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Archive for the ‘Spam’ Category

Getting your Best Work in Front of the Right Eyes

June 15th, 2010 |

A common frustration most creative firms have, especially if they are a new company, is how to get their foot in the door. Calling on potential clients is a hard and usually unrewarding experience. Since creative people would rather execute the work rather than hunt for it, this effort can take its toll. We have found that once we get our work samples in front of a decision maker, our potential for winning projects increases ten-fold.

We started creating pdf portfolios we could deliver via email. The problem was, in order to show a full range of our services without loosing image quality, the pdf documents became very large. If they did make it to the intended party, they were slow to open. Most companies have firewalls or anti-spam systems in place that see an unrecognized email with an attachment and divert it to the trash or spam folder, never getting in front of the intended recipient.

We solved these hurdles by first creating what we call a mini book series. The pages measure about 3″ x 8″. Each of our 7 creative services is represented in its own mini book. Next, we uploaded unzipped pdf files to our FTP. The direct url addresses are included in a short, to-the-point email. When the recipient selects each link, the pdf opens in their browser relatively quickly.

We also create individual project pages in PDF format and upload to our FTP. We send links to specific project samples that may be relevant to the recipient.

Getting your work where it can be seen is the first step. Follow-up is a crucial second. In about a week from the time your samples are delivered, make the call. Even though your call is still a cold call, it may now be a bit warmer, resulting in a “warmer” reception.

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Originally posted 2010-02-09 09:40:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Would You Get Duped By An Email Hoax?

April 16th, 2010 |

Author: Gerald Pilcher

After viruses, spam, trojans and spyware the next biggest annoyance on the internet (for me at least) is the large number of hoax emails I receive.

Ok, some are funny, others are downright crazy but, ultimately, they’re just spam.

Do you receive hoax emails?

Do you know how to tell that they are a hoax?

An Example Of A ‘Popular’ Hoax

For instance, one of the more common emails going around at the moment centres around a supposedly free Sony Ericsson laptop.

To claim yours all you have to do, according to the email, is to forward the message onto either 8 or 20 other people, depending upon which brand of ‘laptop’ you actually desire.

The latest version of this email even comes with added pictures that show a laptop (see the link above).

Debunking The Hoax

So how then do I know that this particular email is a hoax?

The answer is simple – as with most things in life all that is required is a little time and effort – the sender’s email is quoted as being “anna.swelung@ericsson.com” but poor old Anna doesn’t actually work for them at all!

Not only that but if you surf over the Ericsson website you’ll find that they themselves have debunked this particular email as a hoax too.

In fact, this particular one has been in circulation for several years.

This May Make You Laugh

Also, the T18 and R320 laptops that you can supposedly get your hands on are not all they seem either.

To find out why you’ll have to click the link below…

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Originally posted 2009-11-02 00:16:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Knowing the ABCs of Craigslist Phone Verification

March 20th, 2010 |

Author: Gerald Pilcher

Craigslist is one of the biggest online communities hosting free classified advertisements that feature different sections about jobs, services, sales, forums, discussions, among others. It has become a popular hotspot for people in all walks of life ranging from a budding writer to professional product advertisers. It has become a potential gold mine, especially for product ads and commercials. The site has therefore become a target for spam and all kinds of online scams so account verification was created to counter them.
r
rOne may have heard or seen Craigslist verified accounts. Most commonly known as verified accounts or PVA, these are phone verified accounts that posters use in Craigslist. Phone verification was initially, not a requirement for posting ads in Craigslist. With rapidly increasing traffic to the site, junk or spam advertisements became common so the need for PVA was introduced.
r
rThe erotic services section was the very first section where this system was tested and started. The main objective was to see how PVA would affect Craigslist in general. After testing Phone Verification on this section, it was expanded to other services sections for further tests. It was found to be effective and was eventually introduced to all of the services sections in the site. Now, posting in Craigslist under the services section requires a valid phone number for real-time, accurate verification. This process may be carried over to other sections but to date, only the services section has this requirement.
r
rTo successfully set-up an account, one must have a valid and working phone number. This may sound easy but can actually be a bit annoying because Craigslist needs a real phone number based in the United States and not Voice over Internet Protocol or VOIP or any other easily disposed phone number. This is to avoid scams by using anonymous phone numbers. Plus, Craigslist only allows posting an ad for 48 hours with proper account verification. Posting ads or commercials beyond this timeframe can make your account be put on hold indefinitely. This actually means that an on-hold account has a very slim chance of being re-verified.
r
rOne of the aims of this strict process in account verification is obviously to minimize and control spam. Any posting under the services section needs good working phone number to fully verify the account. This system has proven to be an effective countermeasure against spam and junk ads proliferation in the site. Bypassing the system is almost impossible unless one chooses to use an IP to register an account.
r
rThere are cases that an IP (Internet Protocol) can be used to register or verify an account. It should be Craigslist that should determine if a PVA is needed for one’s IP. If an account is after the screening of the IP the poster can start posting ads. However, there are IPs that are filtered and flagged and when this happens, the only thing to do is to get a fresh one to start posting once more. Craigslist normally compiles a list of IPs so hopefully, the new IP that one’s computer can get is not on that list.

Originally posted 2009-11-28 17:06:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Do You Want to Sell Stuff on EBay?

March 15th, 2010 |

Author: Gerald Pilcher

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We’ve all seen the offers in our spam boxes to sell stuff on eBay. We’re all probably pretty convinced that most of these offers are bogus, since they landed in our spam box after all. We’re partly right. We probably wouldn’t get rich by selling products on eBay through the program being offered, but it still can be done.

There are two main problems with the spam offers to sell stuff on eBay. One is that it often involves products people will never buy. Seriously, how many hand painted porcelain figures do you really think you would actually sell? You have to have products that people actually want to buy.

The other major problem is that the technique that’s being offered is probably out of date. EBay is very similar to Google when it comes to marketing techniques on its site. Things such as keyword stuffing are considered “black hat” marketing, and will often result in getting your account suspended. Some of the spam offers to sell stuff on eBay are proposing that you do exactly that. Get your ideas from a reputable marketer!

While selling products on eBay can generate some income, the real money that can be made from eBay doesn’t even necessarily have to be in what you list as your eBay products. It lies in the link you create back to your website in the listings you create.

By doing this, you can sell electronic media such as ebooks, audio and video files by way of eBay, effectively circumventing the eBay rule of not selling electronic media ON eBay. Of course, your electronic media products will have to be relevant to the physical products you sell stuff on eBay.

It would probably be in bad form to sell a CD player on eBay and only provide the user’s manual for a charge on your website, and it could get you negative ratings. More feasibly, you could sell a toy construction set on eBay, and sell an eBook, video, etc., on your website with different design ideas.

The trick then is to lead your buyers to your website by mentioning “for a few design ideas, go to “www.mysite.com.” Then you can show them the value of the product and voila! You just made more money off eBay than just selling a toy construction set, for little additional cost to you.

For more information about sell stuff on eBay visit http://makerealmoneyontheinternet.com/blog/

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Originally posted 2009-12-18 18:45:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Symantec Announces October 2009 MessageLabs Intelligence Report

February 14th, 2010 |

Author: Gerald Pilcher

<p>MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA–(Marketwire – October 27, 2009) – Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced the publication of its October 2009 MessageLabs Intelligence Report. Analysis reveals an increase in seasonally-themed spam including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine’s Day as well as a surge in phishing attacks related to tax deadlines in the UK and Australia. In mid-October MessageLabs Intelligence began seeing Halloween-themed spam messages accounting for 0.5 percent of all spam increasing steadily and peaking at 500 million emails circulating worldwide daily as the holiday draws closer. Also in October, phishing runs purporting to be from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) in the US and HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) in the UK experienced a surge.

According to MessageLabs Intelligence, while the topic of the Halloween-themed emails, originating from the Rustock and Donbot botnets, appears to be for pharmaceuticals or software, the Christmas and Thanksgiving spam, sent by the Cutwail botnet, is for replica watches. The replica watch spam messages accounted for approximately 2 percent of spam in October. Two billion of these messages are projected to be in global circulation on a daily basis in the coming months. Interception of IRS phishing emails peaked on October 10 accounting for 67 percent of all phishing emails in a 24-hour period while HMRC phishing emails, peaking on October 13, accounted for 81 percent of all phishing interceptions that day, one of the largest ever HMRC phishing runs.

“As is typical with spammers this time of year, we are seeing them try to capitalize on the holiday season,” said MessageLabs Intelligence Senior Analyst, Paul Wood. “Although they may be a bit overzealous, spamming is a numbers game and the spammers have certainly succeeded with volume thus far. Perhaps their early-bird approach is an attempt to compete with the other botnets and get in early to maximize their chances of success.”

Although tax-related phishing runs surged in October, phishing attacks in general have been declining compared to peaks of activity earlier in the year. MessageLabs Intelligence believes this is partly due to the reduction in phishing toolkits available for use. However, phishing runs in languages other than English, such as French and Italian, do appear to be increasing.

“When it comes to phishing runs,” Wood said, “we have seen a significant shift in the bad guys’ approach. Not only are they experimenting with different languages, they are also turning their attention to targeting online services like web-based email in addition to the financial sector. The reason is likely due to the widespread use of email addresses used to authenticate other sites such as social networking, retailing and auction sites.”

Also in October, MessageLabs Intelligence intercepted another batch of event-related advance-fee fraud style spam messages relating to the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. These require the target to pay a sum of money before receiving their advertised winnings.

Finally, MessageLabs Intelligence reported earlier in the month a rise in the volume of spam relating to the Bredolab Trojans being sent from the Cutwail (Pandex) botnet. Bredolab, a Trojan that arrives in the form of a zip attachment to an email, is designed to give the sender complete control of the target computer. The most recent emails have arrived with postal tracking numbers in the subject. Spam relating to the Bredolab Trojan reached its peak in October accounting for 3.5 percent of spam and 5.6 percent of malware each day of the month. MessageLabs Intelligence estimates 3.6 billion Bredolab malware emails are in circulation each day.

Other report highlights:

Spam: In October 2009, the global ratio of spam in email traffic from new and previously unknown bad sources was 88.1 percent (1 in 1.1 emails), reflecting a 1.7 percent increase since September.

Viruses: The global ratio of email-borne viruses in email traffic from new and previously unknown bad sources was one in 230.8 emails (0.43 percent) in October, an increase of 0.18 percent since September. In October, 19.2 percent of email-borne malware contained links to malicious websites, a decrease of 20.6 percent since September.

Phishing: In October, phishing activity was 1 in 293.7 emails (0.35 percent) an increase of 0.11 percent since September. When judged as a proportion of all email-borne threats such as viruses and Trojans, the proportion of phishing emails had decreased by 10.5 percent to 65.3 percent of all email-borne malware threats and phishing threats intercepted in October.

Web security: Analysis of web security activity shows that 37.6 percent of all web-based malwa