I like to push the pram a lot

[venta]

Don't worry about me... I'll be the one giggling gently at the spam in my Inbox.

A rather fine example from today came to my work address, from an individual, company or entity by the name of Dotson Sabra.

The text begins as follows:

---
Why Cho4vmose Dj4trp9drug9hf3qzr6store?

* Lowh7v5cvwest Priq4voaotaces with Pris0ce Match Gua8fgk18h9rantee
* 247 Live Ch9yoixfo3at Support
* Faqxkr38stest Shid2rsbyompping (comma5pared with our com6ppkpetitors)
* Guarjzm11528anteed Delgm9fmzkivery or your money back (Chjsel38bseck our refund policy)
* 90000+ Sati0us6ysfied custoop0rmers world wide.


Why Gexnckner7b85ic?


A Naufrnme-Brato3nd diw2btrug is marvqelacbj1ketehkuybd unhwyder a spe63ucific travd8k7bde name by a ph440narmaceuj3itical mandoabufactf2kkyzyaurer. In most carsses, Name-Brai8nond dqqf3huruz1acihgs are stsic77ill unelvw6ww9der pataz3njtent pryswotecjcgjelc3ction, msxy0ahean4qscnb9ing the mamdpjnufag24z2cturer is the sowjwxzj0le soibbkfvurce for the prouelmvxvbfduxhct but in marbckcsny Coug84zss7ynt2ypela2ories arof716wund the wok3bxs9tqrld this is not the caeloyhpse...
---

And goes on in that vein for some time.

Yes, thank you, I am very childish and easily amused.

The perennial questions pose themselves...

Why are they even bothering ?

Why does anyone think that such gibberish would convince anyone that they are a reputable business ? However good they tell me their reputation is, I'm not inclined to Chjsel38bseck their refund policy or order goods from them.

Why can't even the most basic of auto-spambots adjust its "from" name to match the email address it's using ? OK, so there are occasions where a from name and the name-based email address legitimately don't match, but it's an early clue this is junk mail - and surely the one thing computers are good at is pattern matching.

And, of course, the most important question: Why Gexnckner7b85ic?

Why indeed.

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, that system would probably block any communication from my work-related address, because its initials are JHD and mine are now JHS. I suspect a lot of people who have changed their names would have the same problem...

[venta.livejournal.com]

I wasn't suggesting an automated system should block emails with non-matching names - there are lots of decent reasons for them partly (or totally) non-matching. Merely that if I were sending out spam I'd try and derive the name from the address. Most of the spam I get seems to come from addresses of the form firstname.lastname@hostname, but the name the mail alledgedly comes from usually suggests that the sender has (since registering their email address) changed their forename, their surname, their gender and their nationality at the very least.

Which is possible, of course, but on the whole unlikely. So while I don't think emails like that should be blocked, if I were trying to look unlike spam I'd try not to do it.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I hear you with the non-matching of name to obviously-name-based address. I would totally fix that if I was a spambot.

Also, when they assemble their faux names, the forename usually seems to be hopelessly ill matched to the surname. I guess this is some very subtle subconscious cultural resonance that allows one to spot, even in names that come from bizarre and remote parts of the world, that it's selected two different bizarre and remote parts.

[edling.livejournal.com]

Oh bugger, you've just reminded me that I totally forgot to check our postmaster mailbox yesterday...

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Why can't even the most basic of auto-spambots adjust its "from" name to match the email address it's using ?

Pleeease don't suggest that to them! It's my last line of defence against the huge numbers of spam I get purportedly from lathany's email address.

[ext2366.livejournal.com]

If you remove the random letters it comes out with things like:

Why Choose Drugstore?

* Lowest Prices with Price Match Guarantee
* 247 Live Chat Support
* Fastest Shipping (commpared with our competitors)

Are the random letters in fact tiny and white, or shifted off the screen if you were to have the right sort of HTML email reader?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, I noticed that it read like that, just couldn't see the point of making someone work so hard to read it!

You are correct, though. My mailer politely plaintextifies things for me where necessary - but indeed if viewed with the magic of Outlook it appears merely slightly oddly spaced.

Of course, the very oddness of the plain text version meant it got considerably more attention from me than it otherwise would have done :)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Ahh. Wrong end of stick error on my part :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Internet sticks always have extra ends to make such things easy :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Sounds like you get quality mail to that mailbox!