I think I have SpyWare !!

[g105b]

Just this week I have started using eBay again because my friend is the man who knows where to get cheap good quality watches from to sell on .... the first watch I sold was a Rolex, then the very next day, on my hotmail e-mail (not my main e-mail that I use for eBay) I have started getting a lot of spam e-mail about where to buy "R0LEX C0UNTERF1TS & REPL1CAS".

I use avast! and its all up to date, this can't just be a coincidence.

Please give me some advice, I'm a bit scared what people are accessing on my computer. 

[Lisandro]

I know it's a generic answer but, can't you scan your system with antispywares and antitrojans applications?
Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, A-squared, Ewido or Microsoft AntiSpyware or TrojanHunter (shareware).

Antispyware applications (freeware): download, install, update and run it.
Ad-Aware
Spybot Search and Destroy
Spywareblaster
A-squared
Ewido
X-Cleaner Free
TrojanHunter

About legit antispyware applications or the bad ones: http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm#sites
Some useful info here: http://www.slyck.com/spyad.php?page=1

[DavidR]

I'm afraid that if the hotmail doesn't appear on ebay or in your ebay profile then it could be entirely co-incidental.

Where else do you use your hotmail address, usenet newsgroups for example ?
Who do you give your hotmail address to ?
Their system could be infected and sending out spam to all addresses in the addressbook.

Your best defence to unauthorised access to your system apart from what Tech suggests is a good firewall (not XP's firewall). Any malware that manages to get past your defences will have free reign to connect to the internet to either download more of the same, pass your personal data (user names, passwords, keylogger retrieved data, etc.) or open a backdoor to your computer, so outbound protection is essential.

Zone Alarm free http://www.zonelabs.com works fine with avast and has a reasonably friendly user interface. There are others, Jetico, Sunbelt Kerio, etc.
See some firewall tests for comparison, some are freeware but many are paid for versions http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php. Also see http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/firewalls.shtml

[bri]

report it to ebay with a cpoy of the email,it happened to me an email stating to update my account and i sent the email to ebay and they resonded saying it was  a fake and they would look into it,report it,bri

[DavidR]

Now I just intercepted a fake rolex watch email with mailwasher anti-spam after I replied to your post.

Genuine Swiss made Rolex replicas are as close to the real thing
as a replica watch can be. Sometimes even the professional jewelers
are unable to tell the difference from the real Rolex watch. 

Do I blame you, no it is a total co-incidence as there is so much of this stuff (rolex spam, etc.) being sent.