08/06/2008

Well, it got my attention, too. It was in my Lotus Notes Junk Mail folder, but I couldn't resist looking at it. It falls into the spam category "Headline Spam", all of it false, or playing on current news and events. The spammers use sensational headlines to get the recipient to open the message. Interestingly, the IBM message had no connection to the subject, but had another unrelated headline. Maybe the spammer thinks that if one scare tactic headline does not get results, adding a second unrelated headline will? I did not bother clicking the link, as it was probably some Storm virus or other malware:


Here are some other samples from the SpamSentinel Quarantine.nsf

More financial headlines:
US stocks turmoil causes global meltdown
Olympics cancelled due to nuclear scare

War and terrorism scares:
Cambodia attacks Thailand in Asia war
FBI Watching Possible Terrorists on Facebook

Car Accidents
Obama hurt in car crash

Equal time for the republicans:
McCain diagnosed with skin cancer, surgery done

Don't forget the commander in chief:
Air force one crashes in Iraq

And this important politician (given her driving record, this would be opened a lot)
Lindsey Lohan died in car crash. Video.

Don't want to forget Ms. VP candidate:
Hillary Clinton hurt in car crash

whose email had again another unrelated headline spam:


For me, I am waiting to see the headline "Microsoft switches from Exchange to Lotus Notes for internal email".