The Best Looking SPAM I’ve Ever Received
This email “from” Apple is SPAM.
I must say, this is some of the best looking SPAM emails I’ve ever received. I almost marked it as “Not Spam” until I began looking at it with a bit more scrutiny. The subject line (way too long with some share code tacked onto the end), reply-to (some gobbly-gook hotmail address) and links (all directing to a Polish domain) were all huge warning signs. It’s engaging, convincing and has clearly gotten the Apple email look and feel down pat… right down to the correct Cupertino physical address. But make no mistake, this is SPAM.
I’m sure that if this has made it through any of the major ISP filters and into users inboxes, it’s duping them left and right to click through. This just goes to show that SPAM is constantly evolving and becoming as sophisticated as ever. Make no mistake, with emails like this out there, ISPs will be battling uphill for years to come.
Posted by Bryan Quilty on Jan. 28, 2011
Comments
I also received this emai last week and what me made look at it more closely was that it was Apple selling Adobe software - everyone knows they are at war with each other! And so its unlikely Apple would be selling Flash. Looking more closely at the links (mine were pointing to a chinese domain) confirmed it was a phishing email - but as you said I had to admire the professionalism of how it was presented.
Posted by David Hutchinson on 01/31/2011 04:43 AM
I got this too. I was like what the…??
I actually can’t remember the last time Apple promoted Adobe at this point :(
Posted by Kenny Roy on 02/11/2011 03:41 PM
Irritatingly, I’ve seen spam like this before where the spammers have taken the code for a legitimate email campaign and changed everything to their links. So in terms of the design, there really isn’t anything different to a legit email!
Posted by Elliot Ross on 03/14/2011 11:08 AM
Yes, they’re going to dupe quite a few people with that one, unfortunately.
I like to check the header before opening any email these days and probably would have dumped this one based on the reply address too.
Posted by Mark McClure on 01/29/2011 04:16 AM