Spammers Targeting Major Events for Spam Circulation

According to the January 26, 2012 findings by Symantec Corp. in a Symantec Intelligence Report, more than 10,000 exclusive domain names containing a redirect script written in PHP were found to contain a reference to the New Year in the file name. These redirect scripts were hosted on suspected Web sites and links connected with these were contained in the spam e-mails, according to the news in Market Watch on January 26, 2012.

In-depth analysis also revealed that spammers were negotiating legitimate Web servers debarring the main Web site content unharmed and only adding a simple PHP script, "HappyNewYear.php", "new-year-link.php" or "new year.link.php". These scripts simply readdress to a spam pharmaceutical Web site.

The global ratio of spam in e-mail traffic rose by 1.3% points to 69.0% in January 2012 since December 2011. This follows a more obvious decline in December when spam dropped by 2.8% points to 67.7%. As a result, this recent raise signifies that spam has almost come back to the same level as in November 2011.

Symantec also revealed the spam increment level in various countries. With a spam rate of 75.5%, Saudi Arabia achieved the most spammed geography in January 2012; while China took the second top position with 75% of spam e-mails.

Statistics of spam revelation in various countries include US with 69.0% and Canada with 68.7%; UK had a 69.3% spam, while in Netherlands spam traffic acquired 70.7%. Rate of spam in Germany was 68.2%, while it was 69.1% in Denmark, and 68.6% in Australia. Rate of spam blocked in Hong Kong stood at 67.5%, whereas 66.7% spam was recorded in Singapore, compared to 65.6% in Japan. Spam blocked in South Africa stood at 69.5%, while 73.1% spam was revealed in Brazil.

Sector-wise spam record reveals Education sector to be the most spammed industry in January 2012 with a spam rate of 71%; followed by the Chemical and Pharmaceutical sector at 69.0%, IT Services at 68.7%, Retail at 68.4%, Public Sector at 68.9%, and Finance at 68.2%.

However, it is expected that the upcoming sporting events to be held this year will catch the attraction of a lot of spammers. According to Paul Wood, Senior Intelligence Analyst at Symantec, circumstances of fee fraud messages, a part of 419 or advance fee fraud messages have already been revealed, as reported in Market Watch of January 26, 2012.

Related article: Spammers Continue their Campaigns Successfully

» SPAMfighter News - 2/2/2012