Tag: SPAM

Glance at your inbox lately? If it seems to be overflowing with crap you just don't need, well, that's probably because it is. While spam filters have been working more effectively than ever, you, my friend, have been pretty much undermining the entire process by signing up for every travel, sales and group-buying program out there. Infographic World has a masterful infographic showing just how ...

Krebs on Security is reporting that a huge drop in the volume of e-mail spam circulating worldwide on Wednesday was the result of a planned takedown of the Rustock botnet, which, at one point, was the most prolific purveyor of spam in the entire world. According to the Composite Spam Blocklist (CBL), which measures global spam volumes, Rustock spam (usually ads for online pharmacies and male ...

If your Yahoo Mail account seems to be a little sluggish today, you're not alone. Many users have complained that e-mails are taking hours, or sometimes days to arrive in their inboxes, while other users are having trouble logging into their accounts. Yahoo has yet to offer an explanation for the slowdown, but company spokeswoman Dana Lengkeek dismissed rumors that the service's spam filter is to ...

Remember 'Breakup Notifier,' the overtly stalker-friendly Facebook app that would e-mail you whenever any of your crushes changed their relationship status? Well, it appears to have been shut down after attracting more than 3.6 million users. App creator Dan Loewenherz received a message from Facebook yesterday, confirming that the site's automated systems flagged 'Breakup Notifier' for ...

In today's Facebook travels, you may have noticed that free Southwest flights constituted a hot topic of discussion amongst your friends. (We received several comments today along those lines.) Well, to nobody's surprise, those comments were nothing but spam messages. In case you were goofy enough to click on one of those links, read Mashable's directions on how to disinfect your Facebook. ...

If you spend a lot of your time chatting with your friends on Facebook, you'd better be on the lookout for a gang of spammers that appears to be hijacking accounts and spreading its stupid little surveys via instant messages. All Facebook's Jackie Cohen recently received one of these spammy chats from a friend who wasn't even online at the time, inviting her to click on a link to receive a ...

There's a new scam floating around Facebook and, like so many before it, it's spreading via a series of absurd wall posts. The latest spammy posts to hit the social network read: "Facebook will close down all accounts today. The announcement was made by Mark Zuckerberg -- Facebook owner." The message also invites users to click on a link, in order to keep their accounts active. Of course, ...

Russia avoided a potentially devastating suicide bomb attack last month, thanks to one particularly well-timed text message. According to Russian security sources, the attack was supposed to be carried out by an unnamed woman, believed to be part of a radical Islamist terror group. The woman reportedly planned to strap a bomb to herself, and blow herself up in the middle of a crowded Moscow ...

Share If you've avoided clicking on any Facebook posts promising to show you your 'Total Facebook Views,' give yourself a round of applause -- because it's just a scam. The spammy posts seem to be originating from various sources, but they all boast essentially the same syntax. A typical post from a friend who fell for the trick will read: "My total facebook views are: [random number]. Find ...

Share The Web is awash with bad seeds who want your money, your data and your sweet, sweet identity. We don't want to scare you -- since these people are the exception, not the rule -- but they are out there. Crafty buggers who prey on trust and carelessness, scammers are not only persistent social engineers, but also skilled hackers who take over Facebook accounts, break into bank databases and ...

Are you unafraid to annoy your Facebook friends until you finally land that new job? There's now an app for that. According to its description, 'BranchOut' is supposed to provide you with "inside connections at hundreds of companies" by "expanding your career network through all of your friends on Facebook." And how does it do that? With spam, apparently. Once you download 'BranchOut,' the ...

Google's high-quality search results have been hit hard lately as spammers have been increasingly successful in gaming the system to serve you useless pages that contain only a nugget of relevancy to your query and are slathered in ads. To illustrate this growing problem, the founders of startup search engine Blekko created the Spam Clock, which claims that more than 220 million spam pages have ...

Hey, here's some good news: it looks like spam is on the decline. According to Symantec's latest State of Spam and Phishing report, the volume of spam and junk mail in circulation around the world has been decreasing steadily since August, and dropped noticeably around Christmas. No one has a concrete explanation for the drop-off, but Symantec's Eric Park suggests that the demise of major botnets ...

Share Sophos has unearthed a new '1st St@tus' Facebook scam that, like many others before it, is spreading like wildfire via suspiciously spammy Wall posts. The fraudulent posts read, "My 1st St@tus was: '[random message].' This was posted on [random date]," followed by a link, where other users can allegedly find their very own first 'st@tus.' Clicking on the link will take you to a Facebook ...

Honda has begun to reach out to the 2.2 million customers who have had their names, e-mail addresses and vehicle identification numbers (VINs) poached by hackers that infiltrated the car company's database. Honda's luxury brand Acura also had its systems hacked, but only e-mail addresses were stolen. The cause for concern here is obvious. With names, e-mails and VINs in hand, it would be easy for ...