I also am mildly fascinated by spam/phish mail. Much of it, like Eric, leaves me wondering A) WHO would take the bait and why and B) WHAT are the mechanisms afoot?
I like to think that I am mildly more sophisticated than the average e-mail user but still likely subject to some of the more sophisticated or subtle phishing/scamming games folks play. I leave my T-Bird junk identifier on, and while I still see it in my inbox, I can quickly scan the sources/subjects to avoid false-positives (very, very rare after years of "training") but also for the morbid fascination. One simple click on "Delete Junk" clears 80% of my mailbox, then I try to religiously *mark* any false-negatives remaining in my box (anywhere from 10%-50% of the contents), often noting how they differed from the ones my filter recognized... often the differences are small. My Junk Mail settings include *not* autoloading inline content (images) so I feel *fairly* safe from the senders getting any significant tracking parallax on me *even when* I might open one to look at the content. A fascinating feature of *much* of the Junk Mail I actually open is that they often have a psuedorandom chunk of text as the body or within a more "phishing" body. Sometimes the text *looks* like normal content but is fairly random. I am guessing that this is part of some kind of orchestrated experiment where those so send out those e-mails are also looking to see where the semi-unique text-strings show up. A few times, I've clipped out bits of this nonsense and handed it to Google Search to see if it showed up anywhere. Typically I get ZERO results... sometimes I find a discussion thread or two where others are questioning the point/meaning/context of the content. Feels a little like injecting "tracking tags" into the noosphere. > So, being technically only semi-literate, here is the main response I have to > the spam-ocean in which we now all seem to be adrift. > > As for Michael below, I cannot imagine anyone would deliberately follow up > anything like this, except bored people who click on a link to see what kind > of entertainment lies at the other end, and who are computer-senior enough to > think there won’t be any undue trouble they have to deal with as a > consequence. > > So what, then, is the mechanics of the angle? If there are embedded URLs for > tracking, the “text" could be a random space-filler to check which emails are > active. It probably is not yet all that common for people to turn off > autoloading of remote content to reduce the number of channels through which > they are tracked, but it is presumably becoming more common. > > Is there timing in the way that remote content is loaded, so that somebody > can compile the rate at which readers sift through the text? Or are there > other completely unrelated mechanisms for which the email is a distraction > while a pickpocket works in some other direction? > > Eric > > > >> On Aug 17, 2019, at 9:10 AM, glen <geprope...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> This is the best spam I've received in a long time! And it's all thanks to >> my broken spamassassin config. Am I alone in finding spam and phishing email >> fascinating? I'm procrastinating fixing SA because my spam is more >> interesting than my "ham". >> >> Maybe the most interesting was the one claiming there was a bomb threat at >> "your office building". Of course, I was immune to it because I work from a >> shed in the back yard. But I can imagine that scared a lot of people. I >> never looped back to see if they caught any of those jerks. >> >> >> -------- Original Message -------- >> From: 7 Day Prayer Miracle <7dayprayermira...@miraclle.pro> >> Sent: August 17, 2019 5:49:01 AM PDT >> To: c...@tempusdictum.com >> Subject: Archangel Michael's Message For You >> >> Dear lbu...@energynewengland.com, >> >> >> Today, Archangel Michael has a life-changing message for you. >> >> >> Heâs about to teach you a mysterious prayer that drops you into the >> ocean of abundance, where boundless blessings flow: >> >> >> My good friend Amanda Ross has a special connection to Archangel >> Michael. Through his divine intervention Amanda successfully restored >> her marriage, reclaimed her joy and even won the lottery. >> >> >> >> Click here for her astonishing story: >> >> >> Best, >> Barbara L. Martin >> >> >> P.S. You want to know something that will blow your mind and open >> your heart? Archangel Michael is the guardian angel that fights for you. >> If you are struggling with any form of conflict -- big or small -- then >> saying this 4-sentence prayer holds the key to your victory. >> >> >> Heaven is smiling over you and cheering you on to win your breakthrough. >> Receive it here: >> >> >> 77 Petunia Way >> Birmingham, AL 35209 If these updates do not interest you please end them >> click here >> >> >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456 >> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178 >> >> >> -- >> glen >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ >> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
