Is abigail a bot?

[Rutradelusasa]

In my case I only received a PM, no emails

[Chris]

I don't believe the bot e-mailed anyone directly - it sent private messages and the forum sent e-mails to the users informing them they got private messages. The forum does not expose anyone's e-mail address, so that's not a problem - it does allow you to send e-mails to others members, though, if you choose to allow it for your account.

[Michael]

I must be thick! I received an email from Abigail - just saying "Hi - how are you" and I foolishly replied, thinking it was a "lurker" who was shy about posting on the forum. All I said was "Welcome to the forum - hope you'll post a message soon - everybody's welcome etc."
I didn't click on any site but I hope I haven't done anything foolish.
Is it a coincidence that my anti-virus threw up a Trojan warning a day later? I deleted the file.

Michael

If Abigail is genuine, I apologise, but it does seem a funny way of joining the forum.

[Gurn Blanston]

Interesting. What is the point of a bot that simply sends a few private messages? Seems like a waste of time. Setting things not to receive e-mail from administrators will not make things more secure for you, but it doesn't hurt anything either, because we never send out e-mails; any announcements would be made on the forum.

Anyway, this particular bot will not be troubling us any longer.

Chris, the point may be that if you go to the PM, you can click the link there "gail.freehostia" and perhaps get into something that an unaware person might find troublesome. I, of course, didn't click the link...

I noted with interest that "abigail"'s "Join Date" was December, 1969. Hmmm...

[Chris]

Of course, but it would make more sense to post in in a public forum where everyone would see it.