Spam Filtering: September 2005 Archives

Skype users can let their friends know that they have Skype installed. That is not a bad thing, except when people you hardly know start sending you inane "skype me" emails via the Skype website. I know it's not Skype's fault that people are abusing their system, but they really should consider putting in some form of warning eg. please do not abuse this service by sending messages to people you hardly even know

Justin mentions that SA 3.10 has been released

Like most bloggers I have an aversion to comment spam.

According to an article in today's Sunday Times the government maybe taking a hardline on spammers in the future. Although any such move should be welcomed do not take it at face value. Under the current legislation email and sms spam may be deemed illegal when data privacy legislation is breached. Although this may seem relatively straigtforward the reporting mechanisms and procedures are anything but simple. It is far too easy for government to make claims about levels of spam based on the number of abuse reports. By putting obstacles in the way of citizens wishing to report email and sms abuse the reality is distorted.

As has happened on previous occasions the spammers and phishers are seeing the aftermath of Katrina as a boon. The email below is an example of the kind of scam email currently "in the wild". You can click on the image to see a larget version: As you can see from the screenshot the email failed the SPF check and shows a return path to a Polish hosting company on the Gnax.net network. Mailscanner also identified the link to an IP address instead of a hostname (a common sign of fraud) which resides in Brazil. The screenshot below is of the fraudster's site where they request your credit card information for a "donation" (click to see an enlarged version): You'll notice that both the email and the site include a Verisign logo, however neither work.

I've mentioned phishing scams in the past. Some of them are very well crafted, whereas others are pretty amateurish. Today being the first Sunday of the month you can get Computers in Business with the Sunday Business Post. If you are involved in the Irish ICT industry you may find this publication to be worthy of reading. You may want to reassess that view if you read this month's editorial.