Choosy Spammers Choose GIF
Hi Fred, Great newsletter, I have been getting a somewhat new type of spam I have learned to known as GIF spam. The body of the message is done in a jpg or gif image and included is a paragraph or two of nonsense text. The subject line is also some nonsense and the from line is always different. As a result, customary filtering by Outlook Express does not work. I have also tried blocking servers as most of these come from outside of the US, but this does not work either.
Are there any spam blockers that do a good job of detecting this type without having to go through all types of learning curves? Right now the problem is not out of hand and I just delete them as they are easy to spot, but this is frustrating.
Maybe some of your other readers are also experiencing this. ---Larry
Both GIF spam (unwanted e-mail that contains not text but images of text in the
.GIF format) and "gibberish" spam appear to be on the rise. They don't always go
together. Both are designed to elude spam filters.
(At least one GIF e-mail uses the "animation" capability of the GIF format to
expose the recipient to a "subliminal" message. In the example linked here, the
words buy, BUY, BUY!!! are flashed on your screen for less than a second.
http://tinyurl.com/lzotv )
Trying to "roll your own" anti-spam filter using Rules alone--- especially if
you're trying to "block servers"--- is unlikely to be effective. Spamming is a
shell game. The spammers keep trying new techniques, new combinations of subject
lines and new origination points. That's why the foundation of your anti-spam
efforts should be a frequently updated anti-spam package.
Additionally, you can use an online e-mail service such as Gmail as the address
you share for verification purposes or for posting online: It has a very
accurate anti-spam filter built-in.
And, of course, never reply to, or buy from, a spam e-mail. If you do, you'll
increase the value of your address to those who trade in e-mail lists.
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