Messenger and started saying some very odd things.. (like asking me who
I am).
The conversation continued and I soon became aware (after phoning said
friend and confirming that he wasn't online) that it wasn't actually who
I thought it was.
What actually happened was that my friend, say joe_bloggs@hotmail.com
had actually not used an account for some (long) period of time and it
had expired. Then, sometime later another person came along and
re-registered the MSN screen name and found me on their buddy list and
started chatting.
I do remember seeing a dialog box appear the other day saying that
joe_bloggs@hotmail.com had added me to his buddy list, and just thought
to myself that he was mucking with settings (which isn't entirely out of
character for the person in question) and
had somehow attempted to add me a second time. Without really thinking
about it, I'd clicked on 'ok' and continued with my day's work.
I'd consider that a rather nasty flaw in the way MSN expire and
re-assign passports. It's just lucky that I hadn't divulged any personal
data to this other person, (who as it happened turned out to be a 13
year old in Canada).
Just thought I'd mention it, so that people are aware that old
friends re-appearing on MSN after some years of absence may not be who
you think they are.
christo