Now I'm getting surreal SPAM

[TrogL]

(removed header)

meltwater huxtable contusion grady inactive calumniate cancellate dice armata fiscal counselor shrew their acronym apollonian pirate robinson chamomile ancestor covariate jeopard substantive develop chris corpse educable buttress

(some random formatting and one picture, apparently meaningless)

erasable anodic foundling felicitous psychoses agree sheaf sonogram drier redound itinerant autosuggestible snigger bauhaus mcnulty sparta robin tulsa droplet awl nietzsche pluperfect web yokuts admiralty saga serviceberry nuance transatlantic executive precious atheism retrorocket gerard bel gassy testicular easygoing brandenburg against clinician megohm nordstrom engel bergen raj elliptic harvest baby bethlehem warty profundity abysmal disposable berkshire germany draftsmen goober ornery whereabout slavish parole mull toolkit claustrophobic astrophysicist diffeomorphic christine recriminatory nob zloty gland lykes adventure mobil veracity accompaniment indiana saccharine bloodbath zloty spector emilio cart anachronism astor media iffy accipiter tuscaloosa boris brighton transalpine obtrusion
blocky plainfield italian dependent conrail denature corrode pease composition interject englishmen homophobia marsha diabetic craig silhouette ovenbird chicago how caste blazon loiter signify yaounde lymphocyte damascus hibachi insignificant conjoint certainty fetch preparative scorpio rabat chromatic schultz dadaist nutritive missouri burch claret diminution aerodynamic popish demolish mouton glomerular nadir epithelium kimberly ingestion minefield contralto zap it'd spyglass hyaline dodecahedron certified idle cofactor observant sommerfeld jupiter comrade glorify venom auckland dismissal curdle tangible damascus mcgee hermetic colony alcott coffeecup switzer bipartisan chris moody tribe list progeny egocentric harlem firearm fountainhead runnymede baghdad metro conductor carib attribute enos riemannian gradient petrifaction nordhoff permission inclose suffix allege kerry bob astronomy addressograph increment procreate diphthong locomotory wept keyword worship attestation emotion phagocyte suction biddy sybarite dish australia principal meter boss bolivar invective predicament ferris blade consignor exclusion

[GOPisEvil]

1. Got an "enigma" machine laying around?

:shrug:

[jpgray]

19. Okay, I at least thought that was funny. :-)

WWII counter-intelligence humor--you git!!!!

[TrogL]

2. you could go mad trying to figure this out

There's a lot of stuff about some of my interests:

• philosophy
  
• religion
  
• philosophers
  
• scientists
  
• chemistry
  
• astronomy
  
• music
  

a former handle of mine and the last name of a next-door neighbour and a reference to a movie I watched last night.

I'm scared :scared:

[felonious thunk]

3. They make a good point though

If you think about it, germany draftsmen goober ornery whereabout slavish parole mull toolkit, just makes a lot of damn sense.

[Katarina]

4. We've been getting those too

Several a day to multiple email accounts. Pisses me off to no end.

[nostamj]

5. i posted a sample like this

that came into my office yesterday...

very bizarre. does anyone have an idea what they're trying to do with this?

[felonious thunk]

6. Verify email accounts

Send this out, curious people open it, and it verifies to the spammer whether or not an email address is an active account.

[nostamj]

7. wouldn't you have to reply?

i know on AOL you can check status, but... we use Eudora at work, could spammers tell if we just open this junk?

we always advise the replying is what gets you confirmed (and open for increased spamming)

[felonious thunk]

10. Ever see the thing in MS Outlook where you can know...

if someone has opened an email? They have a more advanced, yet simple way to do the same thing, cross platform.

[nostamj]

11. i've never used Outlook

and Eudora does not have that feature

:shrug:

[felonious thunk]

14. Well, they have 2 pronged effect

They send these messages out to computer generated email addresses which may or may not work. If the address isn't valid, then they get a bounce back somewhere to let them know that it's not valid. Basically, with all the others, they know that a) it is a valid address and b) can get a report which lets them know that the email has been opened which lets them know it's an active account. And if it's opened, then they know that they can get around spam filters, and can hit that address (and more importantly, domain) hard.

[ima_sinnic]

16. if you use Eudora there is no need to open it to read it

. . . I am so FOND of Eudora for its feature that lets me read e-mail without opening it. Don't open spam, just preview it if curious and DELETE.

[trotsky]

8. They do it to defeat spam filters.

A lot of anti-spam programs work by taking a "fingerprint" of a spam message. Since the basic message/phrasing of the message is always the same, the fingerprint will generally match.

But spammers of course have caught on to this, and so they put in a whole mess of unrelated and sometimes nonsense words. And change them frequently. That way, any program taking a fingerprint will find enough changes in the "new" version that the fingerprint won't match, and it'll let it through.

Usually they hide all the words in HTML comments or tiny fonts. But sometimes it's just plain text.

I hate spammers with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns.

[TrogL]

9. That's what's confusing

I read throught the entire thing. There's no content. The URL is a display tag only. There's nothing to click.

All I can think of is that this might be a trogan trigger.

[trotsky]

12. Maybe the site that hosted the image got overwhelmed?

Or taken down?

I've gotten plenty of spam that only has a displayed image, which has the contact website or phone number or whatever the hell it is they want you to do to get their Viagra substitude.

13. here's the thread from yesterday about this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=547005

[TrogL]

17. Couldn'f find it

or else I'd have just commented there.

What's strange is that list of words doesn't really resonate for me. That's why I'm wondering if it's targetted.

Neuro-linguistic programming????

[welshTerrier2]

15. are you sure

you didn't sign up for one of those "learn a word a day" subscriptions?

[dweller]

18. I get 2 or 3 or more a day

luckily ( i hope) my email allows me to block the sender which works for that sender, but then the next one comes from another...so i started blocking domains...eventually i'm going to block the address of the whole world i guess...

i have asked my isp if there was a way to only allow specific addresses of friends and family that i add to, and block alllll the rest......but they haven't gotten back to me, and doubt they will.

dp