AIM Spam - fishbot

[PepperElf]

Not sure if anyone else here has gotten this... I got a blank IM the other day from someone/something named "Gallantcoho".

I thought it was a hacker so I closed it out.

Turns out it's not a hacker but... to me it's just a f'ing annoying...

AIM Fish Bot / project upstream


Apparently the project scans popular networks for recent accounts - like Livejournal, Twitter, DeviantArt, Xanga, and Digg. Then they'll message you on AIM and send you an IM from some kind of name followed by the phrase Coho, in an attempt to start up a conversation between two strangers.

You simply have to reply with $optout to opt out of the program.



.... um.... ok this is where i turn into the PepperBitch.
1) Who the hell are they and why should I have to "opt out" of something I never asked to be part of anyway.

2) Where the hell does it say in ANY of the "Terms of Service" that having an account there means "I want to join this program".


<snarl>!

[Toujin]

Thanks for the heads-up

[edible_hat]

2) Where the hell does it say in ANY of the "Terms of Service" that having an account there means "I want to join this program"

Nowhere. It's a third party doing it anyway. If enough people complain, AOL will ban them.

[Eric the Grey]

. . . and people wonder why I no longer use AIM....

I had an AIM account a long time ago, and ended up getting spammed so much I dumped not only it, but the email address I was using for it. Just not worth the hassle.



Eric the Grey

[otakuneko]

On the rare occasions I actually use my IM accounts, I always make sure that my client (meebo, pidgin/gaim, bitlbee, etc) is set to block anyone not on my contact list already.

What a silly project.