Today in spam

spamnation.info is inching back towards life, thanks in large part to the kindness of strangers. It's not quite back on its feet yet, but I hope to have it back bigger and better than ever before you can say "Hot Schoolgirl Sluts selling V!@gr@ to homeowners in new online casino LOTTERY". Or something like that.

Meanwhile - as I'm sure you've noticed - the tide of spam continues unabated. The ever-popular CBFE.PK - a perennial favorite on the spammed stocks chart - is getting still more airplay and this time the spammers have decided to accompany the shaky 'OCR-proof' graphic with an animated display of some of the ugliest emoticons I have ever seen and a photograph of some fingers holding a pen. I'm not quite sure what the reasoning is behind this odd combination, but at least it's easy to filter, thanks to the presence of recurring strings such as "Signing Pen" and "IncrdiXML". You know what you have to do.

Robert Soloway has a couple of new domains, the not-exactly-catchy 'emailbroadcastingcompany.com' and the intimidating 'emailbroadcastauthority.com', which you will also want to add to any keyword filters you manage. If past experience is any guide, you'll be seeing a lot more of those. Soloway has also taken to adding the strings "INVOICE" and "$15.00" to his spams, apparently in an attempt to trick the weak-minded into thinking that this is something they have to pay. Word on the street is that Domain Registry of America are considering legal action against him for violation of their patent.

Just kidding.

Other spammers are urging us all to "Defy agilnlg with H-G-H", which would be easier if I knew who Agilnlg was. He doesn't sound like a very nice person anyway, so go ahead and defy him if you happen to meet him. The "russsian chummy bitches" sound friendlier and perhaps more fun to hang around with. In other news, their store is my cureall, 65% of members got laid, I have won even more lotteries and several more people want to be my whore. Or possibly just one, but to judge from the number of messages she's sent, she's pretty serious about it. But I'm not falling for that: I know she only wants me for my money or, strictly speaking, for the money that my dear friend, Mr Frank Jim, manager in a Bank, is going to send me. Sorry, "Sylvia Maxwell" - or should I say "Chandra Ritter"? - I know what you're really after.

The most disturbing thing about the "I want to be your whore" spams, incidentally, is that they're using fragments of "The Hobbit" as hashbuster text. Somehow I find the combination of hairy-footed hobbits and invitations to hot illicit sex just a little disturbing. I think I speak for all of us ... well, most of us anyway ... when I say "Ewwww".