SEO Spammers Running Rampant on GMail

If you haven’t gotten an email from spammers using a GMail account lately, consider yourself lucky. Spammers using GMail accounts are running rampant these days, and the so-called SEO Spammers seem to me to be the worst offenders, but by no means are they the only spammers utilizing GMail to send their tons of junk.

Gmail is just another Web-based service that is being abused. And though I could argue that Google AdSense has spawned a massive spamming industry, the real issue here is that black hat link spammers are abusing not only Google, but websites as well.

I am getting so fed up with the junk mail, 98% of it coming from gmail accounts, that I am getting real close to just blacklisting all gmail users from even sending me email. There are a few people with Gmail accounts who send me legitimate email, but the bogus form registrations don’t even come close to looking like real people.

That’s a drastic measure, and one that will certainly block some good Gmail users, but enough is enough. I, for one, am tired of having my free time eaten up fighting all of the Gmail spam of late.  And apparently, Google is doing very little (if anything) to combat this problem.  I don’t hold Google responsible for the fact that it enables spamming, but they have a form on their website where you report such abuse, but it seems that no one at Google is doing anything about any complaints that are filed at their site, so why bother? I’ve submitted several complaint forms, and absolutely nothing is done about them.

Google says that spammers haven’t cracked their Gmail captcha system yet, that the spammers are paying low-cost labor in overseas markets to sign up for Gmail accounts and spam every website they can find.

If spammers continue to abuse Gmail freely, and even worse, if Google does nothing about it,  I’m pretty sure a LOT of ISPs and forums will start blocking Gmail. That’s the only solution that we will have if we don’t want to waste half our day and resources on stopping spam from Gmail accounts.

Listen up Google, you monsterous beasts of the Internet, you are not beyond being blocked. Is anyone at the Goliath of the web listening?

I’d love to hear your opinion on this problem. Just leave your comment (pro or con) below. I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time…

Follow me on Twitter

Ed

CAUTION! Do Not Open These!

CAUTION:  DO NOT OPEN THESE!

 

If you get an email with the subject line:

 

Spyware Alert!,  Virus Alert!,  Worm Detected!, Trojan Alert!,  or some other warning notice of similar subject content, DELETE IT IMMEDIATELY and DO NOT Click the link in the email that recommends you to install a patch!

 

Here is what the email looks like:

===================================================

 

Dear Customer,

Our robot has detected an abnormal activity from your IP adress
on sending e-mails. Probably it is connected with the last epidemic
of a worm which does not have official patches at the moment.

We recommend you to install this patch to remove worm files
and stop email sending, otherwise your account will be blocked.

Customer Support Center Robot

 

======================================================

 

These emails could also be signed as “Support Team Robot”, “Postmaster”, “Abuse Team”, or any other signature that tries to make you think it was sent from someone in authority.

 

These are NOT coming from me.  Hopefully you already know this game well enough by now to know I would NEVER EVER send you an email notice like this.

 

So even if you THINK I sent you something of this nature…. think again.  I would never send you an update link embedded in an email… ESPECIALLY something like this.

 

Be diligent and cautious in opening ANY suspicious looking email right now.  There are a TON of bogus and spam/virus related email schemes circulating around the world right now.

 

Have a safe surfing day!!

 

ED
 

Great News Today!

You all know what an advocate I am against SPAM!

 

Please join me today as we celebrate the capture of what authorities believe is the “Spam King”. 🙂

 

Robert Soloway, a 27-year-old Seattle resident dubbed the “Spam King” by federal authorities and exasperated Web users (myself included!), allegedly ran his business from his apartment.

 

Soloway is accused of violating the federal CAN-SPAM Act, which criminalizes large, commercial e-mail messages sent using an unauthorized computer or with the intent to hide the e-mail’s original source. The allegations could put Soloway in prison for decades.

 

Federal prosecutors are also seeking $772,998 from Soloway, which represents the proceeds of his activity.

 

Authorities said Soloway, in an apparent effort to hide his true identity online, constantly shifted domains, including registering with Chinese Internet service providers.

 

Additionally, he used slave computers, called “botnets,” to send spam that advertised his corporate Web sites, which contained false headers to obscure their true origins.

 

I’d love to think I had something to do with Soloway’s demise… but no way to be sure.  I have taken a VERY active stance against spammers in the past six months, forwarding  hundreds of identifiable spam messages to federal authorities.  The FBI would neither confirm nor deny that any of my tips led to his arrest.  Oh well… at least they caught the sucker!!!!

 

Here’s the complete story from CNN if you care to read it:

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/31/technology/spam_king/index.htm?section=money_topstories

 

Have a great week!

 

Ed

 

Watch Out for This One!

There is an email circulating that could fool you into clicking on the Zip File I wanted everyone to be VERY aware of! 

  

It comes with the subject line “Worm Alert!”… and says: 

  

Dear Customer, 

  

Our robot has detected an abnormal activity from your IP adress (note the mis-spelling!) on sending e-mails.  Probably it is connected with the last epidemic of a worm which does not have official patches at the moment.  We recommend you to install this patch to remove worm files and stop email sending, otherwise your account will be blocked.  We had archived the patch becouse (another mis-spelling!) the worm can modify unpacked exe files.  You should open the archive file, enter the password and run the patch immediately. 

Password: (some password is listed) 

Customer Support Center Robot. 

Followed by an attached ZIP file. 

  

Please remain vigilant about email’s like this.  I don’t know of a single legitimate email that asks you to open or run a patch like this.  If EVER there is an email that looks legitimate asking you to do this, rest assured, it’s 99.99% likely to be a scam or phishing scheme! 

  

 

Have a great (and hopefully viruse free) Thursday! 🙂

 

Ed