Yahoo's plan to fight spam with pennies -
posted by vvurdsmyth on Aug 20, 2009 - 44 comments

New technique to block spam in the server -
posted by vvurdsmyth on Jul 31, 2009 - 51 comments

Ars Technica reports 12% of e-mail users have actually tried to buy stuff from spam, according to a study by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group. Read the published survey here: part 1 (PDF), part 2(4.6MB zip file) and press release. (via).
posted by slogger on Jul 16, 2009 - 45 comments

High-priced emergency locksmith services clog up local business listings (and Google Maps), driving all the emergency calls to their numbers. It's happened all over the country. E.g., a 'brash new locksmith company' comes to Madison, WI.
posted by grobstein on Jul 8, 2009 - 76 comments

Its reach is impossible to measure precisely, but more than 3 million vulnerable machines may ultimately have been infected. : The inside story on the Conficker Worm at New Scientist.
posted by The Whelk on Jun 15, 2009 - 84 comments

Spam by Elliott Burford. An ongoing project illustrating the titles of emails found in your spam/junk box.
posted by chunking express on May 14, 2009 - 19 comments

Magpie wants to roost in your twitter feed. (via Jon Lebkowsky , who has an opinion)
posted by Pants! on Apr 11, 2009 - 40 comments

THE ELEMENTS OF SPAM (single link McSweeney's post)
posted by bystander on Jan 14, 2009 - 38 comments

"Analysis of traffic logs (PDF) of email received by a large UK ISP shows considerable disparity between the proportions of spam received by addresses with different first characters." [more inside]
posted by Knappster on Sep 3, 2008 - 7 comments

Spammers helping with the New Orleans recovery efforts. [more inside]
posted by jourman2 on Aug 20, 2008 - 13 comments

Marian Bantjes, typographer, designer, and Layer Tennis competitor, received a 419 spam email and turned it into this print. [more inside]
posted by heeeraldo on Jun 27, 2008 - 8 comments

Inside the "Ron Paul" Spam Botnet. [more inside]
posted by chunking express on Dec 5, 2007 - 171 comments

Artistic renditions of spam subject lines — A Flickr photoset (of sorts)
posted by brett on Nov 9, 2007 - 18 comments

When Ron Paul email spam started hitting inboxes in late October, UAB Computer Forensics Directory Gary Warner published findings on the spam's textual patterns and the illicit botnet used to spread it -- findings which were picked up by media outlets and tech websites like Salon, Ars Technica, and Wired Magazine's "Threat Level" blog, the latter in a set of followup posts by writer Sarah Stirland: 1, 2, 3. [more inside]
posted by brownpau on Nov 5, 2007 - 306 comments

It's not spam, it's BACN. A web-term that was influenced by the proliferation of web 2.0 social networks used to describe "notifications you want, just not right now." Twitter requests, facebook notifications, bill-payment receipts, etc. Even though you're expecting the e-mail, *and* you want to read it, now is just not a good time to click the "read" button. You want to; you just don't have time right now. Hopefully the video and numerous blog postings in the last 24 hours will help to bring awareness to this new web-term recently brought to light this past weekend at Podcamp Pittsburgh.
posted by punkrockrat on Aug 20, 2007 - 50 comments

The New Yorker dives deep into the world of Spiced Ham: "'You buy your spamming program and your spamming network. You obtain a list of mailing addresses. Anyone can do this in an hour. Then you put them all together and set up a Web site or go to a service provider. You can buy a server for a few hundred dollars and spam from that. Usually, the provider will shut you down quickly and you will be blacklisted. But then you move on to the next.' Among the systems that have been infected by networks of remote computers in the past two years were computers at the weapons division of the United States Naval Air Warfare Center and many machines operated by the Department of Defense."
posted by JPowers on Aug 3, 2007 - 14 comments

Why science fiction is hard. Inspired by reports of a creative new, Rube-Goldberg spamming technique in World of Warcraft, MetaFilter's own Charlie Stross imagines trying to explain gold farming to someone from 1977. (Previously: 1, 2, 3)
posted by straight on Jul 20, 2007 - 61 comments

Just when you thought virtual reality couldn't get any worse, it's 3D Email! "Immerse yourself in 3-D as you read and write your mail. Hang with your mail poolside, or feed your spam to the sharks! Deleting spam is so much fun, you may wish you had more! ...It's an email metaverse!"
posted by verb on Jul 18, 2007 - 46 comments

How Many Ways Can You Spell V1@gra? Building on previous research (Cockerham, 2004), Brian Hayes attempts to find the limits of Viagra-spammer ingenuity.
posted by Horace Rumpole on Jun 27, 2007 - 17 comments

Spam University. "Are you tired of your dead-end job? Want to make some big-time cash without actually working? Earn the money you deserve in the exciting and fast-growing spam industry," but only if you meet the rigorous admissions criteria. Check out the lovely campus amenities and meet the alumni. If you're athletically inclined, you might even want to join one of Spam U.'s championship-winning teams!
posted by amyms on Jan 30, 2007 - 10 comments

Spam Paint repurposes comment spam.
posted by eustacescrubb on Oct 10, 2006 - 4 comments

What News Corp doesn't want you to know about myspace is that the much of the success of myspace was due to a large successful advertising campaign and it wasn't grass roots at all. They also don't want you to know that Tom Anderson didn't really create the site and that it is more spam 2.0 than anything else. The article is written by a 19 year old web journalist called Trent Lapinski. Has everyone just been had? Does it matter? (via Digg and Valleywag)
posted by sien on Sep 11, 2006 - 92 comments

Subliminal Spam. It's rather crude, but I wonder if we'll start seeing more of this, and done more subtly.
posted by delmoi on Sep 6, 2006 - 20 comments

Recipes of the Damned. Whet your appetite with Fruit Cocktail-SPAM Buffet Party Loaf or perhaps a nice cold, thick meat-milk shake.
posted by ozomatli on Jun 9, 2006 - 8 comments

An unwelcome guest of spam. As thanks for his efforts against link spam, a guestbook spammer uses infotech writer Michael Pollitt's name in its autosubmissions, flooding his inbox with confirmation emails and soiling Google's search results for his name. A special word of gratitude goes out to Ev1Servers for his troubles.
posted by brownpau on Apr 27, 2006 - 18 comments

Stock Spam Effectiveness Monitor Spam comes in, graphs come out. You are not buying stock based on spam, but surely someone must be, or else you wouldn't be flooded with more spam everyday. This tracks one user's inbox and the stocks spammed therein. A bit more analysis here and here
posted by mikepop on Apr 26, 2006 - 11 comments

"Each day, tens of thousands of our precious domain names are bought by greedy corporations and squandered for non-sustainable commercial development." But the Domain Name Preservation Society wants to help. Donate your names after you no longer need them, and they will retire protected within the sanctuary. Otherwise, what domains will our children be left with if we do not protect the endangered domain names of today?
posted by TwelveTwo on Jan 19, 2006 - 32 comments

Christian PepsiBlue. "Reviews" of a book with very similar content are all over the place. The author says she had to get special permission from God to write parts of the book. Is this definitive proof that God condones blogspamming?
posted by schustafa on Jan 6, 2006 - 38 comments

Register article on Greek arrest of well known programmer I'ved been watching this story since it surfaced at the rixstep.com page here and here; also covered at Techdirt.com in a couple of threads. Worth a look.
posted by hank on Nov 2, 2005 - 16 comments

Spam Stock Tracker Haven't you ever been just a little curious if you could "D0UB1E Y0UR |M|0|N|E|Y| EVERY WEEK!!!" like the the email said? [via NPR's Marketplace]
posted by trinarian on Oct 16, 2005 - 35 comments

Russian spammer beaten to death.
posted by mono blanco on Jul 26, 2005 - 35 comments

"Israeli technology firm Blue Security has set up a scheme to batter spam websites with thousands of complaints. The plan is to fill order forms...offering pills, porn and penile health tonics with complaints about the products advertised for sale in junk messages." I signed up.
posted by JPowers on Jul 23, 2005 - 27 comments

Research finds that 87% of internet users are unfamiliar with "podcasting" and 91% have never heard of "RSS". The study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project also found that only 3% of users still don't know what spam is. Here's a PDF of the findings.
posted by tapeguy on Jul 20, 2005 - 59 comments

“Thank you for your recent E-mail. I appreciate your concern. However, I am, at this time, completely satisfied with the size of my penis.” Says a Gizmodo post: Now I consider myself fairly well versed in penis lengthening—a skill introduced to me, inadvertently, by my 6th grade math teacher—but I did not realize one could become a medical doctor and specialize in the topic. They also point to a similar device mentioned in an earlier post. Ow.
posted by spock on Jun 24, 2005 - 11 comments

"I just read about CNN Headline News in us weekly. Those guys at the football game were total jerks." --Thoth
posted by jca on Apr 25, 2005 - 42 comments

SCANDAL!!! Wordpress caught with Spam and Hot Nacho! Blogosphere Cheesed! (Waxy investigates)
posted by shoepal on Mar 30, 2005 - 56 comments

I often say that blogs are currently where the web was in 1998, with history repeating itself only this time with blogs. The latest sign: spyware and viruses are now being transmitted via blogs, specifically, random blogs on blogspot.com, found via the "Next Blog" button. Remember, just because a delightful purple gorilla wants to read blog entries to you doesn't mean you should click on him.
posted by mathowie on Feb 21, 2005 - 29 comments

Spamusement! Sort of like Exploding Dog, if all the suggestions came from spam subject lines.
posted by me3dia on Feb 7, 2005 - 7 comments

Interview with a Link Spammer. [via] Get to know one of the scummy linkpimping bottomfeeders who abuse our referrer logs and weblog comments, then take measures to protect yourself. AnnElisabeth.com has much more (just keep scrolling), and of course, check your own weblog software for rel="nofollow" updates.
posted by brownpau on Jan 31, 2005 - 50 comments

Not only is pop star Ashlee Simpson lip syncing and manufactured, but so are some of her fans:
"I just read about Ashlee in us weekly. Those guys at the football game were total jerks." -- mandyc19

Welcome to the world of message forum viral marketing, "street team" advertising, and corporate shills. That "fan" posting in forums about Court TV, The Smoking Gun, or shows on Fox isn't a fan at all -- just another type of spammer -- only this time employed by giant media corporations.
posted by jca on Jan 25, 2005 - 85 comments

Google, others announce attempt to fight comment spam. Take away the PageRank bonus and they'll stop, right? Right?
posted by ubernostrum on Jan 19, 2005 - 76 comments

Boasting 166 canned meats, the Potted Meat Museum.
posted by mexican on Dec 21, 2004 - 10 comments

Bwahahahahaha - Take a shot back. Bill Gates promised to end spam. Now lycos is letting you take a shot back ala SETI. Get your copy and make love not spam.
posted by sourbrew on Nov 29, 2004 - 44 comments

We've all recieved one of those Nigerian Email Scams, but now we have it in a video format (qt format) I almost wanted to help him out, but then he never did leave any contact info.
posted by thebwit on Oct 30, 2004 - 6 comments

Ze Frank, nigerian 419 scammer. [Quicktime]
posted by gwint on Sep 29, 2004 - 14 comments

putting spam to good use
posted by Grod on Sep 25, 2004 - 11 comments

Spamusement Poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines. (via The Ultimate Insult)
posted by Turtles all the way down on Jul 31, 2004 - 17 comments

85% of all email is spam. 83% of all email is spam. Between 80 and 90% of all email is spam. 80% of all email is spam. 76% of all email is spam. Between 64 and 78% of all email is spam. 64% of all email is spam. 63% of all email is spam. 60% of all email is spam. 52% of all email in 2004 will be spam. 50% of all email is spam. By 2006 98% of all email will be spam.
posted by Mo Nickels on Jul 6, 2004 - 38 comments

1,300,925,111,156,286,160,896 ways to say Viagra.
posted by eyeballkid on May 4, 2004 - 19 comments

More on the boom of Friendster, Orkut, Tribe, et al:
  Meet "snam," the junk email generated by social networking.
It's sort of a snowball effect. I just wonder if the name will catch on (?) (It's not as catchy as "spam," is it?) Social networking within organizations is briefly mentioned but interesting: Companies such as Contact Network, Spoke Software, Interface Software, and ZeroDegrees collect individual contact data from a company's employees, then merge it with those workers' past employment histories...
posted by Shane on May 3, 2004 - 10 comments