[FRIAM] Archangel Michael's Message For You
Steven A Smith
sasmyth at swcp.com
Sat Aug 17 12:27:53 EDT 2019
I also am mildly fascinated by spam/phish mail. Much of it, like Eric,
leaves me wondering A) WHO would take the bait and why and B) WHAT are
the mechanisms afoot?
I like to think that I am mildly more sophisticated than the average
e-mail user but still likely subject to some of the more sophisticated
or subtle phishing/scamming games folks play.
I leave my T-Bird junk identifier on, and while I still see it in my
inbox, I can quickly scan the sources/subjects to avoid false-positives
(very, very rare after years of "training") but also for the morbid
fascination. One simple click on "Delete Junk" clears 80% of my
mailbox, then I try to religiously *mark* any false-negatives remaining
in my box (anywhere from 10%-50% of the contents), often noting how they
differed from the ones my filter recognized... often the differences are
small.
My Junk Mail settings include *not* autoloading inline content (images)
so I feel *fairly* safe from the senders getting any significant
tracking parallax on me *even when* I might open one to look at the
content.
A fascinating feature of *much* of the Junk Mail I actually open is that
they often have a psuedorandom chunk of text as the body or within a
more "phishing" body. Sometimes the text *looks* like normal content
but is fairly random. I am guessing that this is part of some kind of
orchestrated experiment where those so send out those e-mails are also
looking to see where the semi-unique text-strings show up. A few
times, I've clipped out bits of this nonsense and handed it to Google
Search to see if it showed up anywhere. Typically I get ZERO
results... sometimes I find a discussion thread or two where others are
questioning the point/meaning/context of the content.
Feels a little like injecting "tracking tags" into the noosphere.
> So, being technically only semi-literate, here is the main response I have to the spam-ocean in which we now all seem to be adrift.
>
> As for Michael below, I cannot imagine anyone would deliberately follow up anything like this, except bored people who click on a link to see what kind of entertainment lies at the other end, and who are computer-senior enough to think there won’t be any undue trouble they have to deal with as a consequence.
>
> So what, then, is the mechanics of the angle? If there are embedded URLs for tracking, the “text" could be a random space-filler to check which emails are active. It probably is not yet all that common for people to turn off autoloading of remote content to reduce the number of channels through which they are tracked, but it is presumably becoming more common.
>
> Is there timing in the way that remote content is loaded, so that somebody can compile the rate at which readers sift through the text? Or are there other completely unrelated mechanisms for which the email is a distraction while a pickpocket works in some other direction?
>
> Eric
>
>
>
>> On Aug 17, 2019, at 9:10 AM, glen <gepropella at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> This is the best spam I've received in a long time! And it's all thanks to my broken spamassassin config. Am I alone in finding spam and phishing email fascinating? I'm procrastinating fixing SA because my spam is more interesting than my "ham".
>>
>> Maybe the most interesting was the one claiming there was a bomb threat at "your office building". Of course, I was immune to it because I work from a shed in the back yard. But I can imagine that scared a lot of people. I never looped back to see if they caught any of those jerks.
>>
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> From: 7 Day Prayer Miracle <7dayprayermiracle at miraclle.pro>
>> Sent: August 17, 2019 5:49:01 AM PDT
>> To: cult at tempusdictum.com
>> Subject: Archangel Michael's Message For You
>>
>> Dear lburns at energynewengland.com,
>>
>>
>> Today, Archangel Michael has a life-changing message for you.
>>
>>
>> Heâs about to teach you a mysterious prayer that drops you into the
>> ocean of abundance, where boundless blessings flow:
>>
>>
>> My good friend Amanda Ross has a special connection to Archangel
>> Michael. Through his divine intervention Amanda successfully restored
>> her marriage, reclaimed her joy and even won the lottery.
>>
>>
>>
>> Click here for her astonishing story:
>>
>>
>> Best,
>> Barbara L. Martin
>>
>>
>> P.S. You want to know something that will blow your mind and open
>> your heart? Archangel Michael is the guardian angel that fights for you.
>> If you are struggling with any form of conflict -- big or small -- then saying this 4-sentence prayer holds the key to your victory.
>>
>>
>> Heaven is smiling over you and cheering you on to win your breakthrough. Receive it here:
>>
>>
>> 77 Petunia Way
>> Birmingham, AL 35209 If these updates do not interest you please end them click here
>>
>>
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>> 545454542324345562434565644575244575621433241546334456
>> 23451244624375524566434321563221435322435566445175326178
>>
>>
>> --
>> glen
>>
>> ============================================================
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>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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>
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