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Posted on 03.21.06 by Admin @ 1:50 am
Are You A Spam Zombie? Over the past few years you’ve all become familiar with the terms spam, spam filter, whitelists, blacklists and a whole myriad of other terminology associated with the problem of spam. You now have to add a new and extremely worrying phrase to that list - spam zombie. With the net closing in around them spammers are looking for new and more inventive ways to send out their junk email. Spam filters and challenge response systems are becoming progressively more intelligent and blocking more spam each day. What was a spammer to do? The spammers took the next step - infiltrating your PC and using it as a spamming tool. When most of you think of the word zombie you’re reminded of old B movies with groaning zombies chasing the terrified actress through a castle, swamp or whatever low cost setting the movie revolved around. Spam zombies are, however, far more real and far more dangerous. A spam zombie is when your computer is taken over by a type of virus called a Trojan. Once this Trojan virus is on your computer it sets up an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) application which allows it to begin sending email directly from your PC to tens of thousands of victims. This all happens invisibly in the background and can be difficult to detect for even the experienced computer user. How do these Trojans get onto your computer? As in most cases they come from porn, warez or similar sites. One of the first spam zombie trojans to appear became available via a link on sites promising viewers free access to a porno webcam. One click later and the Trojan is installed on your computer ready to send out spam. Phatbot and Proxy-Guzu are two of the more common Trojans used for the purpose of turning your computer into a spam zombie. How can you check if your computer has become a spam zombie? Make absolutely certain that both your anti-virus and firewall software have current detection signatures and have been completely patched and updated. Working online without taking these necessary security precautions is simply asking for trouble. Internet Service Providers are under huge pressure to quarantine the IP address of any computer which has been turned into a spam zombie. This is done on the basis that the ISP risks their entire IP range being blacklisted or banned by some spam filtering services or companies. The very least you owe yourself is to run a full virus and spyware scan on your computer today. You might be unpleasantly surprised at what you’ll find lurking there. About the Author Filed under: Email Spam Comments: None |
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Posted on 03.21.06 by Admin @ 1:50 am
How to Not Appear Like A Spammer Unless you use the Internet only for surfing and never use your email address you’ve probably received something that is called spam. There are different definitions for spam but I will say that spam is unsolicited email commercial. Many people harvest other people’s email addresses on email and web forums and send them info that they didn’t request. This is very frustrating because you loose your precious time deleting those unwanted messages. In this article I will explain how NOT to appear like a spammer. Opt-in If you have an email newsletter it is very important that you don’t appear like a spammer. If you want to stay long in email publishing business your newsletters have to be based on opt-in method. It means that a subscriber chose to receive your newsletter and that you have their permission to send them your newsletter. It is called Permission Marketing. I would suggest that your list be double opt-in. Now what is double opt-in? Double opt-in means that your subscribers have to confirm their request to join your list. Confirmation is done by replying to the message that you send to everyone who had initiated subscription. Beside replying, people can confirm their request by clicking on a certain link. This ensures that one person can’t subscribe another person against his or her will. Also, never buy so called opt-in lists and also never sell or rent your members base. Welcome message I would suggest you that you ask your new subscribers to save your welcome message. There you can put the necessary info about your list and list management: list description, subscribe/unsubscribe address, digest address, owner’s email address, list rules… This is important because of the following. Many people promote their newsletter for some time, until they get enough subscribers and then publish the first issue. However, it is most likely that someone who had subscribed to your list several months ago forgot that he or she actually requested to be a member of your list. And then, they can accuse you that you are a spammer. If they save a welcome message they can see that they required to be your subscribers. Subject line Subject line is very important in email newsletters. Beside, From field it is the most important thing for someone to decide whether to open your newsletter or not. I would suggest that your subject line consists a title of your article, issue number and date. If your From or To field doesn’t consist your list name than you should put your list name in Subject line, too. Preferably in brackets. If you have your subscriber’s first name in your database you should definitely put their name as the first thing in the Subject line. Then it is more likely that they will open your newsletter. Never use spam techniques like putting Re: at the beginning of your Subject line so that people think that they sent you an email and you are sending them your reply. Nobody is fool. Filtration Many people use email programs with powerful email filter options. Many people set their filters to delete messages with get-rich-quick-schemes, porn and similar content so it is wise that you don’t put that kind of text in your messages if you want that people read it. Also, don’t capitalize your words like FREE, MAKE MONEY, GUARANTEED… I wouldn’t suggest that you use this or similar words in the first place beacuse these words are often used by spammers. If you have an option that in To field be your subscriber’s email address and not, for example your list name, that would be ideal because some mail washer programs automatically flag messages which don’t have a recipient email address as possible SPAM. List management Always provide very clear information regarding list management in your newsletter. Very important thing is that your list management provides very easy way of unsubscribing. For example, some email newsletters have at the very bottom an unique unsubscribe address for every subscriber. It can be something like leave-yourlistname-111327893L@yourlistserver.com This way, your subscribers can unsubscribe only with one click and they don’t have to worry if they sent unsubscription request from address which is in your subscriber list. Good list management is, also, useful because you won’t loose your time explaining to your subscribers how to do something, for example unsubscribe or set receiving messages in digest mode. Also, it is wise that if you use advanced email marketing software like Group Mail to include important information about your subscribers in every issue of your email newsletter. In other words, to personalize your newsletter. For example, you can make a section at the beginning of your email newsletter where you will write several lines so that your subscriber see that he or she really chose to be your subscriber. Many email marketing software have an option to include a code in your issue that will be automatically parsed after sending so the subscriber will see his or her info. Something like this: _____________________ MEMBERS SECTION Your name: !*COMPLETE_NAME*! Member since: !*MEMBER_SINCE*! From IP address: !*IP_ADDRESS*! _____________________ And in your Editor’s Section you can start your writing with: Dear, !*COMPLETE_NAME*!… That’s why personalization is very important. At the end, you can read several spam messages and - do the opposite in your email newsletter. About the Author Filed under: Email Spam Comments: None |
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Posted on 03.13.06 by Admin @ 2:16 am
Tax Season - Time for Scams by Richard A. Chapo As tax season draws irresistibly closer, the scam artists are polishing their latest techniques. This article should help you keep an eye out for these nasty individuals. Tax Season - Time for Scams In a particularly cheeky move, scam artists have started posing in on form or another as the IRS in an effort to get you to turn over social security numbers and such. Logically, this actually makes sense. Everyone is terrified by the IRS and dread be contacted by the Agency. Most of us would do anything to resolve any issue raised by an IRS Agent including sending them copies of credit card statements and providing crucial financial information over the phone. Put another way, this is the perfect scenario for a scam artists. The goal of scam artists, of course, is to get private information they can use to open credit card accounts and so on. This is loosely known as phishing for the purpose of identity theft. Phishing and identify theft can occur through practically any communication method. Here are some recent scams that were successful: 1. One group of scam artists started sending spam emails notifying taxpayers they were eligible for tax refunds. The scam worked because the emails were sent from IRS types of email accounts including the irs letters in the address. Taxpayers were then told to go to click through to a site where they could fill out a form and get their refund. Of course, the email address and web site were fakes. Nobody got a refund, but the scam artists received a bevy of social security numbers, credit card information and so on. In total, this scam occurred through 12 different web sites in 11 countries. 2. This one is a classic. Scam artists send bogus IRS letters and Form W-8BEN asking non-residents to provide personal information including bank account numbers, PINs, passport numbers and so on. Form W-8BEN is used by banks, not the IRS, to obtain information from non-residents who are opening bank accounts! Unfortunately, many non-residents fell for this scam and had their identities stolen. There are a couple of guidelines you can use when dealing with IRS communications. First, the IRS never, ever sends email to taxpayers. NEVER! If you get an email communication, it is absolutely a scam. Delete it or send it to the IRS so they can take action. If you receive mail communications from the IRS, call the agency to verify a letter was really sent to you. With phone call communications, get the persons name and call them back at the IRS. Both methods will stop scam artists in their tracks. Be skeptical of communications you receive from sources you are not expecting. Finally, the IRS never asks a taxpayer for passwords or PIN numbers. If the agency desires to seize your bank account, they can just do it. They don’t need to take out $300 a day until your tax debt is collected! Scam artists are highly creative people. If you have doubts about an communication of the IRS, pick up the phone and call the agency. Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com - providing information on tax and taxes. Visit us to read more tax articles and our new tax credits page. Filed under: News Comments: None |
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Posted on 12.14.05 by Admin @ 2:10 am
Ready to Pop Your Top Over “Pop Up Spam?” Here’s How to Make it Stop Are you interrupted by a stream of “pop up” messages that stop you from using your home computer until you close them? Are you tired of seeing one message invariably morph into more — even when you’re not using your Web browser? Are you frustrated by the fact that many pop up spammers are advertising software to block the exact type of messages they’re sending? It’s a high-tech variation on a classic scam: Pop up spammers want your money to fix the very problem they created. Persistent and annoying, pop up spam also is a signal that your home computer is open to hackers. They could use this vulnerability to take over your computer and install new programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts that give them full access to your machine. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, you can block unwanted pop up messages and better protect your computer from hackers. It’s as simple as turning off the Microsoft Windows feature that allows pop up messages, or installing and running a firewall. The advantage of a firewall is that it prevents other types of unauthorized access to your computer, beyond pop up spam. Neither approach will stop pop up advertisements sent to your browser by a Web page you are visiting. Disabling Windows Messenger Service Pop up spammers are exploiting a feature of the Microsoft Windows operating systems known as Messenger Service. Despite the name, Windows Messenger Service doesn’t have anything to do with instant messaging. It is designed to provide users on a local- or wide-area computer network with messages from the network administrator. For example, a company’s network administrator might send a message to all its users that the company’s network will be shutting down in five minutes. If your home computer is connected only to the Internet, you may not have any practical uses for Windows Messenger Service. If your computer is on a business or home network, however, shutting off Messenger Service might not be the best approach. Your network should be protected by a firewall. Disabling the messenger service will prevent the possibility of pop up spam. To disable the messenger service: * Click Start, and then click Control Panel (or point to Settings, and then click Control Panel). * Double-click Administrative Tools. Double-click Services. Double-click Messenger. Installing and Running a Firewall Another way to cut off pop up spam is to run a firewall — software or hardware designed to block hackers from accessing your computer and getting into your programs and files. A firewall is different from anti-virus protection: Anti-virus software scans incoming communications and files for troublesome files; a firewall helps make you invisible on the Internet and blocks all communications from unauthorized sources. It’s especially important to run a firewall if you have high-speed Internet access through a cable modem or a DSL (digital subscriber line) connection. Some recently released operating system software (including Windows XP) comes with a built-in firewall. Because it may be shipped in the “off” mode, check your online “Help” feature for specifics on turning it on and setting it up properly. If your operating system doesn’t include a firewall, you can install separate firewall software that runs in the background while you use your computer and surf the Internet. Several free firewall software programs are available on the Internet. (You can find one by typing “free firewall” into your favorite search engine.) Or you can buy a hardware firewall — an external device that includes firewall software. Like anti-virus software, a firewall needs to be updated regularly to stay effective. If you want to complain about a deceptive pop up spam message, use the FTC’s online complaint form at www.ftc.gov. Your complaint will be added to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database and made available to hundreds of law enforcement and consumer protection agencies. Be sure your complaint includes the name of the company or Web site advertised in the pop up spam. Filed under: Application Spam Comments: None |
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Posted on 12.11.05 by Admin @ 8:41 pm
When Joe Mastruserio of Cincinnati got fed up with “spam” email containing unsavory offers he did not want – like adult entertainment and pyramid schemes – he clicked on the “remove me” or “unsubscribe” links in the text of the email messages. Much to his dismay, those links often led nowhere. So Mastruserio did what more than 200,000 consumers did last year: He complained to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In response to complaints like Mastruserio’s, the FTC investigated and found that the allegations were true. In April, the FTC warned 77 online marketers to discontinue their bogus “unsubscribe” links or face possible legal action. The warnings represent the FTC’s latest effort to crack down on deceptive spam. In the past four years, the FTC has brought more than 30 law enforcement actions against marketers who used spam to promote For many consumers, any kind of spam is annoying and time-consuming. But deceptive spam is especially troublesome because it can cheat consumers out of their money, undermine consumer confidence in online commerce and harm legitimate Internet marketers. There are steps consumers can take to help reduce the amount of spam they get – from keeping their email address more private to reporting spam problems to the FTC. “Con artists have seized on email’s capacity to reach millions of consumers quickly and cheaply,” says Eileen Harrington, Associate Director for the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices. “It’s time to wrest this tool from rip-off artists.” A Study of Spam Not all spam is fraudulent. However, spam is frequently used by scam artists because it is low cost and allows them to hide their identities, says Eric Wenger, an attorney in the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices. “Fighting deception is often an effective way to fight spam,” he says. Spammers obtain email addresses by buying lists from brokers who have “harvested” addresses from Internet newsgroup postings, chat rooms, websites, and online services’ membership directories. The spammers then use special software to send hundreds of thousands – even millions – of email messages with just one click of the mouse. Exactly how much spam they send is unknown. But it is increasing. The FTC receives about 40,000 pieces a day in a special mailbox it set up in 1998. Three years ago, the mailbox received about 4,000 a day. “Spam is a big problem, whether it’s deceptive or not,” Harrington says. “Consumers complain about it, and Internet Service Providers say it burdens them. To many, it’s the bane of cyberspace.” Enforcement Action The FTC also has helped train 1,700 law enforcement agents throughout the U.S. and Canada on investigating deceptive spam and other Internet fraud. As an outgrowth of that training, the FTC is helping create regional “netforces” – groups of local, state and federal agencies that work together to fight deceptive spam and other Internet fraud. One group – the Northwest Netforce, comprised of eight state law enforcement agencies, four Canadian agencies and the FTC – announced in April the results of 63 Internet-related law enforcement actions and the issuing of more than 500 warning letters to spammers for promoting illegal chain letter schemes. In addition, the FTC, along with other U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies, investigated complaints from consumers about spammers who failed to honor their offers to remove consumers’ names from future email solicitations. Consumers indicated that they were unable to follow through on messages that said “click here to unsubscribe” or “reply for removal.” When investigators tested several of the questionable links, they found that the removal hyperlinks often did not function. As a result, the FTC sent warning letters to 77 marketers and will continue to monitor “remove me” offers to ensure that they do what they say they will. Consumer Action * Avoid displaying your email address in public spaces, including newsgroup postings or chat rooms, on websites, or in an online service’s membership directory. * Check a website’s privacy policy before submitting your email address. Make sure the website doesn’t plan to sell your address. If possible, “opt out” of any such plans. * Read and understand website forms before you transmit personal information. If possible, select the “opt-out” choice if the website plans to share your information. * Create two email addresses – one for personal messages and the other for public use, such as in newsgroups or chat rooms. Or, consider a disposable email address service; it creates a separate email address that forwards your email to your permanent address. If the disposable address begins to receive spam, you can shut if off without affecting the permanent address. * Create a unique email address. Spammers often use “dictionary attacks” to sort through possible name combinations at large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or email services to find valid addresses. So a common name, like “jdoe,” may get more spam than a unique name, like “jd51×02oe.” * Use an email filter. Some email accounts provide a tool to filter out potential spam or channel it to a bulk email folder. You may want to ask whether this option is available when choosing an ISP. * Report the spam to the ISP – yours and the sender’s. Often the email address is “abuse@[your ISP’s name].com” or postmaster@[your ISP’s name].com. The ISP may be able to stop further spam. * Report the problem to the FTC. Send the actual spam item to spam@uce.gov. Be sure to include the full email header so that your complaint can be followed up. If your complaint has to do with “remove me” or “unsubscribe” offers not working, complete and submit the FTC’s complaint form at www.ftc.gov. For more on spam and how to avoid it, visit www.ftc.gov/spam. Says the FTC’s Harrington, “If each of us takes steps to can unwanted spam, collectively, we can do it.” Filed under: Email Spam and News Comments: None |
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Posted on 12.11.05 by Admin @ 7:15 pm
Anti-Spam Group Established In China China’s first anti-Spam organization for informtion technology administrators, the Anti-Spam of the Internet Society of China (ASISC) has launched. The ASISC includes computer networking administrative professionals who are cooperating together to build a highly efficient and safe anti-spam management system. The group also seeks to establish a good Internet society image and team up with international anti-spam initiatives. More than 100 million Chinese use e-mail services frequently. At the same time, it becomes the top receiver of junk mails. According to a survey, Chinese netizens receive over 10 junk messages every week on average. Filed under: News Comments: None |
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External News Email Spam News News on Email Spam continually updated from thousands of sources around the net. Dealing with the Age of Spam Spam has been around for an age, but most recently the word spam has been a direct relation to unwanted emails on the internet, they have been slowly increasing since the development of the internet and now ... Revival of Spamalot Spam volume has been cut by more than half because Internet providers pulled the plug on McColo Corp., a Web hosting firm that was allegedly helping some of the world's most dastardly junk e-mail gangs. Overstock.com's Latest Gambit: Email Spams to Promote Its Wacky CEO The corporate fraud poster boy Overstock.com, having just reinstated in financial results going back to the time of Copernicus , has invested its scarce cash in a new but typically slimy tactic: email spams. |
