New Levels of Spam

At work we have recently been discussing the problem of spam sent through our web forms (formmail.pl). Apparently somewhere people are paid to sit and fill out web forms in order to submit unwanted advertisements. Now let’s take it a step further. Below is something that was submitted as a question via the internal eBay messaging system regarding an item I’m auctioning:

dear friend:
We are www.superll.com. we are distributer,we have many wellknown
products such as dell,ibm,sony,panasonic,philip,samsung,nokia,nikon,olympus,canon,
fujifilm and so on.
there are many sorts of digital products in stock for sale.
they are original and in good condition,also one year international warranty with
the manufacters.
We do business such as drop ship and wholesale.
if you are interested in our product please have a look on our website
and contact us by following means.thanks.
Web address : www.superll.com
Email : superll8@hotmail.com
Msn : superll8@hotmail.com
thanks.

After a quick Google search, it appears that others have received this as well. What’s funnier is that the spammer’s eBay account purchased two (very cheap) items in June in order to gain a small amount of legitimacy. Oh well, they probably wouldn’t be doing it unless the occasional person fell for the scam.

Unfortunately spam appears to account for 80 - 90 percent of all email traffic, depending on the source. Due to this, many are predicting an eventual transfer of messaging to a combination of IM and social networks. However, I’m sure spammers will only come up with a more sophisticated solution. It’s the web’s version of the Cold War.

August 3, 2007 | Filed Under Internet, Libraries, Personal 

Comments

2 Responses to “New Levels of Spam”

  1. Ron Summa on August 25th, 2007 8:40 pm

    I too received this ‘question’ during one of my recent auctions on eBay. I hope the people at eBay are doing something about all the shenanigans that are going unchecked at the bidding site. Listers are having their accounts compromised, or maybe more accurately, commandeered by scammers who then use the account to list items. The winning bidders then send their payments to an address given by the perpetrators and see neither item nor money again. EBay is getting so big that I feel they are no longer in total control of their business, and, as both a seller and a buyer on eBay, I daily am becoming more wary of using this once excellent internet resource. May the folks at eBay recognize and address the shortcomings that exist on their web site.

  2. Andy on August 27th, 2007 10:53 pm

    Thanks for the comment, Ron, you are dead on. I think eBay’s growth has surpassed it’s ability to effectively and rapidly deal with hacks and stolen accounts. Good luck!

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