# Is CarTalk being phished or spamming? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Show\ **Created:** [January 20, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-cartalk-being-phished-or-spamming/25253 "2009-01-20T19:55:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dan\_Hoey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dan\_Hoey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Dan_Hoey)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-cartalk-being-phished-or-spamming/25253/1 "2009-01-20T19:55:02Z")
Today I got e-mail with the week’s puzzler, ostensibly from [Lackey@Cartalk.com](mailto:Lackey@Cartalk.com), but originating from [mail172.e2ma.net](http://mail172.e2ma.net) [66.179.147.172]. It suggests that I could opt out of the newsletter by visiting an [e2ma.net](http://e2ma.net) website. Now, I never signed up for a Car Talk newsletter, and I have no idea whether [e2ma.net](http://e2ma.net) is acting on behalf of Car Talk or is phishing my e-mail by pretending to do so. In the first case, shame on Car Talk for spamming me. In the second case, shame on [e2ma.net](http://e2ma.net), and warnings to people who get e-mail that looks like it came from Car Talk. If Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe can find and sue the [e2ma.net](http://e2ma.net) goons for trademark infringement, they would be making the net a better place. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-cartalk-being-phished-or-spamming/25253/2 "2009-01-20T22:27:24Z")
If this thread was an attempt to contact the folks at Car Talk, there is a better way to do it. Try going to [http://www.cartalk.com/ct/3500.jsp](http://www.cartalk.com/ct/3500.jsp) and selecting “Department Of Excess Bandwidth.” You may have inadvertently signed up for Car Talk’s spam when you registered for this forum. If this thread is an effort to shame Tom and Ray, please refer to the word “shameless” in their “shamelsss commerce” site. You can’t shame the shameless. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Hoey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dan\_Hoey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Dan_Hoey)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-cartalk-being-phished-or-spamming/25253/3 "2009-01-21T01:02:29Z")
Thanks for the advice, Whitey. I include the message I sent to Excess Bandwidth below. If this was indeed a Car Talk-sponsored newsletter, you may be assured I did not sign up for it–if I had signed up for it, it wouldn’t be spam. And I have never found a spammer who had any shame; the best we can do is to make sure they get the reputation they deserve. At any rate, I still do not know if Car Talk has anything to do with this. It could be some [e2ma.net](http://e2ma.net) customer who is the culprit. Most spam is forged, after all. ========================================================================= Hi, I got a message purporting to be from [Lackey@cartalk.com](mailto:Lackey@cartalk.com) about this week’s puzzler. But the message originated from [mail172.e2ma.net](http://mail172.e2ma.net) [66.179.147.172], so it may be a forgery. It gives a lot of [e2ma.net](http://e2ma.net) addresses, including one that claims to opt-out of the newsletter. So I don’t know if these [e2ma.net](http://e2ma.net) people are acting on your behalf or impersonating you for e-mail phishing. In the former case, you should know that sending newsletters to people who didn’t ask for them is spam, pure and simple. In the latter case, you might want to get Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe on the job to preserve your reputation and make the world a better place by destroying these bounders. Dan Hoey [haoyuep@aol.com](mailto:haoyuep@aol.com) P.S. I do not make any attempt to prevent my e-mail address from public disclosure, but I do not consider that an invitation to send spam. I believe that spammers are parasites on society and need to be destroyed. I have no objection to your publishing this message. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Hoey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dan\_Hoey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Dan_Hoey)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-cartalk-being-phished-or-spamming/25253/4 "2009-01-21T20:06:17Z")
The message to Excess Bandwidth got me a note from Doug Mayer, explaining that they didn’t send me the newsletter. Car Talk gets forged because [Lackey@cartalk.com](mailto:Lackey@cartalk.com) has a lot of exposure. I know that effect–it happens to me, too. At any rate, it’s good to be reassured that Car Talk is one of the good guys. Dan