Spammers are Getting More Creative
There is a neverending battle of spammers vs. admins/filters. As filtering software gets more advanced and administrators gain experience, so do the spammers become more wily.
One of the relatively recent developments is the emergence of Spam Poetry - using fragments of books or randomly generated phrases to make each spam message unique.
Another thing that's becoming more prevalent is forum spamming - finding forums that allow anonymous posting and filling it up with self-promotional stuff. This would not deserve a separate mention, if spammers didn't get creative here as well. Today, I was tracking posts by a person who spammed one of my own forums and found out that he has left traces all over the Web. What makes it interesting, is he appears to be using some sort of generator to make his messages appear meaningful and even relevant to the subject of the site.
For example, in one of the fantasy forums, he has posted a bunch of messages that appear to be links to books or stories. Here are some of the subjects he used:
A stableboy raised by desert nomads plays a prank on a foolish wizard.
In this story, gypsies and dragons clash with a heroic sorceress stuck in the middle.
This tale of intrigue begins when a young peasant marries a proud queen.
These can actually pass for a real thing, but if you keep reading, you will notice that the generator is beginning to repeat itself:
In this story, dwarves and mice clash with a cowardly mermaid stuck in the middle.
And so, the battle rages on. Spammers are being sued and banned, but they do not surrender. The lure of easy money is too enticing, and the saga of foolish wizard continues.
One of the relatively recent developments is the emergence of Spam Poetry - using fragments of books or randomly generated phrases to make each spam message unique.
Another thing that's becoming more prevalent is forum spamming - finding forums that allow anonymous posting and filling it up with self-promotional stuff. This would not deserve a separate mention, if spammers didn't get creative here as well. Today, I was tracking posts by a person who spammed one of my own forums and found out that he has left traces all over the Web. What makes it interesting, is he appears to be using some sort of generator to make his messages appear meaningful and even relevant to the subject of the site.
For example, in one of the fantasy forums, he has posted a bunch of messages that appear to be links to books or stories. Here are some of the subjects he used:
A stableboy raised by desert nomads plays a prank on a foolish wizard.
In this story, gypsies and dragons clash with a heroic sorceress stuck in the middle.
This tale of intrigue begins when a young peasant marries a proud queen.
These can actually pass for a real thing, but if you keep reading, you will notice that the generator is beginning to repeat itself:
In this story, dwarves and mice clash with a cowardly mermaid stuck in the middle.
And so, the battle rages on. Spammers are being sued and banned, but they do not surrender. The lure of easy money is too enticing, and the saga of foolish wizard continues.
posted by Andy at 5:23 PM
1 Comments:
Is it possible for spammers on myspace to create fake profiles which include interests similar to others in order to trick you into things. For example, I got a request from a seemingly genuine person from america who had freakishly similar interests etc. to me, only to receive mails about earning money online. There was even a photo. It made me quite mad.
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