Category: spam

Sex, property and the cachet of fame were spam’s top lures in 2003

Viagra. Lowest mortgage rates. Hot XXX action. As seen on Oprah.

Still reading? Seen this somewhere?

[ZDNet UK]

Alan Ralsky has long been one of the most prolific senders of junk e-mail in the world. But he says the new spam law’s potential penalties are making him rethink his business. [New York Times]

Members are sending out hundreds of thousands of unsolicited messages to constituents although they unanimously approved a law aimed at reducing the flow of junk e-mail. [New York Times]

In an article about the Can-SPAM Act, The Washington Times reports that Professor Lessig’s spam bounty proposal has found its way into the legislation, which is set to go into effect January 1st. Read the details here.

[Lessig News]

There’s a new round of spams that can be hard for SpamSieve to catch if it hasn’t seen many of them before … [Michael Tsai’s Weblog]

Add this rule and they should be captured…

The House approves the first national anti-spam measure. The legislation encourages the Federal Trade Commission to create a do-not-spam list of e-mail addresses and includes penalties for spammers of up to five years in prison. [Wired News]

In a bid to fight junk e-mail, Yahoo is developing technology that would automatically authenticate the sender of a message so that unwanted solicitations could be blocked. [Wired News]

I’ve been clearing out quite a few spam messages allegedly from a site called cardercrew which is being abused as a joe job. Here’s a list of what you might consider buying from these guys…

1. Heroin, in liquid and crystal form.
2. Rocket fuel and Tomahawk rockets (serious enquiries only).
3. Other rockets (Air-to-Air), orders in batches of 10.
4. New shipment of cocaine has arrived, buy 9 grams and get 10th for free.
5. We also offer gay-slaves for sale, we offer only suc h service on the NET, you can choose the one you like, then get straight to business.
6. Fake currencies, such as Euros and US dollars, prices would match competition.
7. Also, as always, we offer widest range of child pornography and exclusive lolita galleries, to keep out clients busy.

I’m not recommending any of this of course… just find it amazing that mail like this continues to be sent.

Until now, antispam developers and their products have played defense only. But now, one activist wants spam filters to automatically launch attacks against suspected spammers’ sites to shut them down. [Wired News]

British lawmakers plan to use a new tactic to stop the torrent of junk e-mail spam that floods in from overseas: extraditing the mass-mailers and bringing them to trial in the United Kingdom. [Wired News]

MT-Blacklist 1.5 is officially out. Installed and fighting comment spammers… took all of 5 minutes. Now running a blacklist of over 450 thanks to the pre-installed config.

Mailblocks today announced availability of its spam-free, Web-based e-mail service optimized for Mac OS X… [MacMinute]

Have not used this but have heard good things… now supports Mac.

Ever searching for paying customers, spammers have turned their attention to blogs, where they mass-post target URLs in the comments section. [Wired News]

A new report reveals what most had already suspected: People hate getting spam. And a number of them are using e-mail less frequently because of it. [Wired News]

The U.S. Senate votes to outlaw deceptive spam and to set up a “do-not-spam” registry for those who do not want to receive unsolicited commercial e-mail. [CNET News.com]

It will be interesting to see how this is enforced for the really bad guys since they tend to fake all of their addressing info. Marketers better take notice and manage communication appropriately.

Some of us are all too familiar with those emails in which an alleged former dignitary of the Nigerian government proposes to set up a bank account where millions of dollars – often a fallen dictator’s ill-gained fortune – can be kept safely. In return, you’ll get a percentage of the stash.

Most people laugh at these pleas. Some read them out loud at parties. At least a half a dozen web scam bait sites poke fun at these get-rich-quick schemes, and engage in often hilarious dialogues with the scamsters.

Regrettably, victims fork over enough money to sustain an industry that ranks in Nigeria’s Top five. Officials estimate that Britons alone lose £150 million a year to such frauds. Globally, experts put the annual take at a staggering $1.5 billion, money that is often used to finance heroin smuggling and other criminal activities. [The Register]

The premise sounds simple: To cut down on junk e-mail, simply submit your addresses to a “do-not-spam” list that marketers would have to check to avoid fines. With more than 50 million phone numbers already on a federal do-not-call list, many e-mail users are eager for a no-spam counterpart. [Wired News]