unknown people adding me to contacts

hi,

in the last few weeks 5 or 6 very random email addresses have added me to
their msn contacts list. obviously, i blocked them immediately and so did not
add them to my contacts list.

they tend to be unusual names, such as Maura, Stella, Wilda, the type you
usually associate with spam... having said that, thankfully my hotmail
account does not actually get any spam mail usually

1. can anyone tell me why this is happening?

2. if i was to accidentally add one of them in future, would that make it
possible for them to send me viruses through Messenger?

i did have the virtumonde virus a few weeks ago, but thats been cleaned up now

thankyou

"puthp" <> wrote in message
news:C0FAC6A5-DFAD-4C5F-8825-...
> hi,
>
> in the last few weeks 5 or 6 very random email addresses have added me
> to
> their msn contacts list. obviously, i blocked them immediately and so
> did not
> add them to my contacts list.
>
> they tend to be unusual names, such as Maura, Stella, Wilda, the type
> you
> usually associate with spam... having said that, thankfully my hotmail
> account does not actually get any spam mail usually
>
> 1. can anyone tell me why this is happening?
>
> 2. if i was to accidentally add one of them in future, would that make
> it
> possible for them to send me viruses through Messenger?
>
> i did have the virtumonde virus a few weeks ago, but thats been
> cleaned up now
>
> thankyou


I can't tell you why it happens - but I experience the same problem for
several years.

All of the attempted intrusions have been from Hotmail accounts. I have
just blocked a similar attempt from someone called Jennie
(). I wish Microsoft would provide an easy
method of reporting this type of abuse (in the same way that I can
submit automated Junk mail reports via the Hotmail webmail interface or
via Windows Live Mail).

To protect against all unwanted intrusion, open WLMessenger and click on
Tools | Options | Privacy. Then, tick the box marked "Only people on my
Allow list can see my status and send me messages".

"Bob Lucas" <> wrote in message news:#...
> To protect against all unwanted intrusion, open WLMessenger and click on Tools | Options |
> Privacy. Then, tick the box marked "Only people on my Allow list can see my status and
> send me messages".

That won't stop people from adding you I'm afraid.

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
(c) 2008 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
--

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "Bob Lucas" <> wrote in message
> news:#...
>> To protect against all unwanted intrusion, open WLMessenger and click
>> on Tools | Options | Privacy. Then, tick the box marked "Only people
>> on my Allow list can see my status and send me messages".
>
> That won't stop people from adding you I'm afraid.
>
> --
> Jonathan Kay
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> (c) 2008 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this
> signature or citation
> --
>
>
>


I agree entirely, although it does mean that the attempt to add my
identity will be ineffective - because it prevents the "attacker" from
seeing the user's status or sending messages from the outset.

However, I am concerned about the motives behind these "attacks" - which
always emanate from Live identities based upon Hotmail addresses. At
the very minimum, Microsoft should provide an easy reporting mechanism -
and should terminate the Live identities / Hotmail accounts of
perpetrators.

the same is happening to me, and the other part says i add them

"Bob Lucas" wrote:

> "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" <> wrote in message
> news:...
> > "Bob Lucas" <> wrote in message
> > news:#...
> >> To protect against all unwanted intrusion, open WLMessenger and click
> >> on Tools | Options | Privacy. Then, tick the box marked "Only people
> >> on my Allow list can see my status and send me messages".
> >
> > That won't stop people from adding you I'm afraid.
> >
> > --
> > Jonathan Kay
> > Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> > MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> > MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> > Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> > (c) 2008 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this
> > signature or citation
> > --
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> I agree entirely, although it does mean that the attempt to add my
> identity will be ineffective - because it prevents the "attacker" from
> seeing the user's status or sending messages from the outset.
>
> However, I am concerned about the motives behind these "attacks" - which
> always emanate from Live identities based upon Hotmail addresses. At
> the very minimum, Microsoft should provide an easy reporting mechanism -
> and should terminate the Live identities / Hotmail accounts of
> perpetrators.
>
>