<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	
	xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>The Inquisitr &#187; spam</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.inquisitr.com/tag/spam/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.inquisitr.com</link>
	<description>The Better Mix</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:17:52 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Possible increase in spam expected as once crippled botnet rises from thhe dead</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/190176/possible-increase-in-spam-expected-as-once-crippled-botnet-rises-from-the-dead/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/190176/possible-increase-in-spam-expected-as-once-crippled-botnet-rises-from-the-dead/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:57:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botnet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kaspersky Lab]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[microsoft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=190176</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Back near the end of the summer of last year both Microsoft and Kaspersky Lab, a security software company, worked together to bring down one of the reported biggest spam botnets that was responsible for polluting machines around t he world. Called the Kelihos botnet the network consisted of around 45,000 infected computers but despite those low numbers [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/190176/possible-increase-in-spam-expected-as-once-crippled-botnet-rises-from-the-dead/">Possible increase in spam expected as once crippled botnet rises from thhe dead</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-190183" title="spam" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/02/spam-e1328284619303.png" alt="" width="600" height="399" /></p>
<p>Back near the end of the summer of last year both Microsoft and Kaspersky Lab, a security software company, worked together to bring down one of the reported biggest spam botnets that was responsible for polluting machines around t he world.</p>
<p>Called the Kelihos botnet the network consisted of around 45,000 infected computers but despite those low numbers it was able to pump out nearly 4 billion spam messages a day. These spam messages were used to promote everything from pornography to illegal pharmaceutical drugs and stock scams.</p>
<p>The two companies worked together to create what is referred to as a &#8216;sinkhole&#8217; which is used then to get the infected machines to talk with it. Of course researchers knew that it was only a matter of time before those that controlled the botnet regained control of the infrastructure mainly because neither Microsoft or Kaspersky Lab could forcefully clean the infected machines since they were in countries where this action would be considered illegal.</p>
<blockquote><p>Meddling with another person&#8217;s computer could be considered a form of hacking, even with the best intentions of security researchers. Unfortunately, it appears that many of the machines infected with Kelihos are now controlled by the bad guys again.</p>
<p>There are also other new variants of Kelihos that are using updated forms of encryption to mask the communication with the botnet controllers, Herkanaidu said. Maria Garnaeva, a researcher with Kaspersky Lab, <a href="http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/655/Kelihos_Hlux_botnet_returns_with_new_techniques" target="_blank">wrote</a>that two different RSA keys are being used for encryption, which means it is possible two different groups are controlling Kelihos.</p>
<p>via <a href="http://www.techworld.com.au/article/414068/kelihos_botnet_once_crippled_now_gaining_strength">Techworld</a></p></blockquote>
<p>The end result of this is that we could very soon see a whole new wave of spam start to hit the web even as Microsoft and Kaspersky get back to working on studying the new variants and trying to once more stop a spam invasion.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/190176/possible-increase-in-spam-expected-as-once-crippled-botnet-rises-from-the-dead/">Possible increase in spam expected as once crippled botnet rises from thhe dead</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/190176/possible-increase-in-spam-expected-as-once-crippled-botnet-rises-from-the-dead/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/02/spam-100x100.png" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/02/spam-e1328284619303.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/02/spam-100x100.png" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stop Spam Forever</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/188286/stop-spam-forever/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/188286/stop-spam-forever/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:02:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kim LaCapria</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Odd + Funny]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funny]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[porn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stop spam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=188286</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Sometimes the &#8220;report spam&#8221; button does nothing, and this guy is a total genius! Stop Spam Forever is a post from: The Inquisitr<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/188286/stop-spam-forever/">Stop Spam Forever</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-188287" title="Stop spam forever" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/01/Stop-spam-forever.png" alt="Stop spam forever" width="479" height="286" /></p>
<p>Sometimes the &#8220;report spam&#8221; button does nothing, and this guy is a total genius!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/188286/stop-spam-forever/">Stop Spam Forever</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/188286/stop-spam-forever/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/01/Stop-spam-forever-100x100.png" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/01/Stop-spam-forever.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Stop spam forever</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/01/Stop-spam-forever-100x100.png" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>New York Times Accidentally Emails 9 Million People, Promises It Isn&#8217;t Spam</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/173336/new-york-times-accidentally-emails-9-million-people-promises-it-isnt-spam/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/173336/new-york-times-accidentally-emails-9-million-people-promises-it-isnt-spam/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:20:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Johnson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=173336</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />A staffer at the New York Times had an &#8220;oops&#8221; moment on Wednesday when they accidentally sent an email to 9 million New York Times readers instead of the few hundred the email was meant for. At first the New York Times called the emails accidental &#8220;spam&#8221; but later said the message was only meant [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/173336/new-york-times-accidentally-emails-9-million-people-promises-it-isnt-spam/">New York Times Accidentally Emails 9 Million People, Promises It Isn&#8217;t Spam</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-173343" title="New York Times" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/12/New-York-Times.jpg" alt="New York Times" width="500" height="334" /></p>
<p>A staffer at the New York Times had an &#8220;oops&#8221; moment on Wednesday when they accidentally sent an email to 9 million New York Times readers instead of the few hundred the email was meant for.</p>
<p>At first the New York Times called the emails accidental &#8220;spam&#8221; but later said the message was only meant to go out to a few hundred people who had recently chosen to cancel its home delivery service. Instead the email was sent to anyone who had ever provided an email to the New York Times for any reason.</p>
<p>Almost immediately after the <a title="Ron Paul Fires Back Over Scathing Column Written By A Former Staffer" href="http://www.inquisitr.com/172494/ron-paul-fires-back-over-scathing-column-written-by-a-former-staffer/">New York Times</a> made its announcement fears began to surface that the &#8220;spam&#8221; came after recipients&#8217; security was breached by a hacker, allowing them to steal user information.</p>
<p>The security breach concern was valid as the company&#8217;s email provider Epsilon had been hacked earlier in the year, a fact that led many industry analysts to suspect that the new spam messages were part of a phishing scheme.</p>
<p>A spokeswomen for the paper quickly revealed:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;We regret that the error was made, but no one’s security has been compromised.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The New York Times has apologized and promises that no information provided to the company was used erroneously.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a copy of the exact message that was sent out to readers:</p>
<blockquote><p>From: The New York Times<br />
To:<br />
Subject: Important information regarding your subscription<br />
Date: Dec 28, 2011 12:03 PM</p>
<p>Dear Home Delivery Subscriber,</p>
<p>Our records indicate that you recently requested to cancel your home delivery subscription. Please keep in mind when your delivery service ends, you will no longer have unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps.</p>
<p>We do hope you’ll reconsider.</p>
<p>As a valued Times reader we invite you to continue your current subscription at an exclusive rate of 50% off for 16 weeks. This is a limited-time offer and will no longer be valid once your current subscription ends.*</p>
<p>Continue your subscription and you’ll keep your free, unlimited digital access, a benefit available only for our home delivery subscribers. You’ll receive unlimited access to NYTimes.com on any device, full access to our smartphone and iPad® apps, plus you can now share your unlimited access with a family member.†</p>
<p>To continue your subscription call 1-877-698-0025 and mention code 38H9H (Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. E.D.T.).</p></blockquote>
<p>Did you receive an email from the New York Times?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/173336/new-york-times-accidentally-emails-9-million-people-promises-it-isnt-spam/">New York Times Accidentally Emails 9 Million People, Promises It Isn&#8217;t Spam</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/173336/new-york-times-accidentally-emails-9-million-people-promises-it-isnt-spam/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/12/New-York-Times-100x100.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/12/New-York-Times.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">New York Times</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/12/New-York-Times-100x100.jpg" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Michele Bachmann Campaign Engages In Spam, Steals Homeschool Organizations Email List</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/164295/michele-bachmann-campaign-homeschool-spam/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/164295/michele-bachmann-campaign-homeschool-spam/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:20:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Johnson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iowa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michele Bachmann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[republicans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=164295</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />As if her campaign wasn&#8217;t already in enough trouble reports are circulating that staffers for Michele Bachmann stole an email list belonging to the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) and then sent spam emails to their homeschooling participants. The &#8220;co-opting&#8221; of the email list according to the organization was taken and used without permission. [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/164295/michele-bachmann-campaign-homeschool-spam/">Michele Bachmann Campaign Engages In Spam, Steals Homeschool Organizations Email List</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-164302" title="Michele Bachmann" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/12/Michele-Bachmann.jpg" alt="Michele Bachmann" width="400" height="302" /></p>
<p>As if her campaign wasn&#8217;t already in enough trouble reports are circulating that staffers for Michele Bachmann stole an email list belonging to the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) and then sent spam emails to their homeschooling participants.</p>
<p>The &#8220;co-opting&#8221; of the email list according to the organization was taken and used without permission.</p>
<p>According to NICHE they realized the spam was occurring when two emails were sent to the list from the Bachmann campaign.</p>
<p>In the meantime it has been determined that one NICHE board member is a paid employee for the Bachmann campaign although the group&#8217;s President says the campaign&#8217;s mistake was &#8220;inadvertent&#8221; and that the campaign does not endorse Michele Bachmann for President.</p>
<p>Now that the email has been sent Federal law requires that NICHE charge a usage fee to the <a title="Michele Bachmann Goes After CBS For Attempting To Limit Debate Questions" href="http://www.inquisitr.com/159285/michele-bachmann-goes-after-cbs-for-attempting-to-limit-debate-questions/">Bachmann campaign</a> and then offer other Presidential hopefuls the chance to pay for two emails that can be sent out to their homeschooling members.</p>
<p>If the Bachmann campaign is found to have used the list without any expressed permission from the group how do you think the issue should be dealt with?</p>
<p>TheIowaRepublican.com obtained the following message from Justin LaVan, the group’s president:</p>
<blockquote><p>I want to apologize on behalf of the NICHE Board and advise you that we discovered that our list of homeschool contacts was uploaded without our knowledge or permission by the Michele Bachmann Campaign and used twice for e-mails from her campaign. We have been assured by the Bachmann Campaign that it was inadvertent. Due to safeguards built into our contact list, we immediately recognized the use. That same day NICHE contacted the Bachmann Campaign and instructed them to cease any further use of the NICHE list, to which they immediately took the necessary corrective actions to correct the situation. By the next day, the Bachmann Campaign was able to find that portion of their database that contained the NICHE list, and we have received written assurance that our contact list was completely deleted.</p>
<p>NICHE has now added even greater protections to the NICHE homeschool contacts list to attempt to eliminate any further mistaken transfers or unauthorized use. Like you, we value our privacy, and NICHE is committed to protecting your confidential personal information in every way we can. NICHE has never shared or sold the use of the NICHE contact list in the entire 20 years of NICHE’s existence – and we will continue this policy. Moreover, NICHE does not endorse or support any candidates.</p>
<p>However, due to federal legal issues surrounding the unauthorized use, NICHE is forced to take several steps to rectify this situation. Because the Bachmann Campaign did receive the benefit of two emails to the contacts on our list – even though NICHE did not authorize this use in any way – we now must require the Bachmann Campaign to pay for the reasonable value of that usage. Further, in accordance with the legal requirements, NICHE must allow all the other campaigns the equal opportunity to pay for two similar e-mails to the contacts on the NICHE list. If the other campaigns decide to pay and send the two e-mails, NICHE will send the e-mails directly without sharing or compromising our contact list in any way.</p>
<p>Again, this one-time procedure is the unfortunate result of this incident and the actions NICHE is required to follow under the federal laws. I sincerely apologize and seek your understanding in this.</p>
<p>In His Service,</p>
<p>Justin E. LaVan<br />
President<br />
Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/164295/michele-bachmann-campaign-homeschool-spam/">Michele Bachmann Campaign Engages In Spam, Steals Homeschool Organizations Email List</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/164295/michele-bachmann-campaign-homeschool-spam/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/12/Michele-Bachmann-100x100.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/12/Michele-Bachmann.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Michele Bachmann conspiracy</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/12/Michele-Bachmann-100x100.jpg" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spam Product Orders Are Typically Delivered Says New Study</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/113118/spam-product-orders-are-typically-delivered-says-new-study/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/113118/spam-product-orders-are-typically-delivered-says-new-study/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jun 2011 23:12:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Johnson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Email Orders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spam Email]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spamming]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=113118</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Spam in email can be annoying and oftentimes it&#8217;s all a scam, however a recent research study has found that when products are involved they are often delivered more times than not. Researchers used temporary credit cards to place orders with Spam email and they found that in a majority of orders the items they [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/113118/spam-product-orders-are-typically-delivered-says-new-study/">Spam Product Orders Are Typically Delivered Says New Study</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="storyP1P2">
<div id="storyParagraphContainer">
<p><a href="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/06/Spam-Email.jpeg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-113119" title="Spam Email" src="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/06/Spam-Email.jpeg" alt="Spam Email" width="259" height="194" /></a></p>
<p>Spam in email can be annoying and oftentimes it&#8217;s all a scam, however a recent research study has found that when products are involved they are often delivered more times than not.</p>
<p>Researchers used temporary credit cards to place orders with Spam email and they found that in a majority of orders the items they requested were actually delivered, items that included fake Rolex watches, pills and various other items.</p>
<p>According to researchers, not only did their items arrive but their credit cards were not tampered with in any way, such as future fraudulent activity being found.</p>
<p>Researchers also found that even after &#8220;falling&#8221; for spam email offers they did not see an uptick in the amount of future spam they received.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div>
</div>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/113118/spam-product-orders-are-typically-delivered-says-new-study/">Spam Product Orders Are Typically Delivered Says New Study</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/113118/spam-product-orders-are-typically-delivered-says-new-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/06/Spam-Email-100x100.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/06/Spam-Email.jpeg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Spam Email</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/06/Spam-Email-100x100.jpg" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Chipotle wants your (email) spam for healthy school lunches</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/76982/chipotle-spam-school-lunches/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/76982/chipotle-spam-school-lunches/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:49:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kim LaCapria</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chipotle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chipotle charity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chipotle spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[junk email]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=76982</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Chipotle, a casual dining chain in the US dedicated to using premium ingredients for their Mexican fare, is seeking out spam for a new school lunch initiative. Not the edible kind of Spam- the kind that relentlessly pummels your email account. Starting today, for every 100,000 junk emails the company receives at nojunk@chipotlejunk.com, they will [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/76982/chipotle-spam-school-lunches/">Chipotle wants your (email) spam for healthy school lunches</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-76983" href="http://www.inquisitr.com/76982/chipotle-spam-school-lunches/chipotle-spam/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-76983" title="chipotle spam" src="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/06/chipotle-spam.jpg" alt="" width="485" height="308" /></a></p>
<p>Chipotle, a casual dining chain in the US dedicated to using premium ingredients for their Mexican fare, is seeking out spam for a new school lunch initiative.</p>
<p>Not the edible kind of Spam- the kind that relentlessly pummels your email account. Starting today, for every 100,000 junk emails the company receives at nojunk@chipotlejunk.com, they will donate $10,000 The Lunch Box- a non-profit that aims to bring healthier lunches to school kids. (And I bet they don&#8217;t even have obnoxious accents and whizz around on scooters acting poncey and superior.)</p>
<p>Chipotle, a brand that is relatively active on social media <a href="http://www.facebook.com/chipotle">channels like Facebook</a>, will donate up to $50,000 if that amount is raised by an August deadline. A rep for the brand <a href="http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/direct/e3id9ffa2b8a3ae072d6ffa50aae39fd249">explains the brand tie-in</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>The move is part of the restaurant chain&#8217;s ongoing campaign, dubbed &#8220;Food with Integrity,&#8221; said Chipotle rep Chris Arnold. &#8220;We have a long-standing commitment to serving food made with better quality, sustainable ingredients,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That&#8217;s how the concept for &#8216;No junk&#8217; was born: We&#8217;re encouraging [consumers] to take some of the junk they get on a daily basis and turn it into something positive.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The tally is currently at $912, and you can check up on Chipotle&#8217;s junk mail charity progress at ChipotleJunk.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/76982/chipotle-spam-school-lunches/">Chipotle wants your (email) spam for healthy school lunches</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/76982/chipotle-spam-school-lunches/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/06/chipotle-spam-100x100.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/06/chipotle-spam.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">chipotle spam</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/06/chipotle-spam-100x100.jpg" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spam begins to flow on Google Buzz</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/62325/spam-begins-to-flow-on-google-buzz/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/62325/spam-begins-to-flow-on-google-buzz/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:59:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Buzz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spammers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=62325</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Wow that really didn&#8217;t take very long did it. I guess it helps with GMail being the premier email service loved by spammers around the world. Spam begins to flow on Google Buzz is a post from: The Inquisitr<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/62325/spam-begins-to-flow-on-google-buzz/">Spam begins to flow on Google Buzz</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Wow that really didn&#8217;t take very long did it. I guess it helps with GMail being the premier email service loved by spammers around the world.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/02/spam.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-62326" title="spam" src="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/02/spam.png" alt="" width="495" height="586" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/62325/spam-begins-to-flow-on-google-buzz/">Spam begins to flow on Google Buzz</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/62325/spam-begins-to-flow-on-google-buzz/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/02/spam-100x100.png" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/02/spam.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/02/spam-100x100.png" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spammers hitting us through Google Maps emails</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/59868/spammers-hitting-us-through-google-maps-emails/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/59868/spammers-hitting-us-through-google-maps-emails/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=59868</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />I haven&#8217;t seen this vector for spam before so excuse me if this isn&#8217;t something new but it is for me. I just got both these emails not 5 minutes ago and as you can see below (click for full size) they came via a Google noreply email address which is once way to make [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/59868/spammers-hitting-us-through-google-maps-emails/">Spammers hitting us through Google Maps emails</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59869" title="spam" src="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="244" /></a></p>
<p>I haven&#8217;t seen this vector for spam before so excuse me if this isn&#8217;t something new but it is for me. I just got both these emails not 5 minutes ago and as you can see below (click for full size) they came via a Google noreply email address which is once way to make it through spam filter since most people won&#8217;t blacklist a Google domain.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam_via_google_maps.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59870" title="spam_via_google_maps" src="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam_via_google_maps.png" alt="" width="472" height="216" /></a></p>
<p>Now the thing about being sent through Google Maps is something that I don&#8217;t know anything about but maybe someone with more Google knowledge can clarify this part.</p>
<p>Regardless though it seems that the spammers have found a new way to pollute our email.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot ya pricks.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/59868/spammers-hitting-us-through-google-maps-emails/">Spammers hitting us through Google Maps emails</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/59868/spammers-hitting-us-through-google-maps-emails/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam-100x100.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam-100x100.jpg" />
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam_via_google_maps.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam_via_google_maps</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/01/spam_via_google_maps-100x100.png" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Amazon to help you be a spammer while painting a bullseye for the FTC</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/46202/amazon-to-help-you-be-a-spammer-while-painting-a-bullseye-for-the-ftc/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/46202/amazon-to-help-you-be-a-spammer-while-painting-a-bullseye-for-the-ftc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:22:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disclosure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FTC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=46202</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />One of the big topics today that I have picked up from my morning reading is the news that Amazon is going to help you become a Twitter spammer. Yup now you will be able to populate your Twitter stream with links to items in the Amazon stores that you can sell as an affiliate [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/46202/amazon-to-help-you-be-a-spammer-while-painting-a-bullseye-for-the-ftc/">Amazon to help you be a spammer while painting a bullseye for the FTC</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-46206" title="twitter-spam3" src="http://images.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2009/11/twitter-spam3.jpg" alt="twitter-spam3" width="240" height="187" /></p>
<p>One of the big topics today that I have picked up from my morning reading is the news that <a href="http://affiliate-blog.amazon.com/2009/11/we-are-excited-to-announce-the-launch-of-a-new-feature-called-share-on-twitter-you-can-access-share-on-twitter-from-the-site.html">Amazon is going to help you become a Twitter spammer</a>.</p>
<p>Yup now you will be able to populate your Twitter stream with links to items in the Amazon stores that you can sell as an affiliate and make money. Now to be sure there are probably a great number of people who will be totally ethical and above board when it comes to posting this type of stuff to their Twitter stream.</p>
<p>However I am willing to go out on a limb here and say that this kind of transparency will be extremely rare.</p>
<p>This idea is ripe for misuse and will do nothing more than provide a mechanism for affiliate marketers to start flooding Twitter with seemingly legitimate offers disguised as friendly recommendations. I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if by the end of the week that this takes off to the point that previous hijacking of accounts will start happening again with links to Amazon products being the end game for supplied links.</p>
<p>The other big problem, which services like Magpie and SponsoredTweets have addressed is the matter of disclosure &#8211; especially with the upcoming changes as proposed by the FTC. In what I have read so far nothing is mentioned about the requirement of some sort of disclosure being a requirement of posting  Amazon affiliate links to Twitter. In fact by all appearances you are totally left to your own ethics as to how you write up the Twitter message in your affiliate link message.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/amazon_turns_twitter_into_a_marketplace.php">As Sarah Parez quite rightly pointed out in her post</a> about this on ReadWriteWeb this is becoming nothing more that Twitter product placement or as she puts it &#8211; a hidden advertisement</p>
<blockquote><p>The problem with this sort of &#8220;hidden&#8221; advertising, though, is exactly that:  <em>it&#8217;s hidden</em>. This is the internet&#8217;s version of &#8220;product placement&#8221; &#8211;  subtle advertising in plain sight yet never clearly identified as such. Was your  favorite TV star using a Macbook? Was he drinking a Coke? Already commonplace in  Hollywood, these almost subliminal advertising messages permeate our  consciousness every time we turn on the TV. Now that same sort of hidden ad will  soon show up in the Twitter streams of your favorite tweeters.</p></blockquote>
<p>Sorry but with no guidance regarding disclosure, or even making it a requirement, this new idea for Amazon is exactly the reason why the FTC is getting involved. So much for self-regulation.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/46202/amazon-to-help-you-be-a-spammer-while-painting-a-bullseye-for-the-ftc/">Amazon to help you be a spammer while painting a bullseye for the FTC</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/46202/amazon-to-help-you-be-a-spammer-while-painting-a-bullseye-for-the-ftc/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2009/11/twitter-spam3-100x100.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2009/11/twitter-spam3.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">twitter-spam3</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2009/11/twitter-spam3-100x100.jpg" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Funny: is your online lover who they say they are?</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/36300/funny-is-your-online-lover-who-they-say-they-are/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/36300/funny-is-your-online-lover-who-they-say-they-are/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:30:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kim LaCapria</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Pics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funny]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funny pics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online romance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[XKCD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=36300</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />It just always seems like those spam bots are one step ahead of us. Always. [XKCD] Funny: is your online lover who they say they are? is a post from: The Inquisitr<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/36300/funny-is-your-online-lover-who-they-say-they-are/">Funny: is your online lover who they say they are?</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-36304" title="XKCD online girlfriend" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/XKCD-online-girlfriend.png" alt="XKCD online girlfriend" width="592" height="180" /></p>
<p>It just always seems like those spam bots are one step ahead of us. Always.</p>
<p>[<a href="http://xkcd.com/632/">XKCD</a>]</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/36300/funny-is-your-online-lover-who-they-say-they-are/">Funny: is your online lover who they say they are?</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/36300/funny-is-your-online-lover-who-they-say-they-are/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/XKCD-online-girlfriend-150x150.png" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/XKCD-online-girlfriend.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">XKCD online girlfriend</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/XKCD-online-girlfriend-150x150.png" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Yet another DUH! report &#8211; spam accounts for 92% of all email</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/31604/yet-another-duh-report-spam-accounts-for-92-of-all-email/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/31604/yet-another-duh-report-spam-accounts-for-92-of-all-email/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mcafee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spammers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/31604/yet-another-duh-report-spam-accounts-for-92-of-all-email/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Yes folks you heard it here, and probably a whole bunch of other places by now, but I would let that stop me from doing my best netizen civic duty. You see McAfee has just published their quarterly Threat Report (pdf) which surprise surprise lets us know that spam now accounts for 92% of all [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/31604/yet-another-duh-report-spam-accounts-for-92-of-all-email/">Yet another DUH! report &ndash; spam accounts for 92% of all email</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img title="spam-and-eggs" border="0" alt="spam-and-eggs" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spamandeggs.png" width="454" height="197" /> </center>
<p>Yes folks you heard it here, and probably a whole bunch of other places by now, but I would let that stop me from doing my best netizen civic duty. You see McAfee has just published their quarterly Threat Report (pdf) which surprise surprise lets us know that spam now accounts for 92% of all email. While no-one would want to suggest that this kind of report is a benefit to them and their sales of security software they do say that this is an all-time record.</p>
<p>Not to point any fingers of course but the United States heads the top of the list, at 34.3%, of countries producing all this spam that McAfee just happens to sell a product to fight. As well the repost also shows that the top subject of this massive increase of spam, at 31.2%, is big dicks and the drugs that will help you achieve this momentous physical achievement.</p>
<p>Just so you know that I’m not jerking you around here’s some nifty breakdown charts for you to peruse as you rush over to the McAfee site to buy the newest overpriced piece of bloated security software.</p>
<h3>Spam by Subject</h3>
<p><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="spam_by_subject" border="0" alt="spam_by_subject" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spam-by-subject.png" width="554" height="311" /> </p>
<h3>Spam by Country</h3>
<p><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="spam_by_country" border="0" alt="spam_by_country" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spam-by-country.png" width="554" height="274" /> </p>
</p>
<p><em>a big hat tip <a href="http://thenextweb.com/2009/08/02/spam-email-all-time-high/">and thanks to TheNextWeb.com</a></em><em></em><em> for saving me the irritation of having to read the report in order to get these charts for you.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/31604/yet-another-duh-report-spam-accounts-for-92-of-all-email/">Yet another DUH! report &ndash; spam accounts for 92% of all email</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/31604/yet-another-duh-report-spam-accounts-for-92-of-all-email/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spamandeggs.png" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spamandeggs.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam-and-eggs</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spam-by-subject.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam_by_subject</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spam-by-country.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam_by_country</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Simple guide to predict Twitter spam</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/31302/simple-guide-to-predict-twitter-spam/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/31302/simple-guide-to-predict-twitter-spam/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:57:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spammers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/31302/simple-guide-to-predict-twitter-spam/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />As Twitter has grown it has attracted the scummy side of marketing and other less savory types of link hi-jacking leaving some folks wondering if it is worth all the trouble to be a part of social media. It is getting to the point that we are having to double check any follow requests to [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/31302/simple-guide-to-predict-twitter-spam/">Simple guide to predict Twitter spam</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img title="twitter_spam" border="0" alt="twitter_spam" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/twitter-spam3.jpg" width="240" height="187" /> </center>
<p>As <a title="Twitter" href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a> has grown it has attracted the scummy side of marketing and other less savory types of link hi-jacking leaving some folks wondering if it is worth all the trouble to be a part of social media. It is getting to the point that we are having to double check any follow requests to see if we can detect a potential spammer who will make our lives miserable with those irritating spammy private direct messages (DM’s).</p>
<p>Well another blogger who I really like has come up with a fairly simple three step checklist that will help you discern those pain in the ass people. <a href="http://bhc3.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/three-signs-theyre-going-to-send-you-twitter-spam/">Hutch came about the list</a> after carefully looking over follow requests and the person’s Twitter page. These are his three things to watch out for</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>1. Following/followed by several thousand       <br /></strong></p>
<p>This is something you often see. They’re sporting several thousand followers, and they’re often following the same number back. This high number is your first clue (yeah, I’m <a href="http://twitter.com/bhc3">guilty here</a>). If they’re somewhat new, they’re following several thousand, while only a fraction are following back.</p>
<p><strong>2. Bio has one of the 7 deadly terms</strong></p>
<p>Marketer. Coach. Speaker. Expert. Affiliate marketing. Social media. Multilevel marketing.</p>
<p>See one of these terms in the bio, and the probability of an auto-DM spam just increased 500%. Something about these folks. They got a Twitter lesson along the way that says you need to “engage” your audience on social media. You know, with a personal auto-DM.</p>
<p><strong>3. They followed you, out-of-the-blue</strong></p>
<p>This is the last trait. Somehow, you hit their radar. Not sure how. Maybe it was word you used in a tweet. An <a href="http://twitter.com/reply">@reply</a>  exchange with someone they’re following. A search on your bio.</p>
<p>This is the final, most important trait. They have several thousand followers. Their bio has one of the deadly words. And then they find you <em>out of the blue</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Thanks Hutch – this is much appreciated. Now if we could just get an Internet based seek and destroy Taser gun we’d be all set.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/31302/simple-guide-to-predict-twitter-spam/">Simple guide to predict Twitter spam</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/31302/simple-guide-to-predict-twitter-spam/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/twitter-spam3.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/twitter-spam3.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">twitter_spam</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>GMail&#8217;s ultimate gift to mankind</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/30072/gmails-ultimate-gift-to-mankind/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/30072/gmails-ultimate-gift-to-mankind/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gmail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mailing lists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newsletters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/30072/gmails-ultimate-gift-to-mankind/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />I would bet that just about anyone reading this post still has one or two newsletter, or newslist, types of emails that they are no longer interested in coming into their email inboxes. These are the one’s that we signed up for as part of some service we thought was cool at the time or [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/30072/gmails-ultimate-gift-to-mankind/">GMail&rsquo;s ultimate gift to mankind</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img title="spam-and-unsubscribe-1" border="0" alt="spam-and-unsubscribe-1" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spamandunsubscribe1.jpg" width="500" height="157" /> </center>
<p>I would bet that just about anyone reading this post still has one or two newsletter, or newslist, types of emails that they are no longer interested in coming into their email inboxes. These are the one’s that we signed up for as part of some service we thought was cool at the time or some site’s mailing list that we thought we would always be interested in. Things change, interests move on but still we get those emails coming but now they are caught by filters or rules and shuffled off to the trash bin.</p>
<p>Much of the time this happens because we forget the information we provided when we signed up. Even myself I still have four or five emails coming in regularly but they head to the junk folder because I’ll be damned if I can remember some obscure password I might have used at the time.</p>
<p>Well <a href="http://thenextweb.com/2009/07/22/gmail-lets-automatically-unsubscribe-mailing-lists/">I just found out via Zee over at TheNextWeb.com</a> that Google’s GMail has come to the rescue with a new feature that attempts to help you with this problem. As of today you can now use the Unsubscribe tool to have GMail send an unsubscribe request on your behalf at the same time as you mark the email as spam.</p>
<p>From the <a href="http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;ctx=mail&amp;answer=80405">GMail support page on this new option</a></p>
<blockquote><p>You’ll see the unsubscribe tool when you mark a message from particular types of mailing lists as spam. If the particular message is a misuse of a mailing list you like to receive, you can Report spam as usual. But if you never want to receive another message or newsletter from that list again, click Unsubscribe instead. We’ll send a request to the sender that your email address be removed from the list. It’s that simple!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This almost makes me want to use Gmail for a week or so.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/30072/gmails-ultimate-gift-to-mankind/">GMail&rsquo;s ultimate gift to mankind</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/30072/gmails-ultimate-gift-to-mankind/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spamandunsubscribe1.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spamandunsubscribe1.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam-and-unsubscribe-1</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Please keep sharing your crap on Facebook &#8211; it may save our email inboxes</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/29967/please-keep-sharing-your-crap-on-facebook-it-may-save-our-email-inboxes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/29967/please-keep-sharing-your-crap-on-facebook-it-may-save-our-email-inboxes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[links]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/29967/please-keep-sharing-your-crap-on-facebook-it-may-save-our-email-inboxes/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />I think everyone probably has some favorite relative; or so we keep telling ourselves they are, who no matter how nicely you try and tell them to quit it keep on sending you all kinds of crap via email. So not only to we have to struggle with a constant flow of spam, notifications coming [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/29967/please-keep-sharing-your-crap-on-facebook-it-may-save-our-email-inboxes/">Please keep sharing your crap on Facebook &ndash; it may save our email inboxes</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img title="email-hell" border="0" alt="email-hell" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/emailhell.png" width="348" height="185" /> </center>
<p>I think everyone probably has some favorite relative; or so we keep telling ourselves they are, who no matter how nicely you try and tell them to quit it keep on sending you all kinds of crap via email. So not only to we have to struggle with a constant flow of spam, notifications coming out of the wazoo but we have to deal with Uncle Joe Bob and Aunt Bobbie Jo’s recycling of the same stupid links you got from other people 10 to a 100 times last week.</p>
<p>However we could actually see a rise in email usefulness thanks to – you guessed it – <a title="Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com">Facebook</a>. It seems that social sites like Facebook are seeing a rapid rise in the sharing of links. Yes apparently social sites are <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/03/09/social-networking-more-popular-than-email/">seeing an increase to around the 66.8% mark</a> of users sharing links which is surpassing email’s 65.1%. Granted it might not seem like a lot of difference but common we gotta take the good news where we can find it and anything that reduces the load of crap hitting our inboxes should be celebrated with a block party – on Facebook of course.</p>
<p><a href="http://technologizer.com/2009/07/21/facebook-crushes-e-mail-when-it-comes-to-sharing/">As Jason Meserve over at Technologizer says</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Rather than in-boxes cluttered with “Me too” and “That’s great!” replies from a litany of people you may not know, social networks are serving as the catchall for everyone’s need to chime in and giving hope to those that desire to “zero” their inboxes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All hail ‘zero’ inboxes with many thanks to Facebook so please keep up the good work people. The Web thanks you.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/29967/please-keep-sharing-your-crap-on-facebook-it-may-save-our-email-inboxes/">Please keep sharing your crap on Facebook &ndash; it may save our email inboxes</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/29967/please-keep-sharing-your-crap-on-facebook-it-may-save-our-email-inboxes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/emailhell.png" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/emailhell.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">email-hell</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>12% of people stupid enough to shop through spam</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/29515/12-of-people-stupid-enough-to-shop-through-spam/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/29515/12-of-people-stupid-enough-to-shop-through-spam/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:18:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kim LaCapria</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botnets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[e-mail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ruining it for the rest of us]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spammers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=29515</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Thanks, jerks. It&#8217;s the question most internet users can&#8217;t seem to wrap their heads around. Why is spam so prevalent? Could anyone possibly be that stupid? What the hell is the point? Surely no one ever buys anything presented to them through the medium of spammy e-mails, right? Wrong. The practice may live on because, [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/29515/12-of-people-stupid-enough-to-shop-through-spam/">12% of people stupid enough to shop through spam</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29517" title="spam2" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spam2.jpg" alt="spam2" width="368" height="329" /></p>
<p>Thanks, jerks.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s the question most internet users can&#8217;t seem to wrap their heads around. Why is spam so prevalent? Could anyone possibly be that stupid? What the hell is the point? Surely no one ever buys anything presented to them through the medium of spammy e-mails, right?</p>
<p>Wrong. The practice may live on because, in short, it actually kinda <em>works. </em>In a recent survey conducted by The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group, or MAAWG, a smallish sample of 800 people revealed some surprising information about the practice of unsolicited e-mail marketing.</p>
<p>Per the study, just under half the respondents (48%) indicated they&#8217;d never clicked on or answered spam. So, that means the other 52% have, which is understandable counting in stuff like your cat walking on your keyboard or a sluggish mouse. Now in this survey, 98% of the people polled have two or more e-mail addresses and consider themselves to to moderately to strongly aware of issues surrounding e-mail security. But 12% of those surveyed- wait for it&#8230; <em>actually responded to spam out of interest. </em></p>
<p>Yes, it&#8217;s true. Spam may be keeping on because it&#8217;s a <em>worthwhile marketing venture. </em>Recent estimates by Microsoft have spam <a href="http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/07/12-of-e-mail-users-try-to-buy-stuff-from-spam-e-mail.ars">pegged for 97% of all e-mail traffic worldwide</a>. And 80% of that spam is bot-net related, so&#8230; dolla dolla bills, y&#8217;all!</p>
<p>So, come on, 12 percenters- out yourselves. What have you tried to buy from spam?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/29515/12-of-people-stupid-enough-to-shop-through-spam/">12% of people stupid enough to shop through spam</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/29515/12-of-people-stupid-enough-to-shop-through-spam/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spam2-150x150.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spam2.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">spam2</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spam2-150x150.jpg" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Twitspam Identifies Purveyors of Disinformation [#iranElection]</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/26455/twitspam-identifies-purveyors-of-disinformation-iranelection-mrh/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/26455/twitspam-identifies-purveyors-of-disinformation-iranelection-mrh/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:56:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Duncan Riley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[#iranElection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disinformation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/26455/twitspam-identifies-purveyors-of-disinformation-iranelection/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Any time there’s a trending topic on Twitter, there are spammers that suddenly come out of the woodwork to exploit that topic with the intent to get you to come view their magical slapchopping, traffic-building, penis-enlarging dietary supplement. In the case of what continues to be the top trending topic today on Twitter, #IranElection, there [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/26455/twitspam-identifies-purveyors-of-disinformation-iranelection-mrh/">Twitspam Identifies Purveyors of Disinformation [#iranElection]</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/image10.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/image-thumb10.png" border="0" alt="image" width="240" height="231" align="right" /></a> Any time there’s a trending topic on Twitter, there are spammers that suddenly come out of the woodwork to exploit that topic with the intent to get you to come view their magical slapchopping, traffic-building, penis-enlarging dietary supplement.</p>
<p>In the case of what continues to be the top trending topic today on Twitter, #<a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23IranElection">IranElection</a>, there are those with a vested interest in utilizing the popularity of a trending topic to do worse than move a few more units of their suspicious product. Those with political skin in the game have been found to be impersonating credible, on the ground Iranian Twitterers to spread disinformation intended to harm the cause of the political dissidents, <a href="http://twitspam.org/?p=1403">according to a post from Twitspam this evening</a>.</p>
<p>Twitspam is a blog that tracks all sorts of malicious and spammy users of Twitter, and they’ve compiled a list suspicious and malicious Twitter users attempting to exploit the #IranElection hashtag.</p>
<blockquote><p>Block Now</p>
<p>Obvious Disinfo</p>
<ul>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/48064040">Persian_Guy</a> (Using fake RT to spread disinfo)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47326170">serv_</a> (posing fake RTs; disinfo)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47908716">TruePersian1</a> (Was preaching violence &amp; destruction in all caps; now updates are protected)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47914953">twitrevolution</a> (Suggesting violence towards police and blocking of roads; such actions are likely arrestable. Either provocateur or someone really violent)</li>
</ul>
<p>Trolls and SPAM</p>
<ul>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/15855227">louis_friend</a> (Tweets are obviously fake, includes obscene links such as the infamous Goatse pics)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/48155475">jamal1986</a> (all links are to infamous Goatse pic)<strong>NEW!</strong></li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/38551826">hoobastank_band</a> (all links are to infamous Goatse pic and is faking RTs) <strong>NEW!</strong></li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/38551826">WorldNewsUpdate</a> (all links are to infamous Goatse pic) <strong>NEW!</strong></li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/48154231">atcatsf</a> (all links are to infamous Goatse pic) <strong>NEW!</strong></li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47505168">falseprophetakb</a> (Nazi symbolism; claims Mohammad is a “false prophet” hence the username, and name is “HowardStern”)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47888079">IRFORREAL</a> (fake url for unrelated site)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47952907">ohaitere</a> (Alternating between a false report of Mousavi death and SPAM about iPhones)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/17668984">jfcrow</a> (few tweets, all appear to be random keywords)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47474592">Karmuk</a> (Retweeting same message over and over)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47576868">mikehiavelli</a> (Same tweets over and over)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47755769">globalmeeting</a> (Same tweets over and over)</li>
</ul>
<p>Suspected</p>
<ul>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/19261965">FreeMediaNews</a> (Some tweets are fake reports)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47860727">IRElec</a> (Using entrapment techniques that are well known)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47990781">lisamforeman</a> (Possibly fake Guardian.co.uk account)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47768358">AJE_Producer</a> (Possibly fake Al’ Jazerra Account)</li>
</ul>
<p>To Watch</p>
<ul>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47041208">amoo_miki</a> (Was following many people with no updates; only just started posting)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47565667">AnonymousInIran</a> (Was an Anonymous Posting Proxy with ANYONE able to post through it; now banned in Iran)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47900224">rccccr</a> (was following users with Iran election tweets, still no posts)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47896542">BrothersinAbrah</a> (a single hashtag post only)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47616278">_SuperGreen_</a> (No updates so far)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47608088">ghb78</a> (Following seems to be random, followers likely auto-refollow)</li>
</ul>
<p>Suspended or removed:</p>
<ul>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47627471">IranisFree</a> (Had link to a website that crashes IE)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47734417">am12976</a></li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47806410">iranianfree2k9</a></li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47664269">rWhZEV</a> (Fake Iran Election headlines)</li>
</ul>
<p>Conspiracy Theories (Not necessarily purposeful disinfo)</p>
<ul>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47442420">persiantiki</a></li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/17796742">chartingstocks</a> (Writing fake articles on the Iranian Election Twitters)</li>
<li>http://twitter.com/<a href="http://twitter.com/blocks/confirm/47596091">obamaspy</a></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/26455/twitspam-identifies-purveyors-of-disinformation-iranelection-mrh/">Twitspam Identifies Purveyors of Disinformation [#iranElection]</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/26455/twitspam-identifies-purveyors-of-disinformation-iranelection-mrh/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/image-thumb10.png" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/image-thumb10.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">image</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>FTC swoops in and smacks down rogue ISP Pricewert</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/25232/ftc-swoops-in-and-smacks-down-rogue-isp-pricewer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/25232/ftc-swoops-in-and-smacks-down-rogue-isp-pricewer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:11:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kim LaCapria</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cybercrime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ISP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rogue isps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spammers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the ftc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/?p=25232</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />The United States FTC issued a statement today announcing a rare takedown of rogue ISP Pricewert, LLC. (Aliases include 3FN and APS Telecom.) Besides sounding vaguely like an obscure German-industrial band, Pricewert stands accused of actively recruiting and colluding with cybercriminals to infect computers with spyware, viruses, trojan horses, Jonas Brothers tracks, and according to [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/25232/ftc-swoops-in-and-smacks-down-rogue-isp-pricewer/">FTC swoops in and smacks down rogue ISP Pricewert</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-25233" title="pricewerk" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/pricewerk.jpg" alt="pricewerk" width="450" height="308" /></p>
<p>The United States FTC issued a statement today announcing a rare takedown of rogue ISP Pricewert, LLC. (Aliases include 3FN and APS Telecom.)</p>
<p>Besides sounding vaguely like an obscure German-industrial band, Pricewert stands accused of actively recruiting and colluding with cybercriminals to infect computers with spyware, viruses, trojan horses, Jonas Brothers tracks, and according to the FTC statement, pornography containing bestiality, incest, and violence. The FTC alleges that Pricewert advertised its services on the &#8220;darkest corners of the internet&#8221; (4chan?) and even set up a forum to allow criminals to exchange information more readily.</p>
<p>According to the FTC, Pricewert either ignored take-down requests or moved criminal elements to other IPs to thwart detection. Further dastardly acts cited in the complaint include DOS attacks, botnet deployment and spam distribution.</p>
<p>The FTC have backed up their case with IM transcripts that show senior employees conspiring to configure botnets with bot herders. The court issued a temporary injunction barring upstream providers from enabling the alleged bad guys, and froze Pricewert&#8217;s assets pending a hearing on June 15th.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/25232/ftc-swoops-in-and-smacks-down-rogue-isp-pricewer/">FTC swoops in and smacks down rogue ISP Pricewert</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/25232/ftc-swoops-in-and-smacks-down-rogue-isp-pricewer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/pricewerk-150x150.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/pricewerk.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">pricewerk</media:title>
			<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/pricewerk-150x150.jpg" />
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stepping over that Twitter line</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/24911/stepping-over-that-twitter-line/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/24911/stepping-over-that-twitter-line/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2009 16:47:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spymaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/24911/stepping-over-that-twitter-line/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />I like Twitter so don’t get me wrong here but all you people playing the Spymaster would you please piss off. Seriously, it’s bad enough that we are having to suffer through using a service that is proving itself to be prone to hack attacks, phishing attacks, non-stop marketing bullshit from so-call social media gurus [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/24911/stepping-over-that-twitter-line/">Stepping over that Twitter line</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img title="Lineinsand" border="0" alt="Lineinsand" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/lineinsand.jpg" width="483" height="185" /></center> </p>
<p>I like <a title="Twitter" href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a> so don’t get me wrong here but all you people playing the <a href="http://playspymaster.com/">Spymaster</a> would you please piss off. Seriously, it’s bad enough that we are having to suffer through using a service that is proving itself to be prone to hack attacks, phishing attacks, non-stop marketing bullshit from so-call social media gurus but now we’re having timelines being invaded by a game that can only be played over Twitter.</p>
<p>I was pretty well okay with that up until this morning. I have gotten pretty good at being able to make up for Twitter’s, and by extension – Twitter clients, total lack of timeline filters and ignore the more irritating uses of hashtags and idiotic retweets. I was even getting good at adding this Spymaster crap to my mental Twitter filter list but when you invade my inbox that is crossing the line.</p>
<p>It’s not so much the game itself but the people playing it so here’s a big HINT – I do not need to see Direct Messages showing up in my Twitter client or more importantly my Inbox asking me to join some stupid ass spy ring. As <a href="http://www.joestump.net/2009/05/zombies-and-sheep-tossing-comes-to-twitter.html">Joe over at the Joe Stump Blog puts it</a></p>
<blockquote><p>I’ve started both unfollowing and reporting users of this game to <a href="http://twitter.com/spam">@spam</a>. This isn’t because I hate my friends, it’s because I have no other recourse to stop this application’s abusive behavior. So what makes this so abusive? The game gives money and income boosts the more you tweet out about the game. Turning off said notifications can greatly reduce your chances in the game. Basically, it was engineered from the ground up to promote spammy behavior.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Add what <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/05/29/games-another-reason-why-twitter-needs-filters/">Eric Eldon at VentureBeat</a> has to say about this stupidity</p>
<blockquote><p>I’m not exactly sure what it is because I haven’t joined. I just know about it because a lot of people I follow on Twitter are playing it, and one gets the impression that any action they take in the game (”assassinating” each other or whatnot), gets tweeted back into their followers. Apparently, there are settings in the game to limit the tweetspam, but nobody seems to be doing that.</p>
<p>Maybe they should rename this game to SpamMaster.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You get that you twitless Spymaster players – you are spamming us. Period.</p>
<p>You are joining the ranks of the very people that many of you have railed against in the past. You are becoming spammers – you are crossing that line.</p>
<p>I’m willing to fine tune my mental filters to try and ignore the normal Spymaster crap that is adding noise to the Twittersphere but the moment you encroach upon my Direct Messages and my Inbox you’ll only get one thing from me – Blocked.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/24911/stepping-over-that-twitter-line/">Stepping over that Twitter line</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/24911/stepping-over-that-twitter-line/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/lineinsand.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/lineinsand.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Lineinsand</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hell has come to Web 2.0 and social media</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/19181/hell-has-come-to-web-20-and-social-media/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/19181/hell-has-come-to-web-20-and-social-media/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:16:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friendfeed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/19181/hell-has-come-to-web-20-and-social-media/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />Spam especially the sexually related stuff has to be the bane of our online existence. After all how many Viagra or Grow a Bigger Dick spam emails do you have to get before you literally want to start choking people. That was one of the nice things about Twitter and FriendFeed – other than the [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/19181/hell-has-come-to-web-20-and-social-media/">Hell has come to Web 2.0 and social media</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/friendfeedspam.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="friendfeed spam" border="0" alt="friendfeed spam" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/friendfeedspam-thumb.jpg" width="570" height="247" /></a></center></p>
<p>Spam especially the sexually related stuff has to be the bane of our online existence. After all how many Viagra or Grow a Bigger Dick spam emails do you have to get before you literally want to start choking people. That was one of the nice things about <a title="Twitter" href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a> and <a title="FriendFeed" href="http://friendfeed.com">FriendFeed</a> – other than the idiot carpet bombing marketers trying to play the Follower Game it has been pretty quiet for outright spam.</p>
<p>That is until today. If what I say on my FriendFeed page is any indication I have discovered the newest type of spam – Social Media Comment Spam. Interestingly enough while I was writing this my FriendFeed page refreshed in the background and that piece of spam was *poof* gone. I don’t know if it was something FriendFeed did or not but the fact that it happened is possibly an indication of what we have to look forward – Not!</p>
<p>Thank goodness for screen captures.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/19181/hell-has-come-to-web-20-and-social-media/">Hell has come to Web 2.0 and social media</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/19181/hell-has-come-to-web-20-and-social-media/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/friendfeedspam-thumb.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/friendfeedspam-thumb.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">friendfeed spam</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Get ready .. get set .. here comes the Twitter spam on a big scale</title>
		<link>http://www.inquisitr.com/17417/get-ready-get-set-here-comes-the-twitter-spam-on-a-big-scale/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inquisitr.com/17417/get-ready-get-set-here-comes-the-twitter-spam-on-a-big-scale/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:12:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steven Hodson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inquisitr.com/17417/get-ready-get-set-here-comes-the-twitter-spam-on-a-big-scale/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />For those of us using the Twitter service spam is something that while an irritation it hasn’t become a major intrusion the way it has with email. That could change with the availability of the first commercial Twitter spamming tool called TweetTornado (tweettorando.com) which bills itself as a “fully automated advertising software for Twitter”. The [...]<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/17417/get-ready-get-set-here-comes-the-twitter-spam-on-a-big-scale/">Get ready .. get set .. here comes the Twitter spam on a big scale</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img title="failwhale_stickers_small" border="0" alt="failwhale_stickers_small" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/failwhale-stickers-small.jpg" width="504" height="191" /></center></p>
<p>For those of us using the Twitter service spam is something that while an irritation it hasn’t become a major intrusion the way it has with email. That could change with the availability of the <em>first</em> commercial Twitter spamming tool called TweetTornado (tweettorando.com) which bills itself as a “<em>fully automated advertising software for Twitter”</em>. </p>
<p>The software potentially lets spammers, malware authors and phishers generate bogus Twitter accounts and use them to spread their crap across the micro-blogging universe. As well as create the accounts it will also give the user the ability to automatically update all those bogus accounts through proxy servers which makes it a perfect spamming tool.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2477">Dancho Danchev of the Zero Day blog at ZDnet</a> TweetTornado plays off of a simple flaw in the Twitter new user registration system</p>
<blockquote><p>TweetTornado’s core functionality relies on a simple flaw in Twitter’s new user registration process. Tackling it will not render the tool’s functionality useless, but will at least ruin the efficiency model. Sadly, <strong>Twitter doesn’t require you to have a valid email address when registering a new account</strong>, so even though a nonexistent@email.com is used, the user is still registered and is allowed to use Twitter.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Well isn’t that just the greatest news you’ve had today eh.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/17417/get-ready-get-set-here-comes-the-twitter-spam-on-a-big-scale/">Get ready .. get set .. here comes the Twitter spam on a big scale</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com">The Inquisitr</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.inquisitr.com/17417/get-ready-get-set-here-comes-the-twitter-spam-on-a-big-scale/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/failwhale-stickers-small.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/failwhale-stickers-small.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">failwhale_stickers_small</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

