[Bizarroterl]

I'm an IT pro. As such I tend to have a slightly more robust setup at home than most users do. Part of my home network is an Exchange (Email) server.

With this I have the ability to create as many email addresses/aliases as I like. To reduce email spam I set up an account for nearly every online contact I have. IE if I buy something from Sears I have an email address that is used only for them, or if I opened a online support case with Denon I have a specific account created and used just for them. If I start getting spam I know who let the address out and I can close the account without going through the hassle one would have if they had only one email account.

One of these accounts I have is with Directv. I have one special email address set up just for them and it isn't used anywhere else.

Guess what? I'm now getting spam coming to this email address. This means one of two things. Either my server was hacked or Directv was. If my server was hacked I'd be getting spam to all my accounts (or at least a lot of them). I'm not.

This leaves the only answer is that the email database or a PC at Directv has been hacked. This opens some disturbing questions. As someone has hacked into Directv's systems, have they gotten the credit card database too? Getting spam is just annoying, but when your credit card number is stolen it can go beyond just being an inconvenience.

Keep in mind that I have no indication Directv's database of credit card numbers has been hacked, just email addresses. At best only one PC has been hacked that happened to have my special Directv address on it (unlikely but possible). However if they're lax enough to allow one PC to be compromised, then more undoubtedly are.

So, this may explain part of the spam you're getting.

As for credit card info you should check your credit card statements closely for unknown charges and run a credit check regularly (freecreditreport.com). You've been warned.

 

[Diana C]

It also possible that Directv sold their email list. Using Occam's Razor, that is the most likely explanation.

 

[RobertE]

Another explanation is that the spammers are just carpet bombing domains.

I think its fairly safe to put the tinfoil hat away for an another day.

 

[Xsabresx]

Pretty accusatory title. Surprised a self-professed "IT pro" would immediately default to a hack. I'm NOT an IT pro and I understand how spammers work. I also understand how to set up an email address.

 

[tigerwillow1]

Pretty accusatory title. Surprised a self-professed "IT pro" would immediately default to a hack. I'm NOT an IT pro and I understand how spammers work. I also understand how to set up an email address.

I thought the point was that an email address known only to DirecTV was getting spammed. I take the statement of professionals credentials only to support the believability of having an email totally dedicated to D*. Having said that, I also agree that there are ways the address could have been obtained other than from the D* database.

 

[dpeters11]

Pretty accusatory title. Surprised a self-professed "IT pro" would immediately default to a hack. I'm NOT an IT pro and I understand how spammers work. I also understand how to set up an email address.

It follows my own "law" on such things.

Sending spam emails is so cheap and easy (heck, the spammer practically doesn't need an Internet Connection, and bounce backs are cheap, it really isn't surprising.

 

[RunnerFL]

I thought the point was that an email address known only to DirecTV was getting spammed.

If you think an email address is known only by one entity I have a bridge for sale you may be interested in.

 

[spartanstew]

Within how many threads are you going to try and sell that bridge?

 

[RunnerFL]

Within how many threads are you going to try and sell that bridge?

How many times are you going to attack me today? Put me on ignore if you don't like my posts.

 

[dsw2112]

...You've been warned...

While what you say may be true, your argument has faulty reasoning. In an ironic twist it reminds me of the new D* commercials.

Classic "slippery slope" reasoning...

 

[1dersky]

I too have unique e-mail addresses for every business/forum/online presence, and I am NOT seeing any SPAM whatsoever on my DirecTV address.

 

[carl6]

I too have unique e-mail addresses for every business/forum/online presence, and I am NOT seeing any SPAM whatsoever on my DirecTV address.

Same here. A couple hundred email addresses, each unique to it's own purpose/application. The one I use for DirecTV has seen no unusual or abnormal posts whatsoever.

When one of my email addresses does start showing spam, I simply shut it off and open a new one. I doubt any have ever been the result of the company being hacked. It's just way too easy to watch internet traffic and intercept something as easy as an email address.

 

[Laxguy]

Another explanation is dictionary attacks. Or someone using his computer and sending an email or several using that account.

 

[adamson]

I don't buy this story, furthermore all these different e-mail addresses is so not necessary...most do not care about about all the details of how you do things. This site is about Directv...were they hacked I think not.

 

[bellaireroad]

My account got hacked today. I signed up less than a month ago. The password was changed. The only way this could have happened is if someone had access to my email. The secret question was changed as well.

I got an email stating the password had changed.

 

[NewForceFiveFan]

OP sounds more like a troll than a pro IT geek. He also seems to be a shill for freecreditreport.com too. How many home networks need exchange servers anyways?

 

[Bizarroterl]

As I stated in the initial post, this is a unique address used nowhere else.

Directv could have sold the address to the black market fake viagra/cialis spammers or maybe they're getting into that business. My personal opinion is that if your believe that go ahead and send a check for that bridge.

It could be a dictionary attack, however why is it that they picked up on a unique name yet failed to get all the other accounts I have active? In the past 10 years only 2 accounts I've used with businesses resulted in spam. The first was sold, as the spam was much more legitimate in nature. The other is Directv.

I won't reply to the troll posts, as it isn't my job in life to educate those that are ensconced in their ignorance.

 

[nuspieds]

With a subject line of "Directv email accounts hacked," I was expecting a story about your DirecTV subscriber account information being stolen from DirecTV and used elsewhere for whatever purposes.

But then all this is about is receiving spam via an email address you used for DirecTV. Hello??!!

Oh brother! What a waste!

 

[njblackberry]

From an "IT Pro".

 

[dualsub2006]

The email address that I use with D* isn't unique to them, but I only use it for my utility and entertainment accounts. It isn't self hosted, it's Gmail. There is never more than a spam message or two a month in the spam folder, and Gmail has never let a spam message through to this accounts inbox.

I just checked: zero spam messages. Haven't had a spam message in this account in a few weeks.

Not questioning your skills or your intelligence, just your assumption that D was hacked.