Admin: Spammers are getting clever

I note with sadness that spammers are getting a bit more sneaky.  Apparently they now actually read or at least glance at the post before posting a comment which appears to actually be on topic and contains no links.  The link is in their profile. They post using commercial names.  I missed this completely until I noticed a comment from someone with a rather sleazy blogger ID.

So yea, I spent part of the morning reviewing the more recent comments and deleting those (a good half dozen) with obviously commercial blogger IDs that contained links in their profiles.  I hope I am not gong to have to put comments on permanent moderation.  I already have comments for all posts over 2 weeks old  moderated.  Sigh...

SPAM of a different flavor

This just showed up in my inbox somehow getting past my generally very good spam filter.

Do you need a top quality light concealed bulletproof vest??Israeli made. Battle proven. NIJ certified!

Introducing the Robo Level 3A Concealed vest. Light, concealed and comfort.The next generation of bullet proof vests. Less than $370! Retail price is more than $800!Level 3A protection NIJ certified.

Well at least it's not the usual offer for viagra or some new method of enlarging certain parts of my anatomy.  I wonder if someone is trying to give me a hint.  Maybe I need to lighten up on the Anglicans...

Man quits job, makes living suing e-mail spammers

SAN FRANCISCO -- Daniel Balsam hates spam. Most everybody does, of course. But he has acted on his hate as few have, going far beyond simply hitting the delete button. He sues them.

Eight years ago, Balsam was working as a marketer when he received one too many e-mail pitches to enlarge his breasts.

Enraged, he launched a Web site called Danhatesspam.com, quit a career in marketing to go to law school and is making a decent living suing companies who flood his e-mail inboxes with offers of cheap drugs, free sex and unbelievable vacations.

"I feel like I'm doing a little bit of good cleaning up the Internet," Balsam said.

From San Francisco Superior Court small claims court to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Balsam, based in San Francisco, has filed many lawsuits, including dozens before he graduated law school in 2008, against e-mail marketers he says violate anti-spamming laws.

Read the rest here.

Alleged prolific spammer is jailed without bail

MILWAUKEE — A 23-year-old Russian man accused of masterminding a vast worldwide spamming network pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court in Wisconsin to violating a U.S. anti-spam law.

The judge ordered Oleg Y. Nikolaenko held without bond, saying he was a flight risk because of his access to cash and his lack of ties to Wisconsin or the U.S.

Nikolaenko was brought into court wearing bright orange prison pants and matching sweatshirt and shackled at the ankles. His attorney entered the plea as a Russian interpreter translated for the Moscow man.

Prosecutors say Nikolaenko ran a network that involved placing malicious code on unsuspecting users' computers and then hijacking the infected machines to blast out billions of e-mails.

Internet security experts say the network was so massive that on some days it accounted for one of every three unwanted e-mails in the world.

Nikolaenko is charged with violating the CAN-SPAM act by intentionally falsifying header information in commercial e-mail messages and sending at least 2,500 spam e-mails per day, the minimum threshold for the charge. Prosecutors say his network was capable of sending up to 10 billion messages per day.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Read the rest here.