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Been Receiving Adult Themed PDFs that are shared to me on Google Drive

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  • May 11th, 2020 10:00 am
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May 9th, 2020 6:51 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 9th, 2020 6:51 pm

Been Receiving Adult Themed PDFs that are shared to me on Google Drive

One of my main emails that I use, lately I've been receiving notifications where adult themed PDFs are being shared to my Google Drive account that is related to this email address. I have received 8 so far.

On my iPhone, it says so and so has shared this document (PDF) with you. The email addresses are all of third world origin and it is really annoying. Stupid Google won't even give me the option to block these email IDs. Only thing I can do is report it as abuse and delete the PDFs on my Google Drive account/App. I have been using my iphone to carry out the steps. I hope there's no malware in it, but hence using iOS device.

Is there any way to completely avoid this or what not? I could delete my GMail account tied to this Google Drive, but that means I have to change my email ID with the respective accounts that it is tied to. Any suggestions?

Let's say John Do has shared "adult themed file.pdf" with you and its on my account automatically. I can't even allow or block this option. Can I prevent strangers from sharing documents with me? Where they need my permission?

Here's an online post for reference/example:
Having the same problem here, happened 3 times just today. This is about fake accounts sharing (inappropriate) Docs with me: I can't find a setting to prevent strangers from doing so, and that also results in notifications on all of my devices so it's quite bothersome.
https://support.google.com/drive/thread/5207602?hl=en
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May 9th, 2020 6:53 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 9th, 2020 6:53 pm

Seems that I can't delete my Google Drive account on its own. :(
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May 10th, 2020 11:27 am
djemzine [OP]
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May 10th, 2020 11:27 am

Got another one this morning. I've been slowly changing my accounts that are tied with this email to another email. Only have 3 pending ones left including RFD lol.

However I will lose all my Google Play purchases should I delete the account altogether.
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May 10th, 2020 11:52 am
maple1
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May 10th, 2020 11:52 am

Yikes. Best to close the account. The last thing you would want to for images with other themes to show up and you ended up on a list with the police. EDIT: Couldn't you just block the email address that is sending these files?
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May 10th, 2020 12:20 pm
smartie
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May 10th, 2020 12:20 pm

maple1 wrote: ↑ Yikes. Best to close the account. The last thing you would want to for images with other themes to show up and you ended up on a list with the police. EDIT: Couldn't you just block the email address that is sending these files?
Those scam companies probably use machine generated random email address
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May 10th, 2020 12:20 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 10th, 2020 12:20 pm

maple1 wrote: ↑ Yikes. Best to close the account. The last thing you would want to for images with other themes to show up and you ended up on a list with the police. EDIT: Couldn't you just block the email address that is sending these files?
Nope there is no option on Google Drive or Google to block the sender. That was one of my biggest issues and a lot of have been complaining about it. I may as well just suck up the loses and close the account. I have to wait till Monday to contact EA/Origin to troubleshoot an issue.
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May 10th, 2020 12:23 pm
ji2o0k
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May 10th, 2020 12:23 pm

maple1 wrote: ↑ Yikes. Best to close the account. The last thing you would want to for images with other themes to show up and you ended up on a list with the police. EDIT: Couldn't you just block the email address that is sending these files?
lol I was going to say "sit back and enjoy OP" but you are right, if lil kiddy images start showing up....yikes!!

FS: Nothing at the moment
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May 10th, 2020 12:30 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 10th, 2020 12:30 pm

ji2o0k wrote: ↑ lol I was going to say "sit back and enjoy OP" but you are right, if lil kiddy images start showing up....yikes!!
Fortunately none of that. Just basically normal adult porn in pdf documents and links in the pdf document. Usually it is included with some sort of malware. Hence why I am only doing the actions on my iPhone. In case it is malware designed for Android or Windows.
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May 10th, 2020 12:30 pm
smartie
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May 10th, 2020 12:30 pm

djemzine wrote: ↑ Nope there is no option on Google Drive or Google to block the sender. That was one of my biggest issues and a lot of have been complaining about it. I may as well just suck up the loses and close the account. I have to wait till Monday to contact EA/Origin to troubleshoot an issue.
Is it because your google drive is public?
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May 10th, 2020 12:49 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 10th, 2020 12:49 pm

smartie wrote: ↑ Is it because your google drive is public?
The folders that I have and the files are private. They can only be shared with someone when I create a link.

As for my gmail address being public, most likely. Again even if it were not public, a breach can still make your email address public. I.e. LIfe Labs breach for example. If I had my gmail account tied to my Life Lab account, the threat actors get a list of all stolen email ID, contact name, contact info, etc. This is sold on the dark web and then the bad guys purchase these accounts to carry out various functions such as OSINT, phishing campaigns, social engineering, etc.

That's my theory as to why I've been bombarded lately.
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May 10th, 2020 12:50 pm
badOne
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May 10th, 2020 12:50 pm

Hook me up! It's a perk, not some troublesome issue to be dealt with!
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May 10th, 2020 1:57 pm
M1K3Z0R
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May 10th, 2020 1:57 pm

It seems the files are shared/made available to you, but not synced to your drive unless you open them.

https://www.howtogeek.com/400511/google ... m-to-care/
"I possess a device, in my pocket, capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man. I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers"
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May 10th, 2020 2:03 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 10th, 2020 2:03 pm

M1K3Z0R wrote: ↑ It seems the files are shared/made available to you, but not synced to your drive unless you open them.

https://www.howtogeek.com/400511/google ... m-to-care/
So as long as I don't view them to delete or report it, it will be fine? Any way to restrict someone from sharing files with me?
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May 10th, 2020 7:50 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 10th, 2020 7:50 pm

Just got another one. Ugh. Lol.
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May 10th, 2020 9:26 pm
The Canterbury Tail
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May 10th, 2020 9:26 pm

Anyone can share files with you, but unless you open the link they won't be in your drive. So it doesn't sound like they're putting things in your actual drive. However haven't you learnt to not open files sent from another sender? PDF files aren't safe, only pure .txt files are safe, almost every other file can hide attack vectors. Stop opening them.
May 10th, 2020 9:35 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 10th, 2020 9:35 pm

The Canterbury Tail wrote: ↑ Anyone can share files with you, but unless you open the link they won't be in your drive. So it doesn't sound like they're putting things in your actual drive. However haven't you learnt to not open files sent from another sender? PDF files aren't safe, only pure .txt files are safe, almost every other file can hide attack vectors. Stop opening them.
I completely understand and as mentioned, I am not opening them up in my computer, work laptop, etc. Only my burner cell phone which is an iPhone. So even if there is malware, it won't do much damage as I can just purge it. I am aware that PDFs do contain malware. Along with JPEG.

Also these are not links, they are actual documents. However more or less same concept. By the way if I do open my Google Drive, the file is definitely present and shows up on the list. So if I open up the iOS Google Drive app, on the Home tab/screen, the shared PDF is displayed. So I didn't even open any link or the actual pdf itself.
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May 10th, 2020 9:41 pm
The Canterbury Tail
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May 10th, 2020 9:41 pm

djemzine wrote: ↑ Also these are not links, they are actual documents. However more or less same concept. By the way if I do open my Google Drive, the file is definitely present and shows up on the list. So if I open up the iOS Google Drive app, on the Home tab/screen, the shared PDF is displayed. So I didn't even open any link or the actual pdf itself.
That's really odd. It may be worth contacting Google about it. May be similar to the attack vectors last year with people getting fake calendar items inserted by people that don't have access.
May 10th, 2020 10:18 pm
djemzine [OP]
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May 10th, 2020 10:18 pm

The Canterbury Tail wrote: ↑ That's really odd. It may be worth contacting Google about it. May be similar to the attack vectors last year with people getting fake calendar items inserted by people that don't have access.
Tell me about it. All I can do is report as an abuse and remove the files themselves. I will be purging this account anyways.
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May 11th, 2020 1:14 am
jackrabbit000
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May 11th, 2020 1:14 am

I don't see why you can't block emails on Google. Even with Yahoo you can block emails. I used to get tons of them from satellite hacking places coming from all kinds of email addresses and was able to block them all.

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