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Obama Beats McCain In Spam Landslide

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the well-isn't-that-unfortunate dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times runs an article about the spammers' choice of presidential candidate. From the article: 'According to Secure Computing Corp., spammers were nearly seven times more likely to slap Obama's name in the subject line than McCain's during September. The bulk of Obama's lead in the spam wars came from a massive blitz early in the month.' Secure Computing released additonal numbers for the past weeks, and McCain was able to close the gap in the latest spammers' poll."

33 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. This is stupid. by Jaysyn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is such non-news. Does anyone really care who spammers use in a subject line for spam?

    --
    There is a war going on for your mind.
    1. Re:This is stupid. by AvitarX · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is at least as relevant as the Halloween mask race. Well it could be. That is why it is interesting.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
  2. 419 by InspectorxGadget · · Score: 4, Funny

    But who do the 419 scam jerks want?

    1. Re:419 by sesshomaru · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dear American:

      I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

      I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

      I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

      This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

      Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

      Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson -- The Latest Nigerian 419 Scam Letter

      --
      "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
    2. Re:419 by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'd love to help, and I will do so as soon as my transfer fees are processed in order to help this friendly nigerian prince recover his lost millions. I know get-rich-quick schemes don't usually work, but I have a feeling this one will make me rich... and QUICK!

  3. Duh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Clearly there's no point in the spammers forging the send as McCain, he openly admits he doesn't know how to use email!

    1. Re:Duh! by ionix5891 · · Score: 2, Funny

      they already do

    2. Re:Duh! by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 2, Informative

      John McCain knows how to use email. He doesn't because injuries he sustained as a POW in Vietnam make it painful for him to type.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
  4. Obama is the king on internet. by dslmodem · · Score: 4, Informative

    We have observed that negative posts on Obama have been deleted on Google, Yahoo, and various news/blog sites.

    --

    ^(oo)^pig~

  5. No surprise by bugeaterr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Spammers peddle in CHANGE (in size) and HOPE (for a lower mortgage rate).

  6. Google is evil! by dslmodem · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A few more words... On youtube, Videos against Obama posted by Hillary/McCain supporters or independents have low click counts and posts against Obama are frequently missing. This begins the age of internet Big Brother!

    --

    ^(oo)^pig~

    1. Re:Google is evil! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A few more words... On youtube, Videos against Obama posted by Hillary/McCain supporters or independents have low click counts and posts against Obama are frequently missing. This begins the age of internet Big Brother!

      Hint: Using the N word will get something censored.

    2. Re:Google is evil! by larry+bagina · · Score: 5, Funny

      Nobama?

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  7. Political interest? by phorm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seems to me that the spammers must be working on a basis of whatever words most likely to interest the reader into clicking further, so it's perhaps an indicator of how interesting "person X" is overall at a given time. I've seen various celebrity names pop up, and I believe that Obama's did awhile back before the newer spams containing Palin's name in conjunction with various sexual keywords.

    1. Re:Political interest? by jrp2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      "I'm (hoping) analyzing spam headers is part of your job description, otherwise you have way too much spare time :D"

      I know I look at my spam folder and could come up with similar "analysis" without spending much time or effort. It is usually pretty obvious what the trends are.

      Most of us know that spam filters are not perfect, so we scan our spam folders for false positives. Every now and then I open one up, mostly just curious as to what the scam is.

      A few months ago I opened one up. It was an email confirming my registration with some dating site. I was perusing it, looking for the scam, when I noticed it had the last 4 digits of the credit card used to open this account. Strangely, it was the same as my credit card!

      I checked my bank website and sure enough, somebody was using my credit card. They foolishly used my email account, and I use unique email addresses when I buy things online. I canceled my card immediately and contacted the company associated with that email address.

      I convinced them it was likely real and suggested they contact a security firm. Sure enough, a few days later, the FBI called and thanked me for being persistent and asked for any more info I had. They indeed had been hacked (SQL injection), about a year earlier, and about 90% of the credit cards used at that site over the last year had been canceled due to fraud.

      In my case, I was able to cancel my card within hours of it being compromised, and about $1000 worth of fraudulent purchases wiped off my card with almost no questions. It would have been a lot uglier and more hassle if I did not catch this until the statement came. I now get a daily statement in email and scan it thoroughly.

      Bottom line, a little basic analysis of your spam is a good idea. Doesn't have to be your job to find benefit. To the best of my knowledge nobody got busted, but that gaping hole was fixed, and that company now uses a trusted service for their shopping cart application.

      --
      The only athletic sport I ever mastered was backgammon - Douglas William Jerrold
    2. Re:Political interest? by ikkonoishi · · Score: 2, Informative

      They probably just scrape headlines and look for common words that are proper nouns (capitalized) hoping that these will attract interest. Obama has had more hype than McCain for the most part.

      http://www.google.com/trends?q=obama%2C+mccain&ctab=0&geo=US&geor=all&date=2008&sort=1

      Most likely because, like Palin, he entered the national spotlight suddenly and so people aren't as familiar with him as they are with McCain.

  8. Meaningful? by I.M.O.G. · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So thats the trend, but how is it meaningful?

    If the spammers are doing it, I assume thats because the majority of their target customers are aligned similarly with Obama. Makes sense, since Obama's online presence is considerably more progressive than McCains... Still doesn't say a whole lot about anything.

    --
    Overclockers
    1. Re:Meaningful? by Klaus_1250 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Still doesn't say a whole lot about anything.

      Isn't that what politics is all about?

      --
      It only takes one man to change the Wisdom of the Crowd to Tyranny of the Masses.
    2. Re:Meaningful? by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

      I assume thats because the majority of their target customers are aligned similarly with Obama.

      It could be the opposite - "OMG exclusive video of Obama eating babies !!!!eleventyone".

      Disclaimer: Obama does not eat babies. But I heard he huffs kittens.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:Meaningful? by rohan972 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If the spammers are doing it, I assume thats because the majority of their target customers are aligned similarly with Obama.

      but I thought only stupid people responded to spam. What could this mean?

      --
      http://marriedmansexlife.com/
  9. Obvious Link by Kingrames · · Score: 4, Informative

    Obama is the candidate of choice by nearly 90% of the rest of the world. It's no secret that if you want people to read your spam, you'll put his name in the header. He's popular.

    --
    If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
    1. Re:Obvious Link by eagee · · Score: 5, Funny

      What are you saying, that the election is really a big popularity contest?! I feel so disillusioned.

  10. Re:ahhh in a perfect world... by lilo_booter · · Score: 3, Funny

    In a perfect world, their right to vote would be forfeited and they would be in a 10'x12' cell.

    But in the real world of economic uncertainty, can we afford to give them that much space? Might be better to squeeze a few in there...

  11. Re:ah yes, the yachting season is upon us again by paazin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Cute, so even slashdot spam generally follows these guidelines.

  12. Re:ahhh in a perfect world... by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Who cares who spammers want to be President? In a perfect world, their right to vote would be forfeited and they would be in a 10'x12' cell.

    This has nothing to do with who spammers want to be president. This has to do with whose name spammers think will get somebody to click on a link.

    My estimate is, they're probably right. Obama supporters will clilck to see what their candidate is up to, and Obama opposers will click to see what their opposition is up to.

    McCain, on the other hand, usually isn't up to anything much. I doubt either side would be easily lured into clicking a link, because he's pretty boring.

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  13. Actually what I worry about more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    is the amount of spam email I get that is blatantly pro-Obama propaganda.

    Either his campaign is hiring them, or someone who supports him is spending a HELL of a lot of money (and violating campaign finance laws) hiring them.

    I don't vote for spammers or corrupt chicago crooks. Therefore, I won't vote Obama.

    1. Re:Actually what I worry about more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How is this a Troll? Because the AC has the gall to say something negative about Obama?

      Last time I checked, "Freedom of Speech" actually meant something in this country--regardless of political preference.

    2. Re:Actually what I worry about more by deroby · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh come on,
      I've gotten plenty of Obama or/vs McCain mails too and I have a .be email address for gods sake.

      These mails are NOT targeted, they are just sent out at random based on some lousy email-list; So yes, that implies they are coming from some spammer/bot-net.
      However, receiving a mail from candidate X does not necessarily mean that X (or his spin-team) asked given spammer to send these out. Jumping to that conclusion is just bad-mouthing IMHO. In fact, I find it much more likely that
          * the spammer is simply sending out spam to un-train the filters
          * the spammer prefers candidate Y and tries to make X look bad by drowning people in annoying X-spam, whether Y paid given spammer for this or not is impossible for me to find out.
          * the message contains some malicious payload

      Frankly, I don't care, it's going straight to the recycle bin anyway.

      --
      If there is one thing to be learned on slashdot, it has to be sarcasm.
  14. You too? by Moryath · · Score: 2, Informative

    I tried to submit stories on this MONTHS ago, after the Obama campaign somehow got my email and started sending me their constant spam messages. Content directly traced back, emails all about their campaign stops, from "David Plouffe", "Michele Obama", links to their blog entries on the official Obama site, etc... but the headers most DEFINITELY through known spam houses and zombie spam networks.

    For some reason, Slashdot wasn't interested that the Obama campaign does this. I'd think it should be a major concern to us - not only is he corrupt, but he's in bed with the spammers. That doesn't bode well for tech issues for us if he gets elected...

    1. Re:You too? by Zymergy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Do you live in Missouri?
      I have a hypothesis: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Break+in+Republican+laptop

      Another hypothesis could be that people are signing up their "friends" (often inadvertently, but sometimes on purpose). This was really popular back in college (as I recall) by signing up known person's emails as a prank.
      Remember at the Dem's convention they were collecting cell phone numbers of the numbers of family and friends of the Dem Convention attendees cell phones.

      Another variant on this is that someone is likely harvesting addresses from the headers from those silly blanket-her-entire-email-list jokes my sweet and dear 65-year-old aunt keeps sending the whole family et al following her discovery of the "free postage" part of email.
      If I ever forward any message to a large group, I BCC them all...

      Based on this, I would not put it past them... http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=acorn+voter+registration+fraud&aq=1&oq=ACORN+voter+registration+fraud
      It is notable that Mr. Obama was a very strong 'community organizer' for this group and he actively donated his lawyerly skills for the group's benefit for years as well.

  15. Re:oh iiiiis it. by Bob-taro · · Score: 3, Insightful

    and the person you label as 'big brother' openly declares support about net neutrality and lectures about what freedom and equal opportunity means to internet and how it is tied to network neutrality on his website and policies.

    Politicians preaching one thing and practicing the exact opposite has been around since the dawn of politics.

    --
    Prov 9:8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
  16. My Favorite So Far.... by gsmalleus · · Score: 4, Funny
    Every once in a while I like to read the subjects of mail in my spam folder for my own amusement. My favorite so far was what seemed to be a McCain pro-war spam crossed with a Viagra ad.

    McCain says "I want to invade your vaginas"

  17. Re:Technically, it is by Jellybob · · Score: 3, Funny

    Surely that would be the X-Spam header?

    Now... all we have to do is get the spammers to start using it, and we can all get on with our real jobs ;)