My girlfriend thinks she has a spyware problem. She has strange e-mails with her name on it. Some of them from her blackberry, but those may be spoofed. Are there any difference between spyware software out there? Her ex-bf from a long time ago set up her router, and she fears that she may have given him access, but I don’t think he’s that malicious. How else can she scrub her cpu to make sure it’s clean? Thanks for any advice. I’m sure this question has been dealt with before, but with the advent of Software and how quickly it changes, I wanted to make sure I have the most up to date info.
I get plenty of e-mails with my proper name on it. It’s a consequence of posting your info online. Mine are probably a result of posting my resume on monster.com.
Its most likely just spoofed emails, I have seen them as well.
yes, but can they spoof e-mails from blackberry stuff, too?
any email address can be spoofed, my boss made some comment about email being inviolate and he trusts it far more than a paper memo anyone might have typed up and printed.
10 min later he had an email from his boss, CC:the regional HR manager, the CEO, and VP of operations saying that he was fired and to give his keys and alarm codes to the new branch manager Drachillix 
Suddenly his faith in email was shattered, he started calling people to confirm things because he was worried I would send him a BS email telling him to do something wrong :rolleyes:
The voices say give Drachillix a raise
Yeah, this just sounds like simple email spoofing to me, but it’s always a good idea to run more than one anti-spyware program on a regular basis.
Lavasoft’s AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy are both free and easy to use. It is important to regularly update their definition files, and scans should be run on a regular basis.
AdAware - Welcome Adaware Antivirus Free users - CNET Download
Spybot - http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10401314.html?tag=lst-0-1
For general security, home (Windows) computer users mainly need to worry about three things…
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Keeping Windows patched and up to date from WindowsUpdate.com.
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Running up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware programs (AVG is a free anti-virus program).
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Running a desktop firewall (there are free versions like ZoneAlarm and a limited one built in with XP).
In addition to this, many routers come with built in firewalls, but unless you know how to configure them properly, they won’t do a whole lot for you out of the box. To put her mind at rest it’s probably a good idea to change the admin password on the router. Usually, they have a web admin panel you can do this from. What make/type of router is it?
Note also that many spammers just ring the changes on e-mail addresses (aasmith@, absmith@, acsmith@, and so on…) or obtain your address from other infected users or sources. She should scan regularly anyway.