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How Did the Term "Spam" Originate?
Spam is a pinkish luncheon meat that comes in a can. It is made by Hormel and is often considered to have "no nutritive or aesthetic value." Why the word "spam" has been adopted as the term to identify unsolicited email (much to the chagrin of Hormel), is a matter of some dispute.
The most widely adopted explanation, is that the term got its origins from a famous Monty Python sketch entitled "Spam-Loving Vikings." In this sketch, the vikings are situated in a restaurant whose menu items include only dishes that are made with spam. The vikings (obviously thrilled with this) eternally sing the refrain "Spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam" increasing in volume each time. The repetative, obnoxious, and useless nature of this song can easily be compared to that of unsolicited internet messages, and hence, to our contemporary definition of "spam."
The first such instance of internet spam supposedly occured as a practical joke in the MUD/MUSH community. An account of the alleged incident can be found here.
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Why Do I Get So Much Spam?
The answer to that question is simple. First, sending spam email is cheap! A spammer can send out a direct marketing email to hundreds even thousands of recipients for under one cent. Second, believe it or not people buy things and reply to junk email. NEVER EVER BUY ANY GOODS OR SERVICES ADVERTISED BY SPAM! It just encourages more spam, If there is something advertised by spam you are actually interested, find it somewhere else online, it is time users Banned Spam. So when you put the two reasons together you get the simple and basic answer that spamming is profitable. People are making a lot of money by swamping your inbox with all kinds of junk, scams, and offensive material.
So the real question is How Do Spammers Get My Email Address?
The question we hear more than any other is: How did my email address become public knowledge? The companies and persons responsible for flooding your inbox with junk email, advertisements, and offensive adult content, are very smart and determined technically savvy internet users.
This document is meant to not only inform you on why the problem is so pervasive, and why without some defense it will only get worse. And second, to dispel a few myths about spam and how not to get spammed.
MYTHS:
If I don’t give out my email address, spammers won’t get it. This is the I use my hotmail address for signing up for websites, and I only give out my real address to people I know. This is a fairly effective strategy, and in the short term it may actually work for you, however within a matter of time you address will be located, exploited, and shared.
Signing up for adult sites is why you get “those kind of emails sent to you”. The annoying question – “What kind of websites do you visit?” Contrary to uninformed belief, you do not have to visit or sign up for adult sites to get pounded with junk email advertising “XXX HOT fill in the blank”.
I complain to the spammers ISP, that way their account is deactivated. People have been complaining to ISPs since spam started, and spam has not slowed down. Email headers are forged, or originate from thousands of different servers, sometimes switching servers multiple times for the same message batch.
REALITY:
You may be aware of one or more of the following “tactics” of getting your email address and abusing that information to bombard you with trash. Below is a list of the more popular methods of getting your address:
They buy your name from a list: These junk mail & targeted email lists have been around almost as long as the internet itself. For as cheap as $100.00 anyone can buy a list of over 11 million addresses. These lists we’re created by numerous unscrupulous website owners, and online stores that would “share” their customer’s information for some money. As you can imagine it is impossible for spammers to identify your likes, or interests, when sending mails to such a large group. So a “shotgun” mailing is sent out, product offers, get rich quick schemes, adult porn sites, Korean & Chinese ??? mailings, are all sent out to all 11 million names.
Opt-in Lists: These two little words (or one hyphenated one however you look at it) are quickly becoming infuriating. These lists are developed by partnering with legitimate websites which make you check “Don’t send me offers”, well sooner or later you’ll forget to check one of the boxes, and you’re added to an opt-in list. Although many opt-in lists are legitimate and will honor your removal requests, for every one there are three that are not truly “opt-in” lists. You ask to be removed from an email from “MarkertingPartners Ltd”, and tomorrow you get two messages saying you opted-in at one of the partner sites of “SuperOptIn Ltd”.
Email Extractors: These software tools are very skilled at scouring the internet for email addresses. Websites, Forums, Alumni sites, news posts, etc. These robots can locate thousands of email addresses an hour. And spammers run them day and night.
MX Server Extractors: These programs exploit internet mail server protocols. When an email is sent to you it is handed over to your Mail Provider’s server, which starts “communication” with the sender. The sender’s server asks to deliver a message to a user on your server, but before the message is actually accepted by your server it wants to know who it the mail is addressed to. So your address is sent over, and your server replies whether the name is OK, or the address does not exist on the server (what happens when a message is “bounced” back to you). Basically the MX server extractors mimic the communication without actually trying to send the message. Think of it as someone ringing your doorbell and asking if “Joe” is home, no one named Joe may live at your house, however if the person at your door tries enough names sooner or later the may stumble upon yours, and you will say “Yes”. (You are smart enough to stop answering after the first or second name guess however most email servers are not). Programs exist that can mine over 5000 email addresses per minute, and believe it or not they sell for less than $100.00
Viruses, Spyware, and Malicious Code: Not to long ago viruses & spyware started to appear that transparently load themselves or are sent via email to your mail client. As soon as you open books, contact lists, and distribution lists, and “report” their findings back them, the read you address to home base.
So when someone claims they don’t get any spam at all, either they have not had their email address very long, or more likely there ISP does a pretty good job filtering spam at the server level before it gets to them, which probably means legitimate mail is also being deleted before it gets to them as well. So if you are like the rest of us, you have to fight back yourself or just quit using email. That’s why the SPAM INSPECTOR is so important to your internet security & privacy strategy. So get SPAM INSPECTOR today and SAY GOODBYE TO SPAM !
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Why do I get SO MUCH spam email?
The answer to that question is simple...
First, sending spam email is cheap!
A spammer can send out a direct marketing email to hundreds even thousands of recipients for under one cent.
Second, believe it or not people buy things and reply to junk email. Buying goods or services advertised by spammers... simply encourage more spam email.
Therefore, when you put the two reasons together, you get the simple and basic answer that spamming is profitable. People are making a lot of money by swamping your inbox with all kinds of junk, scams, and offensive material.
How Do Spammers Get My Email Address?
The question we hear more than any other is: How did my email address become public knowledge? The companies and persons responsible for flooding your inbox with junk email, advertisements, and offensive adult content, are very smart and determined technically savvy internet users.
This article here is not only inform you on why the SPAM problem is so pervasive, and why without some defense against it will only get worse. And to dispel a few myths about spam and how not to get spammed.
MYTHS: If I don’t give out my email address, spammers won’t get it. I use my hotmail address for signing up for websites, and I only give out my real address to people I know. This is a fairly effective strategy, and in the short term it may actually work for you, however within a matter of time you address will be located, exploited, and shared.
Signing up for adult sites is why you get “those kind of emails sent to you”. The annoying question – “What kind of websites do you visit?” Contrary to uninformed belief, you do not have to visit or sign up for adult sites to get pounded with junk email advertising “XXX HOT fill in the blank”.
I complain to the spammers ISP, that way their account is deactivated. People have been complaining to ISPs since spam started, and spam has not slowed down. Email headers are forged, or originate from thousands of different servers, sometimes switching servers multiple times for the same message batch.
REALITY:
One or more of the following “tactics” of getting your email address and abusing that information to bombard you with trash. Below is a list of the more popular methods of getting your address:
They buy your name from a list: These junk mail & targeted email lists have been around almost as long as the internet itself. For as cheap as $100.00 anyone can buy a list of over 11 million addresses. These lists we’re created by numerous unscrupulous website owners, and online stores that would “share” their customer’s information for some money.
As you can imagine it is impossible for spammers to identify your likes, or interests, when sending mails to such a large group. So a “shotgun” blast mailing is sent out, product offers, get rich quick schemes, adult porn sites, Korean & Chinese ??? mailings, are all sent out to all 11 million names.
Opt-in or Optin Lists: These two little words are quickly becoming infuriating. These lists are developed by partnering with legitimate websites which make you check “Don’t send me offers”, well sooner or later you’ll forget to check one of the boxes, and you’re added to an opt-in list.
Many opt-in lists are legitimate and will honor your removal requests but for every one, there are three that are not truly “opt-in” lists. You ask to be removed from an email from “MarkertingPartners Ltd”, and tomorrow you get two messages saying you opted-in at one of the partner sites of “SuperOptIn Ltd”.
Email Extractors:
Or "spambot" are software tools very skilled at scouring the internet harvesting and culling up to 100,000 email addresses and hour from Websites, Forums, Alumni sites, news posts, etc., and spammers run them day and night.
MX Server Extractors:
These programs exploit internet mail server protocols. When an email is sent to you it is handed over to your Mail Provider’s server, which starts “communication” with the sender...
The sender’s server asks to deliver a message to a user on your server, but before the message is actually accepted by your server, your mail server wants to know for whom the mail is addressed to....
So, your email address is sent over, and your mail server replies whether the name is OK, or that it does not exist on the server (that's what happens when a message is bounced back to you)....
Basically this is how it works, the MX server extractors mimic the communication with the mail server without actually trying to send the message....
Think of it like this, the MX server extractor is like; someone ring your doorbell and ask if “Joe” is home--no one named "Joe" may be living in your house--however if that someone tries enough names--sooner or later someone will stumble upon your correct email name, and your mail server will say “Yes”. Programs like these exist for less than $100.00--spammers run them day and night mining over 5000 email addresses per minute.
Viruses, Spyware, and Mailicous Code:
Not too long ago viruses and spyware started to appear, some disguise as freeware that transparently load themselves or are sent via email to your mail client (ie: outlook, outlook express, eudoramail, etc.). And these spyware--"report" and send your address book contact lists back to their home base, some examples:
Proxy-Guzu or Jeem spam zombies Trojans that hijack ordinary PCs without the owner knowledge by installing built-in SMTP engine program to send spam (More spam zombies info at bottom of page).
The Klez virus, for example, select random email address from an infected PCs and insert the email address into the "From:" and "To:" fields, making it appear that someone else has sent the message.
The W32.Yaha.P@mm worm/virus that email itself to all of the contacts in your Windows Address Book, MSN Messenger, .NET Messenger, Yahoo Pager, and in all the files whose extensions contain the letters HT.
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When someone claims that they don’t get any spam at all, either they have not had their email address very long, or more likely their ISP does a pretty good job filtering spam--see below chilling examples--at the server, which probably means that legitimate mail are also being deleted before it gets to their mailbox.
Here are some chilling examples of what words and phrases can trigger a supposed "Spam Filter" and get your email deleted! (offending phrases are highlighted in blue).
"Grandma, guess what, I won a free cruise" (ZAP)
"Thanks for considering me for the job opening. It was great meeting with you, and thank you for your time and interest." (ZAP)
"Honey, remember when I told you that before you saw me next I was going to lose weight? Well guess what... (ZAP)
If you are like the rest of us, you have to fight back against the spammers yourself or just quit using email. That’s why, MailWasher is so important to your internet security & privacy strategy.
I have looked at various POP email filters that required me to open their program before I could opened MS Outlook, or even worse, filters even took over as my email client. I even thought of changing my email address--but why should I change the way I use email?
I finally found "MailWasher" and installed it. Within seconds upon running it, it quarantine 99% of all the spam in my inbox in seconds and I didn't have to change anything.
I found that "MailWasher" is the most powerful and easiest to use Anti-Spam software available. It integrates directly into my Outlook, Outlook Express, or AOL 7.0 and protecting me from 99% incoming spam email.
Only one program "MailWasher" protects all your email accounts - POP, IMAP, Exchange Server, Lotus CC:Mail, and even Hotmail. MailWasher runs a comprehensive heuristic spam check--using unparalleled filtering technology, spam watch lists, and signature matching.
When a message is identified as Spam, it is automatically blocked from your inbox--whisking it away to a quarantined folder inside your email client, and by automatically integrating with your Contacts, Distribution Lists, and Windows Address Books, you never lose a message from a friend.
About Spam Zombies
As email servers filtering technique are getting more and more effective, mass or bulk email marketers are resorting to hijacking ordinary PCs by installing "worms or Trojans with built-in SMTP engine" called "Proxy-Guzu or Jeem" to spam without the owner knowledge.
When an unwitting user execute these "Trojans" on their PCs--the Trojan listens on a randomly-chosen port and using its built-in mail client to dash off a message, ie; to a Yahoomail account together with the victim computer port number and IP address in the subject line.
The spammer uses the information and relay as much email as they can through the captured computer, knowing that mails being traced will lead to the hijacked Internet Address.
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