i give out tagged email addresses to my brokerage accounts. so i might give out one like ib @(my domain name).com to interactive brokers, another one would be like iz101 for izone, etc. a couple years ago, i got my first stock spam sent to an inside brokerage account. that was to an izone tagged account. worked with some techies on it, changed my email address, got more stock spam to the NEW email address, and eventually they said things were solved. i don't know what they fixed - wish i did - because it's happened again with other brokerages. i'm guessing it's got to do with a backdoor open in the databases, or some type of (SQL?) injection to leave something open. today, i got 3 of the same stock spam, sent to 3 different brokerage-only accounts. i'm sure other people are getting these...just putting this out there so ppl don't think they are the only one getting them. i only wish that the crappy OTC stocks they pumped were shortable without nutty restrictions. oh - the new ones are from "thestockdetective" and use this at the end: Agora Multimedia, LLC. * 2761 Vista Parkway, Suite E4 * West Palm Beach * FL 33411 This email was sent by the following company The Insiders Group LLC. * 4231 Dant Blvd * Reno * NV 89509 * United States
please don't throw this offtrack. no, it's not a trojan. 100% certainty. i don't use outlook/web for mail. these were sent to a server (separate) with very specific user email IDs. and i've talked with others who have gotten them as well, but didn't have tagged email addresses. oh, the stock they're spamming for is RAYS.
For some background on why spam was sent to your izone email address a few years ago, google for "ameritrade spam".
loufah - nice to know that there were some other people getting hit / complaining / doing similar tactics to what i was when it happened. one thing, though - i didn't see in any of them *how* the email addresses were officially obtained. it had to be some hack - whether through SQL or something else - any ideas how they obtained the list? (and it wasn't a one-time hack, as noted, they got the addresses when people including me *changed*)
I had a similar experience some time back. I started getting targeted stock spam to one of my tagged brokerage (not Ameritrade) email addresses. After I complained about it, the spam problem immediately went away, although the broker claimed they had nothing to do with it. I find that episode mildly worrying, though.
Actually, I received the same spam. I got suspicious because (similar to the OP) the email address that I used has only been used for a few financial accounts, with Ameritrade, OptionsHouse, and Fidelity being the only brokerage firms. After doing a Google search for: "The Insiders Group LLC" AND spam I saw this thread. I am going to assume the spam was due to Ameritrade because that account has been open longer than the others, as well as their past spam incident regarding Ameritrade, which (I believe) they settled through a class action lawsuit. I find it interesting though that the company doing the spamming is doing it with an email list where it could easily proven that the emails sent were not only spam, but most the list was likely acquired due to illegal means (hacking or whatever) - unless the list was purchased.