EMAIL Hell

67 entries

  • 2012, the End of the World, and Ethical Spam
    Today we received an entirely new type of spam EMAIL.The gist of the message revolved around a doomsday predicted at the end of 2012. After several paragraphs about voodoo, magic spells, black holes, and ancient prophecies, there was the following...

    # At June 23, 2008 3:57 AM | Tags:
  • It's Spam Rant Time
    Call your Congressman now. Demand an immediate SEC investigation of all people who sell shares in Amazon.com on or around Monday, June 9. Among that group will be those people stupid enough to fall for this: News agency Reuters informs...

    # At June 8, 2008 2:58 PM | Tags:
  • This Girl Should Not Be Bored


    # At June 7, 2008 7:40 PM | Tags:
  • Time-Warner Doesn't Get It Right
    There is way too much garbage flying around the Internet, but charging people for downloads is punishing the victim. Now I want to pause for a moment to be fair to Time-Warner. They claim that a small percentage of users...

    # At January 17, 2008 2:02 PM | Tags:
  • Earn Up To $1.20 Per Hour for Looking at Ads
    If you've gotten an email ad from bux.to, you're probably wondering exactly what the scam is. The ad contains the following language to reassure you that it's the Real Thing. Bux.to is NOT a Autosurf, Multi-Level Marketing, Pyramid, Ponzi, Matrix...

    # At October 5, 2007 7:34 PM | Tags:
  • In Which I Find My Intelligence Insulted by Left-Wing SCHIP Spam
    I get this in my inbox. President Bush just rejected children's health care. If we can get 2/3 of Congress to stand up to President Bush, we can overturn his veto on the State Children's Health Insurance Program -- a...

    # At October 4, 2007 5:46 PM | Tags:
  • See the Video, Catch the Virus
    Some time back we received a email warning that a giant tsunami was going to wipe out America. Well, actually, I'm not being specific enough. We got an email warning us about a tsunami predicted in the Bible, and we...

    # At October 1, 2007 11:59 PM | Tags:
  • Just When You Thought Hot Stock Spam Couldn't Get Any Stupider
    Bruce found this in my inbox today. Good day ferdy Alert to all investors! Look at D-M-X-C! 5-day price: ~$0.50 Check it at 31.09.2007 anaylijl amuoknai anastaso anacepac Okay, first off, since this campaign started a week ago, the stock...

    # At September 30, 2007 4:26 PM | Tags:
  • No Effort at All Was Spent on This EMAIL
    Found in my inbox: Dear Correspondent. I am compelled to write you this email for the following reason:- One of my client, who is now deceased, in his Will, left his entire Estate and Cash deposit, valued millions of US...

    # At September 18, 2007 3:32 PM | Tags:
  • Full Text of a Confidential Communication Sent to Me by Mr. Kelvin Dan
    I always appreciate spam that combines blind stupidity with an admission of complete dishonesty. Here's the latest example. Goodday, I am Mr. Kelvin Dan, Banker of Williamson and Smith bank in london. Please reply me back at kelvindan@gawab.com I am...

    # At April 4, 2007 3:10 PM | Tags:
  • How to Spot Link Exchange Spam
    Here is the pitch we received via EMAIL: We found that your website: www.conservativecat.com has information about 'brad paisley' which is very similar to us and thought maybe you'd be interested in linking to where we have ringtone availability for...

    # At March 22, 2007 11:21 PM | Tags:
  • I'm Offended They Think I'd Fall for This
    Dear user ferdy, It has come to our attention that your Conservativecat User Profile ( x ) records are out of date. For further details see the attached document. Thank you for using Conservativecat! The Conservativecat Support Team The attached...

    # At February 7, 2007 7:37 AM | Tags:
  • I'm Not Sure the Unix People Would Appreciate This
    Trend Micro's spam filter marks each spam message's subject with the heading Spam:. Sometimes this leads to unintentional humor. Respectfully submitted,Ferdinand T. Cat...

    # At February 3, 2007 3:02 PM | Tags:
  • As Predicted in the Spam Version of Revelations
    A lot of times, spam EMAIL is just plain stupid, but every now and then someone comes up with a brand of fraud that is truly amazing. This morning, I received an EMAIL from Alasdair Laurie. Alasdair includes in his...

    # At December 18, 2006 7:53 AM | Tags:
  • Unfortunately, I Have Limits
    In the past week, I've received countless EMAILs purporting to be from young ladies who have seen my picture and are coming to my town. I feel for these young ladies, I really do. But as a superior life form,...

    # At November 5, 2006 9:46 PM | Tags:
  • The End is Near, So Buy a New Front Door
    We received the following EMAIL message, and it was not the usual spam, so I asked Bruce to investigate. Warning - TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 002 PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS ISSUED AT 2312Z 30 OCT 2006 THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL...

    # At November 2, 2006 12:24 AM | Tags:
  • This Greeting Card is Not All Yours
    Greeting card spam has been around for a while. I discussed one example back in January of this year. (I don't know exactly why, but that seems like a whole different world from the one we live in now.) Anyway,...

    # At October 28, 2006 2:42 PM | Tags:
  • Importance Update Is To Make Computers Being Safe
    One of the biggest problems on the web is the use of zombie computers to spread spam. A zombie computer contains a malicious program running in the background that sends email without the computer user's knowledge. Spammers use zombie computers...

    # At October 21, 2006 3:22 PM | Tags:
  • I Want the Sony Laptop, but You Can Keep the Virus
    This is just plain cruel. Today I received an EMAIL from someone pretending to be amazon.com telling me they were shipping me a brand new Sony VAIO laptop and my credit card will be billed for $2,482.87. Of course, the...

    # At October 13, 2006 12:14 PM | Tags:
  • Verified by Visa Europe
    Today Bruce receivd a rather alarming EMAIL. It purports to be from Visa Europe, and states that Bruce's credit limit has been changed. This sort of thing is typical of a phishing attack. Messages like this are constantly arriving purporting...

    # At September 22, 2006 8:23 AM | Tags:
  • A New Way to Fight Spam
    I'm sure you're all as sick of hot-stock-tip spam as I am. While watching Bruce drag and drop the latest crop of financial hyperbole to the EMAIL waste bin, it occurred to me that there might be a way to...

    # At September 20, 2006 12:26 PM | Tags:
  • Okay, Now I'm Really Insulted
    I realize that many of the people who create EMAIL spam have limited language skills and are not familiar with our culture. Also, it is possible that they don't realize I am a superior life form and deserve special consideration....

    # At September 14, 2006 1:58 PM | Tags:
  • Spend Hundreds of Dollars and Read Tons of Spam to Collect a Free $500 Gift
    I'm sure most of you are aware of the $500 Spam Scam. Briefly, you receive an offer via EMAIL for a free $500 gift card. If you try to collect the $500 gift, you must register your EMAIL address with...

    # At July 16, 2006 3:48 PM | Tags:
  • Explain This Ad to Me


    # At June 23, 2006 5:35 PM | Tags:
  • The Hollywood Intermediate Plot Thickens
    I have blogged twice about the spam campaign promoting the stock of Hollywood Intermediate. There have been countless penny stock campaigns via spam over the past several years, and my definitive analysis of the phenomenon is here. My main focus...

    # At June 21, 2006 1:06 AM | Tags:
  • An Important Step Forward in Email Fraud
    In any communication-related enterprise, it's important to be aware of the changing cultural context and the emergence of new technologies. Realizing that most people know how a Nigerian scam works and are simply too busy to read a long, drawn-out...

    # At June 16, 2006 11:59 PM | Tags:
  • Hollywood Intermediate Is Still a Bad Buy
    Last week I wrote an article about Hollywood Intermediate, a penny stock that is being touted by an aggressive spam EMAIL campaign. The spam EMAILs claim the stock will reach $4.50 in 7 days. In actual fact, during the past...

    # At June 7, 2006 5:18 PM | Tags:
  • Visa Theft Card
    Today we received several copies of a phishing EMAIL that pretends to be from the Publix Employees Federal Credit Union. The EMAIL is peddling a Visa gift card, a plausible service given that PEFCU already provides several Visa-related services. If...

    # At June 5, 2006 11:27 AM | Tags:
  • Look for a Zero Percent Increase in the Price of Hollywood Intermediate
    The problem with modern spam is that the spammers make money even if no one pays any attention to the ads. For example, consider this spam service, in which the guy charges a fee to blast your ad all over...

    # At May 31, 2006 5:35 AM | Tags:
  • An Open Letter to a Spammer
    Today I got the following EMAIL. This is our final attempt of contacting you.. We have tried getting in touch with you on various occasions. We spent a great deal of time & energy setting up your initial home plan....

    # At May 26, 2006 2:47 PM
  • Federal Scam Gives Spammers No Credit
    A new phishing EMAIL is making the rounds. This one claims to be from the National Credit Union Administration. The message (which looks very professional, with links to the real NCUA site and everything) starts out thusly. This notice informs...

    # At May 24, 2006 11:47 AM
  • Footprints of a Supreme Spammer
    Everyone who owns their own domain has probably been inundated with bounced EMAILs from bogus addresses. This is of course a typical spammer trick to avoid being discovered. By disguising the origin point, they make sure that the wrath of...

    # At May 20, 2006 4:34 PM
  • The Amazon Fool's Gold Box
    Today we got type of Amazon-based phishing EMAIL we haven't seen before. It starts like this: Congratulations! You have received this notice because the records of Amazon.com indicate you are rewarded from our special feature rewards Amazon.com program for our...

    # At May 20, 2006 1:40 PM
  • The Amazing Disappearing Microsoft Lottery Prize
    Somebody mixed the old Microsoft EMAIL hoax with the slightly more recent lottery hoax and came up with this. Dear Lucky winner, WINNING NOTIFICATION The prestigious Micrsoft and aol has set out and sucessfully organised a Sweepstakes marking the end...

    # At April 18, 2006 11:59 PM
  • Dear Lady Please Read
    Every now and then, you get a piece of spam that is so wrong on so many levels that you just can't let it pass without comment. The following was addressed to me personally, and another copy was sent to...

    # At April 13, 2006 9:18 PM
  • Stock Pick Spam Loses Credibility by Tilting to the Left


    # At March 30, 2006 10:06 PM
  • More fun with Link Exchanging
    The link exchange is a time-honored method of raising a web site's visibility. You find another site with a similar theme, and offer to link to them if they also link to you. In the past few years, spammers have...

    # At March 29, 2006 1:10 AM
  • More Chase Bank Phishing Spam
    I think what bothers me most about the new wave of phishing EMAILs is the utter gall of the people behind them. Here's how the most recent one introduces itself. Dear Card Member, Due to the recent phishing attacks and...

    # At March 21, 2006 9:50 PM
  • Beware of EMAILs Called Drinkme
    Bruce has many different EMAIL addresses, and for this reason we often receive multiple copies of any particular spam EMAIL. The latest one is called drinkme, and it is apparently being sent to every EMAIL address on the Internet in...

    # At March 21, 2006 9:30 PM
  • I Suppose I Should Have Seen This Coming
    Just when you think the spammers couldn't possibly sink any lower: today I received a spam EMAIL promoting a law firm. Submitted with Bewildered AmazementFerdinand T. Cat...

    # At March 17, 2006 10:37 PM
  • Evil Spammers Catch a Domain Name Break
    We got a new phishing EMAIL today from an evil spammer pretending to be Chase Manhattan Bank. The EMAIL starts with the following warning We recently have determined that different computers have logged in to your Chase account, and multiple...

    # At March 16, 2006 1:18 AM
  • Psychiatrist Diagnoses Reagan as an Idiot, then Falls for Nigerian EMAIL Scam
    Okay, so maybe there are still people stupid enough to fall for EMAIL scams. According to court papers filed by his son, psychiatrist Louis Gottschalk has lost as much as $3 million over a 10-year period to a Nigerian EMAIL...

    # At March 2, 2006 6:07 PM
  • New Twist on an Old Trick
    Back in December I warned about phishing emails disguised as messages from eBay members. There's now a new variation on this old theme. Instead of a fake message asking for advice, there's a fake message asking for clarification regarding a...

    # At February 27, 2006 10:50 PM
  • Love in an Inbox
    Our database has matched you up with 2 new beauties who have just signed up: Caroline- 5'5,blonde,105lbs,34c Melanee- 5'9,dark hair,tanned,112lbs,34bb Please check them out live, online now. I'm pretty sure this message is spam, because in my online profile it...

    # At February 25, 2006 5:51 AM
  • W.B.C. Export Services Needs Help
    Today I received a job offer from W.B.C. Export Services. Normally I consider job offers as evidence of extreme discernment on the part of the company making the offer, but this particular company is special. The job offer EMAIL begins...

    # At February 23, 2006 5:39 PM
  • Another Spam Screwup
    The fact that EMAIL is free makes it very convenient for legitimate users, but it also means there's no penalty for something like this: %CUSTOM_TO_ALIAS, %CUSTOM_ACCOUNT - %CUSTOM_LINK Josh Head, Account Rep. %CUSTOM_REP_NUMBER Here we can see the fake-account-statement hot...

    # At February 22, 2006 4:47 AM
  • Voagra the Wonder Drug
    I must admit, I find it difficult to argue with this particular sales pitch. Everybody knows the great sexual scandal known as "Klinton-Levinsky". After the relations like this Klintons popularity raised a lot! It is a natural phenomenon, because Bill...

    # At February 10, 2006 2:03 AM
  • Erase Your Debt and Become a Homeless Person
    One of the most useful tricks in the art of debunking is to look not only at what is said, but also why it is said in a certain way. For example, if someone says "I have ten years of...

    # At February 3, 2006 11:58 PM
  • If You are Not Henry Solomon, Please Give Us Your Money
    I've often felt that spam is a product of evolution rather than intelligent design. New spam tends to be a combination of old spam tricks with the occasional mutation thrown in. The latest example is a Hot Stock Pick spam...

    # At February 1, 2006 8:44 PM
  • Just In Case You're Confused by All the HIs
    For about a week or two, we've been getting a new kind of EMAIL spam. It uses a standard trick to fool the spam filters, but it's noticeable because they botched the execution. The heart of most spam filters is...

    # At January 28, 2006 5:03 AM
  • The Ultimate Spam Trick
    I've been studying spam for years now, learning the tricks, evaluating the tools, working tirelessly to keep my Inbox clean. Well, okay, so in actual fact I've been tirelessly watching Bruce work, but the point is, I know my spam....

    # At January 23, 2006 3:47 PM
  • Beware of Spam from the Armed Forces Bank
    Okay, so it's standard phishing spam, the only new thing being the fact it's pretending to be from the Armed Forces Bank. The Defense Department has already vaporized the people behind the scam, but there is a problem with the...

    # At January 19, 2006 7:48 PM
  • Another Stupid Phishing Mistake
    Once again, a clever phishing trick has been undone by a stupid mistake. The EMAIL starts off with a standard phishing hook. For your security, the profile that you are using to access Capital One Online Banking has been locked...

    # At January 19, 2006 2:51 PM
  • Temptation in the Inbox
    Our University Enrollment department has been trying to contact you. We feel you may be eligble for a degree based upon you past work experience. Okay, I know it's spam, and I know the degree is worthless, but given that...

    # At January 18, 2006 11:01 PM
  • More Stupid Spammer Tricks
    We got a new variant of the Nigerian scam today. It purports to be from a U.S. Army soldier wanting to move $26.5 million in funds stolen from Saddam Hussein. It's been in circulation since November of last year; what's...

    # At January 10, 2006 1:13 PM
  • Happy New Year From Evil Scum Hackers
    Chances are you have your virus definitions are up-to-date, your service provider has upgraded to the fancy new MailScanner application, and you've applied the Microsoft WMF vulnerability fix to your PC. If you've done all those things, you do not...

    # At January 8, 2006 3:32 PM
  • The Dumbest Spam Trick of All
    Sometimes you have to wonder about the spammers who peddle herbal medicines and weight-reduction products. I realize they are trying to appeal to people who are unusually gullible, and I realize that humans are, in general, not as smart as...

    # At January 6, 2006 1:43 PM
  • Something Unlikely to be Caught by the Spam Filter
    I've received some pretty silly EMAIL spam over the past year. I mean, it's possible I could wear a fake rolex watch around my neck, but even with the flexible feline spine I would be hard-pressed to read the time...

    # At January 5, 2006 4:50 PM
  • EMAIL Spam About Reciprocal Links
    Today received a spam EMAIL message that originated from the carnival submit form. I especially liked the opening. Hi Webmaster, I saw your site and found it to be very interesting and related to as that of mine {MailScanner has...

    # At January 4, 2006 4:58 PM
  • Virus Spammers Seeking People Stuck on Stupid
    Okay, on the one hand, I think it's important for people to be aware of what's new and different in the spamming toolbox. On the other hand, this trick is so stupid I find it hard to believe anyone would...

    # At December 24, 2005 1:26 PM
  • The Most Terrifying Spam of All
    I am a superior life form, and I'm going to find who put me on the mailing list for this ad, and I'm going to punish them. By almost everybody's reckoning, Andrew Sullivan is one of the great political and...

    # At December 12, 2005 3:39 PM
  • New eBay Phishing Trick
    This is becoming such a habit I thought I'd better add a category for it. There is a new type of phishing email on the loose. The example we received was disguised as a message from an eBay customer about...

    # At December 11, 2005 4:34 AM
  • Phishing Attacks on the Rise
    In the past two days, Conservative Cat has received about 80 fraudulent EMAILs warning us of security problems. The subject lines include Your password has been successfully updated Your password has been updated Please update your Amazon account! Your account...

    # At November 12, 2005 12:09 PM
  • A New Trick in the Phishing Playbook
    The Conservative Cat Web Empire has been hit hard in the past week by Paypal phishing emails. These are spam emails telling you that someone has accessed your account, or a new user has been added, or that you've been...

    # At November 6, 2005 3:50 PM
  • New Phishing Scam
    There is a new style of phishing spam making the rounds. Phishing, of course, is the term applied to EMAILs that gather data to be used for identity theft. The key to any phishing email is the hook, that is,...

    # At October 24, 2005 5:00 AM
  • PayPal Phishing on the Rise
    The recent trio of natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and the Demi Moore / Ashton Kutcher wedding) have pretty much dominated the headlines, but there are other terrible things happening, too. In particular, there has been a recent spike...

    # At September 26, 2005 1:06 PM
  • I Have 500 EMAILs in my Inbox and They All Look Like This
    In Response to Your Request...

    # At November 7, 2004 10:58 PM | Tags: