Chapter 9: Phishing and Scam Spam

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A Million Baited Hooks: Scamming Spam

Spam is one of the most effective and penetrating forms of advertising in the world. It has the capability of sending a message to hundreds of millions of people instantaneously. The message is directly delivered to the recipient and guarantees some reaction on their part, whether it is irritation, anger, or curiosity. Spam is a highly psychological tool that has become an art unto itself. Aside from the many legitimate spammers (and companies) who use it as a main means of advertising, there is another group, dubbed phishers, who abuse spam to take advantage of unknowing victims. These scammers attempt to lure naive people into believing false stories of heartbreak and tragedy, all for the phisher’s benefit. By sending millions of spam e-mails daily, phishers can lure large amounts of innocent people to a false cause and exploit them for other illicit activities or defraud them out of their worldly possessions.

Unlike product spam (spam that attempts to sell you something), phishing spam offers no legitimate reward in the end. The goal is for the scammer to make as much money as possible and then disappear.

Notes from the Underground…

Spam Scams

I am strongly against spam scams. I do not approve of tricking and stealing finances from random strangers. Unless a client decides to purchase a product you’re legitimately selling by completing an honest business transaction, you have no right to take money from them. Just because someone is a spammer doesn’t mean they don’t have some morals; many do not promote the use of phishing spam. If scammers want to make money, they should work for it and send Viagra spam like everyone else!

Phishing spam can take many forms. This chapter looks at the various types of phishing spam and identifies what the real objective is behind each one.

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