Strange question

[tiggersmom2]

I have been a member of AOL forever. Lately I have been getting instant messages from people that I do not know! This has never happened before so I just ignore the message. Does anyone know if this is a virus - and if it is not, how are these people able to do this Yes, I am computer ignorant.

 

[Evil Princess]

I do believe that anyone can IM you unless you have an option that only allows those on your buddy list to do so. I'm not so certain though, since I stopped using AOL and only use AIM once I got my cable modem.

It could be people from the Dis finding your screen name if you have it listed and want to talk, it could be a password stealer, it could be someone with a link that has a virus and/or porn. Best bet if you're concerned and don't know the difference would be to ignore it and close the window.

 

[tiggersmom2]

Originally posted by Evil Princess
I do believe that anyone can IM you unless you have an option that only allows those on your buddy list to do so. I'm not so certain though, since I stopped using AOL and only use AIM once I got my cable modem.

It could be people from the Dis finding your screen name if you have it listed and want to talk, it could be a password stealer, it could be someone with a link that has a virus and/or porn. Best bet if you're concerned and don't know the difference would be to ignore it and close the window.

Thanks for your quick reply! That is what I thought too, the names coming up are "questionable" and I don't think it is someone from the DIS. I just didn't understand how anyone got my IM - heck, I didn't even know I HAD an IM! Someone like Brisully is probably going to do something to my computer!

 

[Evil Princess]

Well you don't have your screen name in your Dis profile, so it really can't be anyone from here.

Just ignore it to be on the safe side, especially if you're not good with computers

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by tiggersmom2
Someone like Brisully is probably going to do something to my computer!

Ok, sorry, I thought THAT was funny!

Brian is quite a sweetie actually.

 

[Aprille]

Did you recently upgrade to XP? When I did I started getting all sorts of IMs (but they weren't called IMs - they were something else but basically the same thing). It was something to do with XP. There was a fix but I forget what it was. I can't even remember if the fix was in AOL or XP. I think I did a search in XP and/or AOL help for whatever the IMs were called and that's how I found the fix.

If you did upgrade to XP and this is the problem maybe someone else can tell you how to fix it. Sorry I can't be more help.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Messenger, turning off

 

[tiggersmom2]

Thanks Dan!