A Little Back And Forth

A little spam situation has cropped up in my small world. My name, written correctly with accurate email attached, has been used in a Nigerian-style lotto spamscam. I've had a few nasty emails in reply, but this one brought out the smarty-pants in me. Thanks to a fellow up North for the concise explanation that went into the exchange that went something... well exactly... like this...

On Nov 18, 2007, at 4:35 PM, E---- M----- wrote:

Try again bi*%h with this stupid scam. F@%K YOU!

E---- M-----
E---- M----- Advertising & Design Associates

Of course, I had to reply...

My name was appropriated by some scammer. I hope you can tie down you spam guard a bit better so you don't have to resort to profanity and the anger you obviously can't keep in check.

Don't reply to spam... it only validates your email address for the next spammer. I'm sure your clients appreciate your flowery language in your p.r. work.

Do your best to get your brain around this information:

Spam malware doesn't send e-mail addresses back to the original spam author - there's no need, as the malware has an e-mail engine built right into it. The point of the malware is to hijack the victim's computer and then send out spam e-mails to the addresses in that user's address book, and/or access a remote list of addresses to pick from. To mask the infected computer, the malware will not use the e-mail address of the person's computer that is actually infected - the malware will select a random name from the address book and use that as "from". With a hijacking of a person's computer to do the dirty work, ie theft of services, the spammer is not directly exposed.

Signed/
The random, real person/not-spambot at the receiving end of your good wishes,

Justine L------
P.S. God bless!


Okay, I know the "God bless!" was a little over the top, but it's been a long weekend and I'm a wee bit cranky. Then again, maybe it was worth the wince to ratchet it up a tad.

To his credit, Mr. Potty Mouth-Name Calling Advertising Professional wrote back...
My sincere apologies. I get no less than twenty to thirty scams a day and I sick and tired of them! I have tried all types of spam guards to no avail. I feel that people who resort to stealing from othere who work hard to earn their money do not deserve language any better than that which I used in my reply. Thanks to your email I will no longer reply to the scammers. Once again, I apologize for the language used, it was not intended for your eyes. Thanks for the spam malware info.

E---- M-----
E---- M----- Advertising & Design Associates[/quote]

So, dear readers, I ask you this... Am I a good witch or a bad witch? Think he'll give me a freelance gig doing some ad copy? Should I send him a Christmas card? Discuss.