Here’s another good one:
This-message-is-not-spam. If you file a spam complaint you will be deemed liable for all costs related to the spam complaint.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the words “This is not spam” in a message that wasn’t spam, or at least talking about spam. It’s kind of like “Please do not discard” on an envelope. It’s a sure sign of junk mail. I mean, if it was mail you wanted, you wouldn’t be discarding it anyway, would you?
There’s just something twisted about porn spam that uses Biblical quotes to distract filters.
Found this in our mail server logs:
relay=OWNED.HACKED.BITE.ME [IP removed], reject=550 5.7.1 No mail accepted from known spam hosts or exploited systems
This was a connection we rejected because the sending IP was on the Spamhaus XBL list of exploited systems. (Everything from reject on is the error message we returned.) Apparently whoever wrote the spam tool decided to advertise that fact when sending mail.
The disclaimers spammers add to their missives are sometimes bizarre, ranging from excuses to nonsensical “word salad” to, in this example found in today’s spamtrap haul, legal threats.
WARNING: ANYONE REPORTING ALLEGED SPAM TO ANY PERSON OR PERSONS, WITH OUT PHYSICAL PROOF OF SUCH A CLAIM IS GUILTY OF BOTH FRAUD & A CIVIL CRIME AND WILL BE PURSUED AND PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE READ:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/legislation/spamlaws02.htm
Physical proof? Of something which exists entirely in the virtual realm of bits and bytes? Do you have to submit your hard drive as evidence, or is a paper print-out sufficient? Continue reading
Whew! After 6 weeks, Project Honeypot has identified a spam harvester trolling one of the sites I signed up with them. Considering it only took 3 days for them to hit some of the local spamtraps I set up at the same time, I’m surprised. I’m especially surprised that it was found on the least trafficked site.
This one threw me for a second until I realized I was only seeing the plain-text part:
Before you can purchase magical spells at the Mage Guild, you will have to find Orations by Poggio in the monastery of St. Gall A.D. 1416.
Once I noticed the message had HTML and a GIF image, I realized it was just another image-only spam with random words and random code.
But, hey, I liked the opening line!
Hmm, CNET reports that spammers are starting to route zombies’ mail through the ISP’s servers. (Hmm, that sounds familiar.) I don’t know about the “email meltdown” Linford warns against, but it will require a change in tactics. And so the escalation continues…
