I have Moveable Type mail me new comments from my weblog. It’s a very convenient feature, since I don’t get too many comments (hint, hint).
Late last night, I received an e-mailed comment that linked to the Nipponjin with scissors entry froma few days ago. It is spam from a manufacturer.
”[…]we are willing seriously to establish our bilateral trade relations with you as well as with your esteemed company for a long time. And also want to cooperate with you at all steps.”
First step towards bilateral cooperation: do not spam me!
Was this done by a clueless drone who is paid to paste form letters into anything vaguely scissors-related? Or is it a nefarious tool to seek out keywords on webpages and then fill in forms it finds attached to those pages? There was a spate of automated comments spam in late October; here’s an interesting article on Dive Into Mark about solutions.
I guess I’ll know if my spammer was human or automated if this post (also containing the word “scissors”) gets spammed.
Watch this space…
Even if you are paranoid, they still might be out to get you.
Posted by: Pete on December 27, 2002 11:10 PMMr. Sadiq Yusuf
First Atlantic Bank PLC
4/6 Adetokunbo Ademola Street
P. O. Box 75369
Victoria Island, Lagos-Nigeria
Tel: +234-1-2622472 to 6; Tel: 234-1-2622497
website: www.firstatlanticbank.com
Dear friend,
This letter may come to you as a surprise due to the fact that we have
not yet met. The message could be strange but real if you pay some
attention to it. I could have notified you about it at least for the sake
of your integrity. Please accept my sincere apologies. In bringing this
message of goodwill to you, I have to say that I have no intentions of
causing you any pains.
I am Mr. Sadiq Yusuf, Branch Manager, First Atlantic of Nigeria. I
managed to get your contact details through the Internet myself. Time is
of the importance and I am desperately looking for a person to assist me
in this confidential business. A British oil consultant/contractor with
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Claude Brian Best made a
numbered time (Fixed) Deposit on January 6, 1999, valued at
US$25,000,000.00 (Twenty- five Million Dollars), for twelve (12) calendar
months in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his
forwarding address but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder
and finally we discovered from his contract employers, the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation that Mr. Claude Brian Best died from an
automobile accident. On further investigation, I found out that he died
without making a WILL, and all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless.
I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mr. Claude
Brian Best did not declare any kin or relations in all his official
documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank. This sum of
US$25,000,000.00 is still sitting in my Bank and the interest is being
rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year. No one will
ever come forward to claim it. According to Nigerian Law, at the
expiration of 4 (four) years, the money will revert to the ownership of
the Nigerian Government if nobody applies to claim the fund.
Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand
in as the next of kin to Mr. Claude Brian Best so that the fruits of this
old man’s labor will not get into the hands of some corrupt government
officials. This is simple, I will like you to provide immediately your
full names and address so that the attorney will prepare the necessary
documents and affidavits that will put you in place as the next of kin.
We shall employ the service of two lawyers for drafting and notarization
of the WILL and to obtain the necessary documents and letter of
probate/administration in your favor for the transfer. A bank account in
any part of the world that you will provide will then facilitate the
transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of kin. The money
will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of 60% for me
and 40% for you.
There is no risk at all as all the paperwork for this transaction will be
done by the attorney and my position as the Branch Manager guarantees the
successful execution of this transaction. If you are interested, please
reply immediately via the private email address below;
s_yusuf_1@phantomemail.com
Upon your response, I shall then provide you with more details and
relevant documents that will help you understand the transaction.
Please observe utmost confidentiality, and rest assured that this
transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall
require your assistance to invest my share in your country.
Awaiting your urgent reply via my email address.
Thanks and regards.
Mr. Sadiq Yusuf.
I’m looking for data on blog spamming. I can see that the letter above is spamming (actually it is probably a scam: http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/, I receive 5-6 email a day like that). But do you know exactly what blog spamming is an where can I find the exact guidelines. I’ve been looking the the whole Internet but could not find the exact data.
Posted by: Paolo Roat on August 14, 2003 10:12 PMI LIKE THIS SITE
Posted by: JIM on March 5, 2004 12:48 PMHI,THIS IS JIM.THIS MESSEGE IS BEING POSTED ON THURSDAY MARCH 5,2004.THIS MESSEGE IS FOR SADIQ YUSUF.YOU SAID CONTACT YOU BY E-MAIL.I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SEND E-MAIL.SO I HOPE YOU SEE MY MESSEGE ON THIS INTERNET SITE IN A FEW DAYS,OR WHENEVER.CAN YOU PLEASE SEND ME THE OFFER YOU WROTE ABOVE.IM INTERESTED IN IT.MY FULL AND CORRECT ADDRESS IS 3630 S.SEPULVEDA BLVD.=1-145 LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA 90034 U.S.A.PLEASE SEND ME THE OFFER THE MINUTE YOU READ MY MESSEGE.I HOPE YOU SEE MY MESSEGE.AND PLEASE GIVE OTHER NIGERIANS WHO OFFER BIG MONEY,MY MAILING ADDRESS.TELL THEM TO SEND ME HUNDREDS OF THEIR OFFERS EACH WEEK,ALL YEAR ROUND.THANK YOU.ONCE AGAIN MY MAILING ADDRESS IS 3630 S.SEPULVEDA BLVD.=1-145 LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA 90034 U.S.A.
Posted by: JIM on March 5, 2004 12:59 PM