Chapel Hill Technology Advisory Committee

["Steve Irving" <wsirving AT morgancreek.net>]

Andy,

 

Thanks for your prompt response.

 

I’m accustomed to lists which allow posting only after some sort of registration (and presumed verification/confirmation) of the sender’s email address, and assumed this was the case. My bad assumption, but I noticed no information to the contrary when signing up for the listserv.

 

Seems to me you’ve got a tough choice: either institute better registration and security mechanisms (added cost and effort), or add a notice during the sign up process indicating “anything goes” (scaring off potential subscribers). I don’t think relying on end user’s “common sense” will get it done, especially as electronic communication becomes more important in conducting business with an involved citizenry.

 

You may also want to consider removing the messages I mentioned earlier from your archives, considering any possible liability the Town may incur if, for instance, some innocent (read: low common sense quotient) citizen regards the “House of God” message as a Town-endorsed investment opportunity. Just a thought.

 

I’ve added the original recipients back to this reply so that they will all know how responsive and helpful you’ve been.

 

Thanks again,

 

Steve

 

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From: Andy Vogel [mailto:avogel AT ci.carrboro.nc.us]
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 12:31 PM
To: wsirving AT morgancreek.net
Subject: RE: Possible email scam via TOCWireless

 

Hello,

 

We have removed you from the list.

 

The list has not been “compromised” – it is a completely open list. People can come and go as they please and send any message (malicious or legitimate) that they please. It was our hope that this would promote free and open discussion.

 

Like any email you receive, you can get malicious emails. It is our hope that end users will use common sense and immediately delete suspicious emails. There has not been an abuse of this list historically. Maybe a couple “bad” emails per month at most.

 

You do bring up a good point, maybe it is time to lock it down!? We may likely take this approach in the future on this list. Yours is the first complaint and we try our best to respond to end user requests.

 

Thank you,

Town of Carrboro

Andy Vogel

 

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From: Steve Irving [mailto:wsirving AT morgancreek.net]
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 11:32 AM
To: Andy Vogel; Steven Stewart; Bing Roenigk; tocwireless; zzDept. Mail - Town Manager
Cc: 'Bob Avery'; Gregg Gerdau; Chapel Hill Technology Committee Ibiblio List
Subject: Possible email scam via TOCWireless

 

To all concerned,

 

I believe that the TOC-WIRELESS-L listserv has been compromised and used to proliferate a phishing-type scam message to its members. The message was sent this morning, is titled “PayPal – Check your account” and appears in the listserv archive for October 2005. This immediately drew my attention because I do not have a PayPal account.

 

Upon examining the message header there is evidence that the originating email address has been ‘spoofed’ and that the message originated in Hong Kong. (BTW, the header indicates that TOCWireless is using an evaluation copy of the listserv software – is this correct??) The full message header appears below for your reference.

 

I joined the listserv last week in order to conduct some research on TOCWireless and this is the first message I have received from the list. My quick review of the listserv archive shows other suspect messages on September 14, 2005 - “Online Banking” and February 8, 2005 – “Use this in the House of God”.

 

If you agree that this message is malicious, bogus or, at the very least, inappropriate for a municipal listserv, you may want to consider sending a warning to the list membership. In the meantime, please remove my name from the listserv until this issue is resolved.

 

Thank you,

 

Steve Irving

 

 

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