Sample message: Hacked

These are example messages you could use for a member who's been hacked or is sending spam.

Default message used by caretaker communities for approved spam messages:

Hello Freegle Member,

We've received an email to $groupname that appears to be spam.

To fix this, please change your email password and run a spam/virus/malware scan straight away - there are good free programs such as Windows Defender or AVG.

To prevent this happening again, we recommend changing your password regularly and keeping antivirus software running in the background to scan emails and files. If you don't have one, you can find a free download online.

For a while we'll check your messages before they go out to the community, to make sure there aren't any more spam emails.

If you need further advice, please don't hesitate to contact the volunteer team.

Regards,

$myname
$groupname Volunteer
$owneremail

Alternative:

Sorry,

It looks like either your email has been hacked or you have a computer virus - either way, your email is sending out spam.

This probably isn't your fault; it's possible your email provider's records have been hacked into.

We suggest you do the following, in this order:

• Download and install an up-to-date virus checker and firewall
• Disconnect from the internet
• Run a thorough anti-malware scan
• Change ALL your passwords - ones mixing letters and numbers are harder to hack
• Check your email programme for, and remove, any auto-reply messages that have been set up. Unless you really need to, don't store your contact list online, where it's easily accessed by anyone who gains access to your account

To protect our members, your posts will be moderated for now.

Kind regards
$myname
$groupname

Alternative:

Hi there

Either:

1) Your account has just been hacked and the hacker is sending messages from it, or

2) Your account was hacked some time ago, and the hacker copied your settings and address book to set up a fake account using your credentials.

We recommend that you:

• change your email password, and any other passwords, using a different device
• scan your computer for viruses and malware

This should stop the hacker accessing your account again - but you can't undo anything they've already copied, and you won't be able to stop them sending emails that show your address in the "from" line.

Regards
$myname
$groupname

Alternative - for a repeat offender:

Dear member

I'm sorry to say that your membership of our Freegle community has been suspended. This is the second time spam messages have been sent from your account.

To be fair, we don't think this is deliberate, and you've been suspended not as a punishment, but to protect the community.

It's almost certain that your computer has been infected with malware, which is probably sending these messages to your address book in batches. You may have had complaints from friends too.

What you need to do now is scan your machine, not just for viruses but also for trojans, worms and other malware. There are good programs that can do this, some free for home use. There are also websites offering a free scan of your machine, but be careful when searching for these, as a few are a cover for software that will actually infect your machine. It's best to use one recommended by a computing magazine, website or other trustworthy source.

Once your machine has been thoroughly cleaned, before you do anything else, change ALL your passwords, especially anything related to finance.

When you've changed your password, please let us know and we'll reinstate your membership.

A word of caution: if you ignore this message and we continue to receive spam from your account, we will eventually remove you. We won't do this lightly, but it has happened in the past when the level of spam became intolerable, as it will eventually if nothing is done.

If you need any help, please do ask. We hope your computer is sorted out soon.

Best wishes

$groupname Volunteer Team

Link: Sample Messages