The Spam Omelette #59 – on Fake Rolex and Diplomas

1. EMAIL in a Pepsi^TM Bottle

This week's issue of the Spam Omelette tops with EMAIL as number one spam word. It is mostly found in newsletter-like unsolicited mail pushing advertisements for Canadian Pharmacy products. Since this is an extremely common type of spam, we'll describe a smaller wave that abuses the Pepsi brand in order to lure users into disclosing their personal details to an unauthorized third party.

The message promises 100,000 pounds sterling to the "lucky" victim as the great prize allegedly organized by Pepsi. However, as the unwary victim replies to claim their prize, they will only provide the attacker with enough personal data to proceed to identity theft or to carry out a spear phishing attack.

2.  Just like ROLEX. Only cheaper.

Ranking second in our weekly spam top, the brand ROLEX has been mostly encountered in a large wave of unsolicited mail advertising cheap replicas of the famous wrist watches. Although these products are promoted as highly-accurate replicas, most of the times the customer will receive a poorly-finished watch at a pretty expensive price tag. Needless to say that sometimes you may not receive your parcel at all after the payment has been done - and that's another reason why not to do business with spammers.

3.  Watch spam ONLINE. Real time!

The word ONLINE ranks third in this issue of the Spam Omelette and has been detected by the BitDefender spam researchers in mails mostly coming from Canadian Pharmacy. It appears as part of the alternate text displayed when the spa m filter has blocked a potentially unsafe image.

4. Cracked SOFTWARE almost for free

The word SOFTWARE ranks fourth in this week's spam top and has mostly been used in unsolicited advertisements for so-called OEM software on massive discounts. Victims taking this opportunity to purchase their desired applications will only receive cracked software downloaded via peer-to-peer networks, therefore will not be eligible for support and will also risk prosecution.

5. The RIGHT approach to studying

The word RIGHT concludes this week's issue of the Spam Omelette. It has been mostly detected in messages advertising medicine spam. Since it occurs especially in the footer message (a technique that has been discussed already in our previous issues of the Spam Omelette), we'll focus on a more "exotic" breed of spam, namely diploma offerings.

The message promises a shorter path to getting a non-accredited diploma to hang on your wall. In exchange of a specific amount of money, you will get a worthless sheet of paper to comfort your ego. Since it is not recognized by any upper-education institution, it will not make any difference in pursuing a career.