhat visceral negative reaction to AOL in general.

[bluecanary]

I have a shared broadband connection, but installed it because I needed to chat with the support of a particular software package, and they were on AIM as opposed to MSN. In general I prefer MSN though.

[dlack]

The AIM network is used by many many people who don't use AOL as their ISP. In my experience most college students use AIM (or other clients to access the AIM network, such as GAIM or Trillian).

If you don't want messages from random people, you should be able to go into preferences and only allow messages from Buddies.

[bouv]

Go into preferances, and somewhere undier security, or privacy, there is an option about who can/can't talk to you. There are three options. One, is everyone can talk to you unless they are on a blocked list, the secodn is no matter what only people on your buddy list can talk to you, and the third is like an anti-blocked list, only the people on a new list, seperate from your buddy list, can talk to you.

As a side not, don't use AIM. Go download Gaim.

From their FAQ:

Gaim is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks.

Gaim users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AOL Instant Messenger, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time.

And I find it's much better than Trillian, even though Trillian might be more popular. (For one thing, Gaim recognizwes links in away mesasges and profilse, I don't know if Trillian does that now, but it didn't last time I used it and that as enough to put me off of it.)

[bluecanary]

Thanks, that sounds like it might be useful next time I need to IM with someone who's not on MSN. AIM got annoying quickly because of the stupid box it flashed up every time I started my computer.

[vetbridge]

Originally Posted by Argent Towers

Secondly, what insidious entity is sending out these messages to me?

Hmmmm...

Originally Posted by Argent Towers

How do I prevent these whores from leaving me messages?

insidious entity = whores

[vetbridge]

Originally Posted by Argent Towers

And thirdly, how in the hell do I stop them from coming forever?

Clitoridectomy?

[Uvula Donor]

Try going into "Options" and checking the box marked "No Messages From Whores."

[vetbridge]

Originally Posted by Uvula Donor

Try going into "Options" and checking the box marked "No Messages From Whores."

Note, however, that messages from harlots will bypass this attempt.

[Sierra Indigo]

Originally Posted by vetbridge

Note, however, that messages from harlots will bypass this attempt.

How about those from slatterns? They tend to be rather wily...

[Chronos]

Y'know, I was going to say something about the vitriol implied by the OP's choice of word, but given the nature of the communications, "whore" probably is reasonably accurate. Although "pimp" would probably be even more so, since the person responsible for sending the messages (that is to say, the person who started the inhuman script that's actually doing the sending) is almost certainly not the woman (if any) who is depicted in the pictures (if any).

I will also say that I've never gotten any spam on AIM, but I have received messages from people with whom I had no prior AIM contact (mostly other Dopers), so I know that it's possible for messages to reach me without being explicitly authorized. I don't know what distinguishes my situation from that of the OP, however... Maybe I'm just lucky.

[vetbridge]

Originally Posted by Sierra Indigo

How about those from slatterns? They tend to be rather wily...

Their wiliness being their primary attraction, I'd tend to see your point. Maybe check off the following boxes

B-girl, bag, bawd, bimbo, blower, broad, call girl, camp follower, cat, chicken, chippie, concubine, courtesan, fallen woman, floozy, harlot, hooker, hostess, hustler, loose woman, midnight cowboy, model, moll, nymphomaniac, painted woman, party girl, pickup, pink pants, pro, scarlet woman, slut, streetwalker, strumpet, tart, tomato, tramp, trollop, white slave, whore, working girl.

just to be cautious.

[Lemur866]

Just in case the OP is confused, let me clarify.

You aren't being instant messaged purposely by cyberwhores who saw you in a chatroom and are now trying to get you to visit their website. You're being instant messaged randomly by a spammer who sends millions of instant messages in the hopes of getting someone to hit his website...which might be porn, it might be a clikcfarm, it might be malware, it might be a broken link, who knows. It is likely that the spam itself is sent from an infected computer that was taken over when the user visited the spam malware website in the first place. Or it could be ghost spam...some stupid spammer is sending out millions of broken spams that don't even contain a valid link.

[psiekier]

They're more properly called "bots" - virtual entities that exist only because AOL (or Yahoo, or MSN, or whomever) has released enough of the code to allow unscrupulous developers out there to create programs which can behave like human users in a limited fashion.

They're all over the place on Yahoo. The programs are so sophisticated that bots can enter and exit chatrooms and make simulated conversation (although it is usually random and somehwhat meaningless).

The objective, as Lemur866 said, is to get you to read their profile and click on the links there, or to click on the links embedded in the statements they make, and thus nefariously direct traffic (specifically, you!) to websites chosen by the programmer.

Blocking them won't do you any good. The blocking is done by name, and as you may have noticed, all bots have a random string of characters (usually numbers) appended to the end of their names to foil this.

Yahoo has privacy settings that allow you to ignore anyone who's not on your contact list. AIM has even more options, allowing you to set up an acceptible list and block list, as well as going by your list of contacts by default. These privacy tools are your best bet.

[Argent Towers]

Originally Posted by Lemur866

Just in case the OP is confused, let me clarify.

You aren't being instant messaged purposely by cyberwhores who saw you in a chatroom and are now trying to get you to visit their website.

Har har. I never thought that. What kind of idiot do you think I am? Huh? HUH?!?! Seriously, though, I really wonder what kind of person would fall for that.

[Chronos]

Their wiliness being their primary attraction, I'd tend to see your point. Maybe check off the following boxes

B-girl, bag, bawd, bimbo, blower, broad, call girl, camp follower, cat, chicken, chippie, concubine, courtesan, fallen woman, floozy, harlot, hooker, hostess, hustler, loose woman, midnight cowboy, model, moll, nymphomaniac, painted woman, party girl, pickup, pink pants, pro, scarlet woman, slut, streetwalker, strumpet, tart, tomato, tramp, trollop, white slave, whore, working girl.

just to be cautious.

Perhaps, but that'd still leave women of the night, ho's, madams, escorts, and coochie mammas.

[FilmGeek]

Originally Posted by Argent Towers

"Oh, yes, I've always had a thing for girls from the French Antarctic Territory.

[bouv]

Originally Posted by psiekier

Blocking them won't do you any good. The blocking is done by name, and as you may have noticed, all bots have a random string of characters (usually numbers) appended to the end of their names to foil this.

Well, just blocknig the name, no, cause another one can get you. But, as said, there is an option you can check that will only allow those people already on your buddy list to message you. Hell, only people on your buddy list will even know you're online.

[Bytegeist]

Originally Posted by vetbridge

Their [ slatterns' ] wiliness being their primary attraction, I'd tend to see your point. Maybe check off the following boxes

B-girl, bag, bawd, bimbo, blower, broad, call girl, camp follower, cat, chicken, chippie, concubine, courtesan, fallen woman, floozy, harlot, hooker, hostess, hustler, loose woman, midnight cowboy, model, moll, nymphomaniac, painted woman, party girl, pickup, pink pants, pro, scarlet woman, slut, streetwalker, strumpet, tart, tomato, tramp, trollop, white slave, whore, working girl.

just to be cautious.

Originally Posted by Chronos

Perhaps, but that'd still leave women of the night, ho's, madams, escorts, and coochie mammas.

How about skanks? Won't someone think of the skanks?

(And what the h— chippie??)

[Lemur866]

Originally Posted by Argent Towers

Har har. I never thought that. What kind of idiot do you think I am? Huh? HUH?!?! Seriously, though, I really wonder what kind of person would fall for that.

Well, the only reason I thought you could be confused was because you called the spammers "whores", so I wasn't sure if you thought you were being IM'd by actual, y'know, whores. As in, people trying to get you to pay for some sort of sexual gratification. Y'know, just plain old honest whores and pornographers, rather than sociopathic spammers. Calling a spammer a whore confused me, since whoring is by comparison a noble profession, whereas spammers are on a whole different lower level, down there with advertising executives, organ thieves and personal injury lawyers.

Who would be confused by this? Maybe kids? Maybe grandparents? The mentally retarded? Maybe peope who don't pay much attention? Maybe people who are in chat rooms all the time and just click things at random? Maybe people who click faster than they think?

I think at this point most spam isn't "legitimate" spam anymore, as in spam designed to send you to a real website or get you to buy something. Most spam nowadays is an attempt to install malware, or junk spam that doesn't do anything, or contracted out spam where the spammer is paid to send spam on behalf of a third party, but the spammer is scamming his customer rather than the spam recipients, or attempts to get you to hit "remove me from your spam list". Spammers nowadays don't seem to have any pride in their workmanship. Since a lot of spam is sent from zombie machines, spam doesn't have to cost the spammer anything except his time...he doesn't even pay for bandwidth anymore.

[Bookkeeper]

Originally Posted by FilmGeek

List of Internet top-level domains - read down to the ".tf" domain name used in the message received by the OP, which indicates that "Mariah, 18 from Cali" is using a Web URL issued for the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, i.e. is a spammer with a cheap, disposable registration.

[FlightlessBird]

Just wanted to add a different approach that I used to get. (for about 3 weeks, a couple of months ago) I would return to my computer and see something like this:
Hi There
Too bad you're not there. I wanted to chat. Anyway look at my Yahoo Profile here and drop me a line.

The link was to a whore on Yahoo Personals with a very nice picture. Then another time this happened, I was at my computer. I got the first line then a 1-2 minute pause, during which, I actually tried to type ('go away') but the next thing I got was the "Too bad you're not there" line. (obviously a bot)

I use Trillian. The messages came through AIM. My company started sending out these emails, "There is a pernicious, destructive virus that is transmitted via AIM. The virus is activated by clicking links within your AIM chat window." It goes on to mention that even links from friends could be dangerous.
So I'm going to say that the IT dept plugged this security hole.

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by Bookkeeper

List of Internet top-level domains - read down to the ".tf" domain name used in the message received by the OP, which indicates that "Mariah, 18 from Cali" is using a Web URL issued for the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, i.e. is a spammer with a cheap, disposable registration.

Or furry boots.

How do you know they're whores? Maybe they're just pornographers.

[Cervaise]

Originally Posted by psiekier

The programs are so sophisticated that bots can enter and exit chatrooms and make simulated conversation (although it is usually random and somehwhat meaningless).

Hey, I bet we have some o' them bots pretending to be registered users here on the Dope.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

Set up an account for AIM that's completely different from your email address and from any screen names you might use in chat rooms. The only chats I participate in are anonymous--I can change screen names every time I join--and I only give out my AIM name to people I want to communicate with. I've never had a message from anyone I haven't explicitly authorized.

[Misnomer]

Originally Posted by bluecanary

AIM got annoying quickly because of the stupid box it flashed up every time I started my computer.

I assume you're talking about the "AIM Today" window: if so, there's an option you can set to keep it from popping up every time you start AIM.

At work I use GAIM instead of AIM, but only because it allows me to enter aliases: the day AIM allows me to rename my buddies I'll go back to using it exclusively.

[Mr2001]

Originally Posted by psiekier

They're more properly called "bots" - virtual entities that exist only because AOL (or Yahoo, or MSN, or whomever) has released enough of the code to allow unscrupulous developers out there to create programs which can behave like human users in a limited fashion.

According to the Gaim FAQ, the AIM (Oscar), ICQ, and Yahoo IM protocols were reverse engineered, not based on any releases from the companies involved.

[slaphead]

Originally Posted by vetbridge

tomato

Anyone care to explain the derivation of this one before my head explodes?

[DocCathode]

Originally Posted by slaphead

Anyone care to explain the derivation of this one before my head explodes?

WAG It comes from the method of testing a tomato for ripeness.

[vetbridge]

Originally Posted by DocCathode

WAG It comes from the method of testing a tomato for ripeness.

You test your tomatoes ripeness with your penis? Where do you shop that they allow that?

[DocCathode]

Originally Posted by vetbridge

You test your tomatoes ripeness with your penis? Where do you shop that they allow that?

As I've mentioned before, I live in a neighborhood full of Soviet immigrants. Some of them believe I'm Rasputin's grandson or his reincarnation or something. I've tried explaining that I'm not. But many of these people speak as much English as I speak Russian. Finally, I just decided to play along. This involves showing reverence to images of the Romanovs, pouring vodka on my clothes so that I stink of booze, and occasionally exposing myself in public places.

.
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Actually, I was thinking of the groping/pinching of breasts and buttocks. Like tomatos, they should be neither hard and unyielding, nor soft and sagging.

[vetbridge]

Originally Posted by DocCathode

Actually, I was thinking of the groping/pinching of breasts and buttocks. Like tomatos, they should be neither hard and unyielding, nor soft and sagging.

A rotten odor also would disqualify both from considreration.

[slaphead]

The lyrics to Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny by the Bloodhound Gang.

Of course! :wally