The Merging Unit of Email Accounts Operating Board

Never ceases to amaze me. I don't know if it's that a spammer/phisher will try even the most absurd and lame tactics to achieve their purpose, or that there really might be a substantial number of people out there who would fall for it.
This Phish-Spam dropped into my box recently....{with my comments}


Dear Account User,{thank goodness they remained professionally formal and didn't use my actual name}

VERIFY AND CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT TO AVOID CLOSURE !

This Email is issued by Customer Care Service of the merging unit of email accounts operating board. We have sent this email to you for safety. {ooooo....sounds so important. Not just "email accounts" but "the merging unit of email accounts operating board." Yet, have they mentioned the actual NAME of this business? This is a fine example of euphemistic Gobbledygook} }

We are having unnecessary congestion resulting from numerous anonymous registrations of various email accounts.{Numerous ANONYMOUS registrations...just like this letter}

Due to the congestion, we would be shutting down most email accounts which appeared anonymous and unused on our secret assessment unit. {more euphemism} Your Email account was among those to be deleted. This email is a notification for you to verify and indicate to us if you still want to keep and use this account.

To confirm your E-mail account, fill out your Login Informations below {Euphemism for "Give me your private information so that i can do something illegal with it}.
after clicking the reply button.


* User name: .....
* Password: .....
* Date of Birth: ...


Subject to Email accounts client protection policy, we will not access your email account. {No, but they will access your credit card accounts, and any other accounts they can find} We require your user name, password and date of
birth to que {obviously they don't know what a queue is, as they can't even spell it correctly} automatically on our secret assessment unit were every valid account appears to safeguard your email account from automatic deletion by our system.

Your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal if you fill out your Login Informations as listed above.

Warning!!! Refusal to this demand will suspended your Email account anonymously and your email account will be closed permanently without further notification on our termination date.{fear tactic; often used in politics and sales}

Thanks for your attention to this request.
We apologize for any inconveniences.

Sincerely,
Customer Care service - {no names of anyone or anything}
Email Accounts Operating Board.>>


Now, if you fall for any of this and lose anything, whether it be money or credit rating or otherwise, it's your own damn fault.

How Spammers Really Make Money

Whenever my email box fills up, I have to wonder: what are these spammers thinking? Do they really believe that anyone will click on that link to buy what they are selling? DO they not know they are among the most hated individuals in the history of humankind? Well why would they care, when this type of business is anonymous, and also virtually free to market? One thing I do know is, if i get another mail about the size of my penis I'm going to scream. But, you think, they MUST be making money. Someone MUST be clicking those links. Otherwise, why would they continue to do it?

Well hold on to your skippy knickers, gang. Most of the money made by spammers has little to do with you buying one of their products. Spammers can make plenty of money selling addresses they've gleaned from websites, various open proxy servers and open SMTP relays. That just means they get it through the same channels you get your email.

And spammers make money from all those pop-ups. Have you ever found yourself on a site that turns out to be a series of pop-up pages? It doesn't matter that you close them. The spammers have already got what they need--it's an "ad impression" which means the page was, theoretically, viewed by someone, and they get paid every time that happens.

Then there's all the downright fraudulent spamming. I'm sure all of us has at one time or another gotten one of those pleas from some Nigerian representative, telling us they need to borrow someone's account to deposit a large sum of money and in return, you will get paid a large fee for providing that account. If you fell for this, you deserve to lose your money. Sorry. But that's just stupid. NEVER give out your information for a credit card or bank account to someone you don't know. That doesn't mean legit companies like your electric bill or phone bill sites. It means anytime you are ASKED for you information for any reason whatsoever, and you don't know who the asker is, don't do it. The fraud extends to all these pyramid schemes, chain letters, and any sort of multi-level marketing.

Another thing to watch out for are what is called pump-and-dump stock activities. You are encouraged via email to buy a penny stock and when enough people do this, those who own this stock then sell it while the price is high. And you are left with...well, a stock worth a penny.

And don't forget the bane of all inboxes: those who entreat you to try their product which will make your genitals perform better and/or look more impressive. These products are sold all the time, and when you buy them, IF you even receive them, they are usually sugar pills or something else that does nothing to achieve your goal. And how can they continue to do this so voluminously? No one is going to report them for selling them a product that did not make their wee-wee bigger. It's just too embarrassing. And do i have to mention that if you go to porn sites, you must never allow any site to talk you into downloading their special software so you can view the porn? Those are usually dialers, and they will sit unnoticed on your system and dial 900 numbers until you get your phone bill. Then you will not want to explain to the phone company that "no, that was not you calling porn lines..." They won't believe you, and you will probably be too embarrassed to do that either. You'll just be stuck with the bill.

Remember, when the sites you do legitimate business with ask you for verification and secret question answers, it's to protect your account or card information from getting stolen so that someone can run that up too.

One more thing: Don't EVER hit the unsubscribe link in one of these emails. This just verifies your email as accurate, and it will end up on even more spamming lists.

If you follow these guidelines, and also use the proper anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, while simply deleting unwanted mail, you'll have a better chance of avoiding catastrophic financial problems as well as the annoyance of more spam. I recommend using AVG products for spyware and virus protection, as they don't slow down your system, and they are very effective-as well as free. And buy Spambully for your outlook program. It's the best for that.

Good luck, and don't be a chump.