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August 13, 2008
New Spam Scam
Imagine my surprise this morning when MSNBC sent me an alert that California had outlawed abortion.
But they hadn't. And MSNBC hadn't sent me an e-mail.
It turned out to be the third such fake News Alert this morning. And being that I get news alerts from a number of media outlets every day... well, thank goodness for my internet security system, which blocked the click-thru even though it did get past the spam filter.
But be careful what you open out there...
Posted by dpoland at August 13, 2008 10:08 AM
Comments
I keep getting the CNN alert ones. SUPER annoying. I do find the types of spam I get to be indicative of hot button topics though. Or, what spammers perceive as hot button topics.
My CNN spam alerts today included: All planes grounded at heathrow, Copycat murderer beaheads woman, Mary-Kate Olsen Responsible for Heath Ledgers Death.
Posted by: don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 13, 2008 10:23 AM
I get several of the fake CNN ones, with links that all go back to Taiwan or Poland. Today's the first fake MSNBC I've gotten, where the links about making money go to a site with "gekkoeurope" in the URL. The "opt-out" link appears to go to an MSNBC address. I wonder if the Russian version of "The Office" will be set at a spam factory.
Posted by: moviecityindie at August 13, 2008 11:39 AM
One of these spaming pieces of filth I got today had this header; "TOO MUCH FREEDOM WILL BE THE END OF AMERICA!" Funny shit right there.
Posted by: IOIOIOI at August 13, 2008 02:13 PM
These fake news alerts are a way for hackers to camouflage a virus. Fortunately for me my spam filter (AOL-based) blocks them all.
Besides, any news story that originates with a US-based TV network is automatically suspect.
Posted by: Chucky in Jersey at August 14, 2008 06:48 AM
The spaminals in question are called Rustock; a long article on what they're doing and what the linked viruses do is at the link.
Posted by: moviecityindie at August 18, 2008 11:48 AM
Above link bazorked. Corrected link for Rustock is here.
Posted by: moviecityindie at August 18, 2008 02:12 PM
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