Tag: spammer
Spammers take advantage of Obama's inauguration
Later today, Barack Hussein Obama will be inaugurated as President of the United States, and thousands of spammers are using it an opportunity to.. well… do what they do best. Emails are circulating with subjects like “Barack Obama refused to be president of the USA” complete with links to phishing sites and viruses. Symantec warns of one in particular called W32.waledac.
It’s not the first time something like this has happened – the people who run these spam networks are well in-tune with current events and often use major holidays and other big world events as social engineering to get people to click links that they might normally be wise to. So be careful, you hear?
Symantec’s Warning (via TechRadar)
Related posts: Stupid spammers attempt to fool Brits with “Postcode Lottery” win | Opinion: Judgements against spammers are a waste of time, try educating users instead
Twply takes a spam-and-grab approach to violating your privacy
When’s the last time you gave out your username and password for something crucial to a random web service? That’s what a lot of people have been doing with Twply.com. The site asks you for your username and password, and then promises to send any @replies that you get on Twitter to your email account.
However, it’ll also spam its own URL across your Twitter account – “Just started using http://twply.com/ to get my @replies via email. Neat stuff!“. That means they’ve got a big database of Twitter usernames and passwords, ripe for spamming. I wonder what could happen if they got bought by someone without a conscience… Oh, wait.
If you’ve used the site, now would be a great time to go change your password. If you’ve not, then remember basic security advice. If you’re not sure about giving out your username and password to a website, then don’t do it. Have you got any tales of Web 2.0 privacy woe? I want to hear them. Drop me a comment below.
Oh, and for a service which does the same thing without asking for your password, try replies.twittapps.
Twply (via Helloform)
Related posts: Twitterer liveblogs his own plane crash | Evening Standard fails in its meagre attempts to understand Twitter
Robert Alan Soloway: A top 10 spammer arrested
Federal authorities in the US have reported that one of the world's "top 10" email spammers has been arrested. Robert Alan Soloway has been accused of using a network of "zombie" PCs to send out millions of spam email on bhealf of his Internet marketing company, containing details of other companies and individuals duped into taking up his services.
"He's one of the top 10 spammers in the world," said Tim Cranton, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company's Worldwide Internet Safety Programs. "He's a huge problem for our customers. This is a very good day."
