The Spam Omelette #59

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1. EMAIL in a Pepsi^TM
Bottle

This week’s issue of the Spam Omelette tops with EMAIL as
number one spam word. It is mostly found in newsletter-like unsolicited mail pushing
advertisements for Canadian Pharmacy products. Since this is an extremely
common type of spam, we’ll describe a smaller wave that abuses the Pepsi brand
in order to lure users into disclosing their personal details to an
unauthorized third party.

The message promises 100,000 pounds sterling to the “lucky”
victim as the great prize allegedly organized by Pepsi. However, as the unwary
victim replies to claim their prize, they will only provide the attacker with
enough personal data to proceed to identity theft or to carry out a spear
phishing attack.

2.  Just like ROLEX. Only cheaper.

Ranking second in our weekly spam top, the brand ROLEX has
been mostly encountered in a large wave of unsolicited mail advertising cheap
replicas of the famous wrist watches. Although these products are promoted as
highly-accurate replicas, most of the times the customer will receive a
poorly-finished watch at a pretty expensive price tag. Needless to say that
sometimes you may not receive your parcel at all after the payment has been
done – and that’s another reason why not to do business with spammers.

 

3.  Watch spam ONLINE. Real time!

The word ONLINE ranks third in this issue of the Spam
Omelette and has been detected by the BitDefender spam researchers in mails
mostly coming from Canadian Pharmacy. It appears as part of the alternate text
displayed when the spa m filter has blocked a potentially unsafe image.

 

4. Cracked
SOFTWARE almost for free

The word SOFTWARE ranks fourth in this week’s spam top and
has mostly been used in unsolicited advertisements for so-called OEM software
on massive discounts. Victims taking this opportunity to purchase their desired
applications will only receive cracked software downloaded via peer-to-peer
networks, therefore will not be eligible for support and will also risk
prosecution.

5. The RIGHT approach to studying

The word RIGHT
concludes this week’s issue of the Spam Omelette. It has been mostly detected
in messages advertising medicine spam. Since it occurs especially in the footer
message (a technique that has been discussed already in our previous issues of
the Spam Omelette), we’ll focus on a more “exotic” breed of spam, namely
diploma offerings.

The message promises a shorter path to getting a
non-accredited diploma to hang on your wall. In exchange of a specific amount
of money, you will get a worthless sheet of paper to comfort your ego. Since it
is not recognized by any upper-education institution, it will not make any
difference in pursuing a career.