I don’t know if anybody else has experienced this lately, but I’ve been seeing a rise in strange messages all over my MySpace account. That is, I’ve been seeing bulletins, receiving personal messages from Friends, and getting comments that have something like

Subject: mmmm… ringtones?
Body: i usually hate spammers but they sent me this free ringtone site and it actually works. the ringtons are sick! check it out

www.assholespammer.co

lemme know if u like it

It pretty much drives me crazy to get this stuff in the first place because of the defenses I try to put in-place, but to see them coming from people who probably have no idea how or why these are being sent from their own accounts is even more frustrating.

I’m not sure if the problem lies in viruses on a person’s computer or if there was just a huge cracking effort for MySpace accounts, but there’s something wrong and I think everyone who reads this article should:

1. Scan your computer for viruses. Just because a virus isn’t found doesn’t mean you’re actually clean, but it’s a good first step.
2. Log into your MySpace account and change your password. If there was a big cracking effort or a leak of some sort, this step should help mitigate future trouble stemming from a cracked account.
3. If you are unable to get into your MySpace account (if someone was able to send a message using your name, they may have changed your password), check out this page for information on getting your account back: http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.faq&Category=3&Question=41