Random emails asking me to "Remove from email list"

[gws76]

Today I received 5 different emails from 5 different email accounts telling me to remove them from my mailing list. The strange things is that I have never emailed to these accounts before nor do I have these people listed on any mailing list. I don't know if this is a case of a spammer checking to see if my email address is valid. Does anyone have any suggestions on why this is happening?

Sounds like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

[gjh42]

Are you saying those e-mail addresses are not your customers? If so, it sure does sound suspicious.

[paulm]

I think it's the Tell A Friend feature you have enabled.

I would first disable the box and then rename the Tell A Friend related files (don't ask me which files, but there is a post somewhere on this board that says which files should be renamed or removed).

[gjh42]

Yes, that would do it, especially if you have "allow guest to tell friend" enabled. Spammer's heaven!

[gws76]

Yes these are people I don't know. I asked these people who was sending this and listed below is a response from one person. Looks like a spammer is using my site to send junk out. Is there anyway that I can see who has used this feature lately?

I've disable the Tell a Friend side box through Tools - Layout Boxes Controller. Do I need to do more than disable it? Is there a way to just allow customers with accounts to use the Tell a Friend option for it to only appear when they are logged in?

Hi friend! Your friend, jane, thought that you would be interested in EVO Small Bites
Dog & Puppy Food from Sullivan Vitamins & Irish Shop. jane sent a note saying: Hi, 
I'm about to show you the deepest, darkest, sickest secrets
of internet marketing. You think I made $4,582,700 in two
years by browsing marketing forums and writing articles? Or
fumbling around with cheesy clickbank ebooks? No ..Hell no!!
 I use hidden techniques you've never even dreamed of to drive
massive traffic to my offers. Look, they don't call me a villain
for nothing. I'm not afraid to get down in the mud and wrestle,
and neither should you. This ain't about being a nice guy, it's
 about getting rich. And fast. 
check this out:)http://tinyurl.com/cw27se 
to your success,
Jane Smith 
You are believed to be someone interested in making money online or
we have exchanged emails in the past, or have been part of the same
organization or downline. If you would like to opt-out then please
 reply with the subject "No Thanks" 
check this out:)http://tinyurl.com/cw27se ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To view the product, click on the link below or copy and paste the link into
your web browser: http://www.sullivanvitamins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4779 Regards, Sullivan Vitamins & Irish Shop
http://www.sullivanvitamins.com/

[paulm]

Do I need to do more than disable it?

I would first disable the box and then rename the Tell A Friend related files (don't ask me which files, but there is a post somewhere on this board that says which files should be renamed or removed).

................

Is there a way to just allow customers with accounts to use the Tell a Friend option for it to only appear when they are logged in?

I think that is possible (after reading gjh42's reply), but I am not sure if it will help

[gws76]

Sorry for the bump but I've checked "Who's Online" in my admin and I have this IP address from the Phillipines 203.84.170.194
on the Tell a Friend page. I've deleted the php file under /public_html/includes/languages/english but it appears they are still able to use this function. How do I disable this? Can I block specific IP addresses?

It has listed on the Tell a Friend page below the following message

"This message is included with all emails sent from this site: IMPORTANT: For your protection and to prevent malicious use, all emails sent via this web site are logged and the contents recorded and available to the store owner. If you feel that you have received this email in error, please send an email to..."

Where do I find this information?

[gws76]

I went to Admin > Configuration > Email Options > Allow Guest To Tell A Friend and set the option to false. Then they were constantly trying to get back to the Tell a Friend page. They were automatically bumped back to the Login Page.

To block their IP, I went into the cPanel from my host provider and clicked on IP Deny Manager at the bottom of the page. Inserted the specific IP address and clicked add. Now they are no longer listed on my Who's Online in Admin. Prior to this the spammer was on my site for over 8 hours.

Was this a software program created or an actual person doing the spamming?