Summary
Believe it or not, someone at AOL really tallies up the words spammers use in their email subject lines. And at last count, the word Vioxx was the most popular. It replaces last year's champ, Viagra. Pornographic words were less common this year, the counter says, but "hot lesbian action" still made the top ten list.
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http://business.bostonherald.com/technologyNews/view.bg?articleid=61094
Details
That's according to America Online Inc.'s second annual list of top spam terms.
And while last year's spam pitched a variety of products, this year's messages were "much more scam and fraud oriented," sent largely by hardcore spammers with criminal intent, AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said.
So the top 10 list for 2004, based on the subject lines of messages reported as spam by subscribers, included "Breaking news on the Top Pick stock," as well as messages aimed at tricking recipients into revealing personal information like bank account numbers.
AOL said porn-related spam decreased, though one touting "hot lesbian action" made the list.
Such spammers are changing their tactics: Rather than carrying embedded pornographic images, the ones that did come through tended to have links to external porn sites, which AOL could then block subscribers from reaching, Graham said.
AOL released the list two days after it said it noticed a decrease in spam messages over the past year.
About the author: Mike Adams is an award-winning journalist and holistic nutritionist with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he is well known as the creator of popular downloadable preparedness programs on financial collapse, emergency food storage, wilderness survival and home defense skills. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He's also the founder and CEO of a well known email mail merge software developer whose software, 'Email Marketing Director,' currently runs the NaturalNews email subscriptions. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds.
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Thursday, January 20, 2005
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