How To Deal With Malicious Messaging On Yahoo Messenger Pls

[JustAnotherFarang]

Hi guys

For the last 2-3 months I have been constantly bombarded by chat invitations and voice messages with some really nasty comments from a certain as yet unknown individual who is operating under an alias using Yahoo Messenger. When using the Yahoo Messenger program, these messages force me to shut Yahoo down or I am kicked offline but recently I discovered another integrated chat program called Trillian which allows me to continue chatting with friends without being kicked. But still the invitations come thick and fast albeit they can no longer crash my machine or force me offline.

This week they have been sending 143 concurrent invitations from the alias they are using (AsianFetish1 thru to AsianFetish60) and the messages to join the chat conversation are becoming personally distressing to me and my wife. Having heard their voice once it appears they are american but I think this is a ploy to mislead me as the voice sounded like a girl pretending to be a guy and on other occasions they dont talk at all. May I add that I know no Americans whatsoever within my social circle.

I know how they do this as there are a multitude of Yahoo boot programs available for malicious creeps to use and using Trillian prevents them achieving their aim of kicking me offline but even if I block their ids, the same ids keeps on sending me these obscene and insulting messages regardless. I even tried accepting only messages from those on my contact list and even deleted all names on my list but this makes no difference whatsoever...........

I would dearly like to find out the ip address or originating Yahoo id so that I can report them to the authorities here as it almost certainly someone I have known and chatted to online judging by some of the personal information that they know about me. Let me state here and now that I have NEVER been involved in any nefarious dealings, I have been married for 7 years, never had nor want an affair, never done anybody any harm whatsoever and that my reputation within my small hometown is second to none as a clean living teacher who neither drinks or socialises in places of disrepute but it appears that someone really does have it in for me for some unknown and twisted reason. My assumption is that it is a rival who is jealous of my business success but in this day and age some people need little or no provocation so it really could be anyone.

I have already complained to the Yahoo abuse contact address but received no reply or help whatsoever and short of changing my id I really dont know what else to do.

Can anybody help me please as I do not want to be hounded day after day nor do I wish to change my id

Thanks guys for your time

JAF

[ThaidleHands]

Try running a packet sniffer on the inbound traffic of your machine or network. That could give you their IP address.

[JustAnotherFarang]

Thats an interesting solution to try........ never useda packet sniffer before but I get up to speed really quick so its worth a go.........

any packet sniffer will do or would you have a personal recommendation

Thanks

JAF

[george]

Use Trillian Pro, no problems.

Or change your email address and only give it to people you want at to be in contact with.

Or use Skype chat, I use it a lot since old ICQ, MSN gives me spam <deleted> all the time.

[JustAnotherFarang]

I do use Trillian Pro.............. the same problems although it is easier to ignore the invitations

JAF

[nikster]

I recommend Pidgin - free and nice. I find it a lot nicer than Trillian.

Packet sniffer is good - note than an IP address cannot be fake since the system needs to know who it's talking to so they could get your responses. So you get a packet sniffer, find the IP, then you can track it to where they are located.

Edited November 14, 2007 by nikster

[JustAnotherFarang]

I have downloaded Wireshark as my choice of packet sniffer and installed it on my machine. I dont really understand it yet but I will wait until I get the unwelcome intrusion from "AsianFetish" and see what results it brings up

I also noticed hat there is a new computer law regarding this in Thailand now so I am hoping I can capture their ip address and then hopefully pass it on to the relevant authorities to deal with although I dont know exactly who that authority might be

The net widens and I hope to catch this nasty little fish sooner or later

Thanks to those that have replied so far.

JAF

[JustAnotherFarang]

The idiot is onlineright now and abusing me constantly............

sadly the ip sniffer isnt showing me jack right now..................

Can anyone help me out here ??

JAF

[JustAnotherFarang]

I have begun to understand the ip sniffer a little andhave found these ip addresses, can anyone decipher them for me please

68.142.251.149 8 8 1 1

65.54.188.78 4 4 1 1

217.212.224.141 1 1 1 1

66.249.64.15

cheers

JAF

[Momo8]

You can block users or ignore them.Could it be one of your students doing this? I would definitely change my e-mail to something similar to the one you are using and send out 'invitation only' to people you want to talk to and you can choose the 'Invisible' option too. If you respond to these crackpots they just keep on going.

What's the YahooID they are using?Some people have nothing better to do than harass people.Even with an IP address what can you hope to do?

Edited November 15, 2007 by Momo8

[JustAnotherFarang]

Nope definately not one of my students, they are too young, too respectful and of course they are all in school............ how do I know, because I am in school too. Plus the language is too profane and beyond their grasp of English

blocking or ignoring them has no affect whatsoever. the program they are using overrides that function

It is true though.......... dont really know what I can achieve by obtaining their ip address other than the new computer bill which has or is being passed

http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_port...A1-EB5F52B87838

[JustAnotherFarang]

Whoops forgot to add that the yahoo id they are using is an alias.......... AsianFetish1 through to AsianFetish60.......... the numbers run concurrently

What annoys me the most is that the odds are weighed so heavily in their favour right now. Its a disgrace that Yahoo choose to do absolutely nothing about it and the only remedy is to change my id which I have had for over 10 years. I refuse to budge as professionally my id is very important to me and its nigh on impossible to contact everyone to let them know that I have had to change id

This guy is not for moving unless there is nothing else I can possibly do

JAF

[Momo8]

How do you know it's a guy and not some dating website who someone gave your contact details to or maybe someone set up your profile on one of those friend finder sites like Facebook,myspace? Sounds a bit sus. If you can't block them???? Are they threatening you and your family in some way? no idea unless you go to the police then again in Thailand don't know how effective that would be.

So you have no option but to temporarily change your ID until whoever it is gets bored and finds another victim is the way I see it as the logical solution.

[sweetchariot]

Just checked with whois.net on the ARIN and RIPE registries, and their nameservers are the first 2 IP's are Yahoo and Microsoft, the 4th is Google (I am guessing you had these open on your PC when you activated the packet sniffer).

The 3rd is based in Stockholm, and is a company called picsearch.com

They have 2 email addresses listed:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Failing that their ISP is telianet

[email protected]

Took me a few mins, but I hate this cr*p as much as you. Not sure if I am allowed to post email addresses, so if they are deleted PM me, I will copy this message.

[nikster]

Picsearch looks like a legit website though. Does the OP know anything about Picsearch? I.e. used it at the time the packet sniffer was active, etc.

Also you are you sure you only posted incoming IPs here?

[JustAnotherFarang]

After due thought and consideration I have decided that some battles are just not worth winning. I realised that I may as well allow this person their hollow victory and change my yahoo chat id which hopefully is the best prevention of all and will allow me to put this sorry debacle behind me. I may not win the battle, but there is little point in trying to win the war either.

But I must add that I am astounded that someone can be harried and persecuted in such a way with little or no help available. I have always been careful about my online identity never revealing much of anything to anyone as I value my privacy but this has taught me another lesson about the dangers of the internet and the lack of customer support from Yahoo.

Thanks to those that tried to help, I appreciate your efforts and advice but its time to withdraw gracefully from Yahoo chat with my dignity intact.

I shall of course remain a member of this forum and treat others with the same respect that has always been afforded to me

Thanks once again

JAF