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‘Santa Spam’ Can Spoil This Season’s Fun

There is a warning for parents to be wary about spam mails that lure their children with a letter from Santa. As annual shopping frenzy for Christmas is approaching, spam like always is on the rise. The already high spam climbing steadily since summer and the onslaught of W32/Stration worms is likely to reach heights this winter. And this season, Santa is also participating in the act.

Security firm 'Sophos' has just sent out alerts about this winter season's new marketing trick. It involves e-mail delivery offering children a letter from Santa Claus, which is actually a deceit that spammers use to collect as many e-mail addresses as possible to conduct damaging spam activities.Sophos has, therefore, desisted users from opening e-mail that presents a personalized letter from Santa Claus addressed to children. The company said that such "Christmas related mannerisms" do nothing but fool people into opening the unsolicited e-mail, possibly containing dangerous computer viruses.

This type of spam mail more easily influences parents who seek magical ways to get their kids special gifts for Christmas. Even those who may not be inclined to a similar gifting system could find themselves trapped. The message has at its bottom a request to contact the sender if the e-mail accidentally reaches the reader. This sound convincing that could cheat many people. Moreover, during Christmas, people look at things with less suspicion and therefore, spam mails can easily victimize them. The messages carry subject lines such as "Letter From Santa For Your Child" or "Santa Letter From The North Pole" and present personalized letters to kids from Father Christmas.

The spammers use several types of tools - one being a Trojan named "SpamThru", which uses a "spam cannon" technique. This employs a template for the spam and joins it with a list of e-mail addresses.

The security company therefore cautions computer users to be careful about possible spam mails. They should refrain from confirming their e-mail addresses by not replying to such unsolicited e-mails. Rather, they should delete those e-mails. This season parents should consider other ways to make their children happy.

Related article: “Loopholes did not cause online banking thefts”: ICBC

» SPAMfighter News - 11/27/2006

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