Facebook Messages
15 November 2010 - 09:55 PM |
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At some point in the recent past, a weary anti-spammer, tired of explaining to people proposing their own Final Ultimate Solution to the Spam Problem (FUSSP) why their proposal wouldn't work, drew up a form letter outlining the major objections to their scheme, whatever it might be. Whoever wrote this was obviously very familiar with FUSSPs in all their forms.
Today, Facebook announced their intention to release a new messaging service with an email component, Facebook Messages. Some optimists are already hailing Facebook Messages as a FUSSP. Are they right?
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How much is that free iPad in the window?
09 November 2010 - 08:17 AM |
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One type of spam that shows up occasionally is spam that advertises your chance to get the hot technology item of the day - currently, that's typically an iPad or an iPhone - for "free". Here's a typical example:
Subject: We are looking for iPad testers
We are looking for people who will be willing to test the iPad. The
testing period will take 60 days. You only need to review and
looking for bugs. After test you get to keep your iPad. You have
no obligations. Spots are closing fast, so hurry and confirm
your email address.
Sounds good, right?
Continue reading 'How much is that free iPad in the window?'
Rise of the spamateur
08 November 2010 - 08:41 AM |
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One of the most trumpeted merits of the Internet is that it has the power to turn anyone into a publisher. The flipside of this is that it also has the power to turn anyone into a spammer. Yet amateur spammers — 'spamateurs', for want of a better word — are surprisingly rare. You see the occasional piece of affiliate spam with a homemade look, but the majority of affiliate or syndicated network marketing abuse is well-organized, large-scale activity, involving rented servers at colocation facilities, not one guy sitting at home with a PC. The loose network of providers sending out spam on behalf of "Canadian Health Care" are clearly at least semi-pro. A few persistent spammers seem to be one-man operations - what anti-spammers used to refer to derisively as "chickenboners" - but the real home spammer, the person who sits down at their PC and says "Today I'll make some money from spam"
seems to be a rarity.
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Subject line of the Week
06 November 2010 - 09:57 AM |
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This week's prize for the best prize-pitch scam subject line goes to Ademola Johnson. It just reads:
Attention: Dear Prominent User of the Internet
I can't decide whether I should put 'Prominent User of the Internet' on my business cards, or on a T-shirt. Or both.
Spammerthink
02 November 2010 - 09:22 AM |
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From a company calling itself Voltage Search Media, using the manticoretechnology.com mailing service, comes the following gem of a disclaimer:
Our goal is not to SPAM you. Weve [sic] recently added your name to our database and want to share this information at no charge to you, but want to respect your privacy as well. Please opt-in to Voltage Search Media's online database by clicking the Opt-In button. You can opt-out now or at any time in the future. However, we request and encourage you to give us the oppotunity [sic] to prove our worth. You canOpt-in [sic] or Opt-out below.
I'm so glad that the sender has generously decided to share this precious information about the 'Voltage Search Media game changing revolution'
at no cost to me. I'd hate to have to pay to be spammed.