BitDefender’s Spam Omelette 26 Spotlights Click Strikes as Top Spam Trend In Weekly Analysis of E-Threats
Week 26: The word “Click” dominates Spam Omelette in spam campaigns related to medicine spam
Click strikes have been identified as the top spam trend in Spam Omelette 26, BitDefender’s weekly review on spam and the latest industry trends. Spam Omelette is part of MalwareCity.com, which is supported by BitDefender®.
In week 26 of Spam Omelette, the top spam words include:
1. CLICK– Ranking first in this week's Spam Omelette, the word “CLICK” has been identified by BitDefender researchers in messages related to medicine spam. It seems like medicine spammers took a more discrete approach this week, advertising their products without using keywords “WebMD” and “Canadian Pharmacy.” The Canadian Pharmacy spammers take various approaches such as using various mail subjects to make the message look as if they had been sent by friends to make users open the messages.
2. EMAIL– The word “EMAIL” ranks second in Spam Omelette 26 and has been identified in multiple spam campaigns advertising the Canadian Pharmacy products and online poker casinos. While the Canadian Pharmacy and its associates are a frequent presence in our weekly spam review, PokerSavvy makes a comeback in the spam wave advertising a new online gambling tour. All of PokerSavvy’s spam campaigns are handled by Bronto, an allegedly respectable online marketing company. Unlike other spam campaigns that disallow unsubscribing from the mailing list, the footer links included in the PokerSavvy spam campaigns actually seem to work.
3. NEWS– Ranking third, the word "NEWS" has been identified in messages impersonating legitimate newsletters from Health Media Ventures. However, as the user clicks on any link embedded in the message, they are redirected to one of the many Canadian Pharmacy website clones on the web.
4. PLEASE– Ranking fourth in this week’s Spam Omelette is the word “PLEASE.” In unsolicited mail advertising Canadian Pharmacy products, these messages also come disguised as newsletters. It is really difficult to tell these messages apart from legitimate mail, except for the fact that they feature an inline image and hints at “pharmaceutical technology” (a buzzword for sexual enhancements). The mail subject seems out of place as compared to the rest of the message, but by the time the user realizes it, they have already opened the message.
5. PRIVACY – The word “PRIVACY” ranks last on Spam Omelette 26 and was used in unsolicited messages coming from WebMD, a franchise of the notorious Canadian Pharmacy business.
To read the entire Spam Omelette # 26, please visit MalwareCity.com.
To create Spam Omelette, BitDefender analyzes approximately 7 million spam messages collected through BitDefender's worldwide network of “honey pots.” A honey pot is an e-mail address that is only used to collect spam. The large number of analyzed messages and the global distribution of honey pots ensure reliable results.
The resulting map provides visual cues for understanding what the new trends in spam messages are, while providing significant insight to researchers on the current spam campaigns.
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