Skype spam

[Alan]

This year I have been getting spam on Skype, people I don't know asking me to add them to my contacts, and they are invariably from sexy sounding females. I have always had my Skype settings as tight as they allow, with no one apparently able to contact me that are not in my contacts list. I don't even have an email address registered on my Skype account. When I want to add someone I give them my full Skype username.

Today I asked a friend who I don't connect with on Skype to try and find me. I gave him my full name and he looked for me on Skype but couldn't find me.

Anyone else have this (recent) experience? I can't help but suspect that it has something to do with Microsoft's purchase of Skype.

ETA
I have removed my photo from my profile and set my gender to none. See if that stops these "female sounding" scammers

 

[MichaelB]

Major problem if Skype is your primary phone. Have you checked anyone currently on your contact list to see if this is happening to them? If one of your contacts has a virus on their computer this might be the cause, but it would be happening to others.

 

[Alan]

If one of your contacts has a virus on their computer this might be the cause, but it would be happening to others.

Good thinking, that may be true. I only have 7 contacts other than DW so it shouldn't take long.

ETA
Friend did actually find me in his search. I shouldn't have used my real name as part of my Skype name when I registered a few years ago.

 

[Alan]

Looking at Skype community site, it seems to be a very common problem with no solution offered other than report each instance.

I have started getting 1 or 2 per week, and reading some of the complaints on this, I feel quite fortunate really.

Changing Skype name is not an option, I would need to create a new account and invite contacts to reconnect to new name. Plus I have my cell number linked to the account so the caller id appears as my cell number, and I have an 800 number I can call to get Skype rates when I'm not in wireless range, so switching to a new account is a big hassle.

Rant over - thanks to those that listened