Evil Spam

This is so low I feel compelled to tell people about it. It's a spam e-mail that has a "Report Spam" button that actually causes you to get spammed.

I got everything contained in the gray table below as an e-mail. It looked like the "Report Spam" button could be something provided by my e-mail host, which, like many others, has been promising new anti-spam measures now that there's been so much talk about spam legislation. And this is definitely spam, so I put in the address and clicked on the button and...hey...the pop-up form asks for my e-mail address. I don't like that one little bit.

So I poked at the code and noticed that the "Report Spam Here" button links to...hm...the exact same URL as the "Click here to get your DVD for free" button. I don't like that one bit, either.

So I poked some more and found that the only other URL in the code goes to "www.spammingbureau.com" (they do not get a link). I went there, and it looked like it just might be a legitimate anti-spam company. Except, when you click on their "Report Spam" button, they want your e-mail address. Nope, don't like that at all.

So I did a Web search on them and found that an actual anti-spam organization's Web site (www.spamcon.org) had a discussion thread on them - it starts here, if you want to read the whole thing. The short of it is, the company information is wholly fraudulent; their listed address and phone number don't actually exist, and if you do send them your e-mail address, you immediately start getting spammed.

So:

  1. Stay the heck away from the Spamming Bureau.
  2. And if you get an e-mail that has an anti-spam feature you don't recognize, check what you're sending and where you're sending it before you do anything.

Evil Spam

Note: I have, for obvious reasons, taken my e-mail address out of the code below.
(I was going to replace it with something pretty vulgar, but settled on evilspam@evilspam.com.)
I left some of the evil spammer's links live so you can see how they coded it, but I've put some editorial comments in.

Spammer's E-Mail Address
(nonexistent)


(Sorry about the blinking text. It's all one image, so I can't just kill the blinking part.)
Everything in the outlined table is one hyperlinked image. Don't click any part of it.
This offer has been provided by GiveMeGiveMe at 700 North Pearl St., Suite 2150, Dallas, TX. 75201

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Or send an email with 'remove' in the subject to: r.GiveMeGiveMe.16-1885969-3731.evilspam.com.-evilspam@server1.leafletz.com [BOGUS]


End of spam.

© 2003 Zhaba Productions, but send this particular information anywhere you want to.