Got an email purportedly from Pardus

[rhomp2002]

They message said they have missed me at Pardus-Forum.org and wanted me to link to a website called htt;://www.pardus-forum.org/index.php - it gave my username  and then said if I had forgotten my password I could request it at another website address.

The email stunk to high heavens.  I wonder if I should forward it to someone at Pardus so they can maybe link back to it and check it out or let me know for sure that it is a phishing attempt.  No idea who I should forward it to.  Would like to know what anyone else thinks.  I did not check any further into the website mentioned above  nor did I request my forgotten password.  Just did not trust it.

The address for Pardus-Forum.Org linked to bahri - at - bahri - dot - info

Don't check this out - just let me know who would be the one who handles security for the Pardus websites to I can let them handle it.  It just smells wrong to me.  First time I have gotten one for a distro like this and don't trust it worth a damn.  I have gotten a bunch of them from banks about an account where I never had an account - in fact I retired from a major bank.  Got a bunch of them from yahoo and from AOL (**spit**).  Also got a few about a supposed package that I needed to do something about from UPS when I had not ordered anything.  Never checked them either.  Just forwarded to the security officer at the organization.  This is why I think Pardus might want to do something about this one.

[Andreas]

Hello,

I am one of the Admin of www.pardus-forum.org

If you did not write very long time in the forum, you are reminded automatically after a certain time to let you see there times again.

That does not have to do with Phising.

If you did not like to be any longer user there, then tell us.

We forbid and the statement, which stinks the email to the sky and you try here the forum to make bad.

The side www.pardus-forum.org is a safe side and Bahri is a Admin too.

Regards
Andreas

P.S. At present the side www.pardus-forum.org is not attainable, since a server problem exists.

[rhomp2002]

Thank you.  I have read a few times but not written.  The only problems I have had have been answered by others.

Did not know who Bahri was.  Just trying to be careful.  I thought that anything from Pardus would have Pardus in the domain name, that was why I was so concerned.  If you like we can delete this one.  False alarm.

Besides the URL of the Pardus Worldforum is not the one mentioned  in the email.  The URL here is:

http://worldforum.pardus-linux.nl/index.php

That was why I was concerned.  Never saw the one mentioned in the email before.

[istihza]

Hello,

I am one of the administrators at Pardus-Linux.Org. As already explained by Andreas, some forums automatically send e-mails to inactive users to remind them that they are the members of that specific forum... This does not have anything to do with phishing. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ozgulfirat [at] gmail [dot] com. If you do not want to receive any mails from Pardus-Linux.Org we can remove your username from the list of members.

Regards,
Firat Ozgul

[istihza]

In order to clarify further, let me give you some explanation on the issue:

Pardus-Linux.Org is a Pardus forum serving in Turkish.
Pardus-Forum.Org is a Pardus forum serving in English and German

The above two sites are managed by the same group of people.

[Michiel]

In my personal opinion any message in the form of "you were missed etcetc" is quite annoying, regardless of who is sending it.

Anyone can decide for their own whether he/she wants to visit a website again or not. One should not "push" people towards something.

I own a SMF forum myself and never send messages to my members.

I can quite understand the caution taken by the topic starter rhomp2002 .
Any email containing weblinks should always be treated with caution all of us know.

In my opinion the proper way of forum (member) managment is to either delete every once in a while all members that have not logged in again for a period of x days OR -a bit more elagant- send a warning that the account is expiring and that members should log in again within a week to avoid deletion of their account (no URLs needed, just a message upon which someone can act or that someone can neglect).

We forbid and the statement, which stinks the email to the sky and you try here the forum to make bad.

BTW: Please Andreas could you stop reacting so agressively/impulsively/obviously offended ( I am referring to your bold marked text) (also your english gets worse / less understandable once your emotions take the lead  ), the topic starter is honest and integer and was just cautious, I do not get the impression at all that he was attacking one of the mentioned webforums or blackmailing thiem or wanted to offend you, he was just unsure. He was really unaware of the name of the administrator, and unknwon makes cautious, that's a natural reaction and should be regarded as such.

[istihza]

Dear Michiel,

Many thanks for the explanation you provided. Please be assured that as an administrator of the forum in question, I am taking your opinion seriously. I will take all the measures to prevent the re-occurrence of such a problem.

Regards,
Firat

[istihza]

We now abandoned the practice of sending reminder e-mails to inactive users, considering that it causes misunderstandings. Thank you.

[rhomp2002]

I have an additional question.  You mentioned that pardus-forum.org is the forum serving English and German.  However the forum I am posting on is worldforum.pardus-llinux.nl/index.php - is pardus-forum.org set to replace this forum or is this an additional forum.  The thing about the email that set off my warning signals was that the domain from which the email came had nothing to do with pardus at all.  That was why I asked the question in the first place. 

I have no desire to leave the forums but I would just like to know what they are and how they are related.  Forums are invaluable to those of us who are not experts and are the source of solutions and advice when needed.  With the current emphasis on internet and email security these days and with the vice-presidential candidate in the elections having her email hacked by a college student who masked his identity to get in there, I am just more cautious than normal.  After all the forum question is not the same thing as the Nigerian woman looking for me to rescue her bank savings or the Viagra substitute that will give me an amazing love life or the European lottery that has just decided to award me millions of dollars.  Those are obvious.  This was not and therefore my bringing it up in the first place.  Sorry I upset everyone but I just want to be very careful.  I don't have a whole lot of extra cash to throw around and I don't want anyone getting into it.

[istihza]

First of all, I should tell you that there is nothing wrong with being more cautious these days than ever... Vigilance definitely counts!..

You should have received the reminder e-mail from the domain "bahri.info". The person named "Bahri" is the administrator of our forums, namely Pardus-Linux.org and Pardus-forum.org. Anyway, we abandoned the practice of sending these kinds of e-mails to our users...

As I explained before, Pardus-Linux.Org is a place for people whose native language is Turkish, whereas Pardus-Forum.Org is a place for German and English speakers. Worldforum.pardus-linux.nl is a separate forum for non-Turkish speaking users of Pardus, and this one is the most active among non-Turkish forums.

As a matter of fact, our forums are not meant to replace other forums. Rather, I believe, all these forums contribute to the proliferation of open and free sources for all of us.

[Willem]

Why this discussion about another forum? I dont get it...