A fox catches a goose in a sculpture, like spammers try to catch you

I got the idea for this article while reading through various recent Craigslist items listed for sale in my city; Flint, Michigan. The listing that got my attention is: W. H. Turner Bronze "Fox and Goose" Sculpture, which was listed on October 8, 2008. According to the description of this item, it is a numbered bronze sculpture of "a fox diving after a fleeing goose and catching it by its tail feathers," and would be of interest to collectors of such things.

So, what has a bronze sculpture got in common with scammers and spammers? Plenty! Like a hungry sly fox, scammers and spammers craft their ploys to enable them to sneak up on their intended victims, striking when the victim is in a vulnerable position. Much of the spam and scams that I catch in my spam traps is crafted to catch people off-guard by playing on their inadequacies or curiosity. The subjects and body text are designed to fool gullible recipients into thinking that the links in those spam email messages can bring them something they are lacking, or to show them a video that is titillating, or sensational in content.

This is sucker bait. All of these things being advertised via spam emails (I call them Spamvertised) are scams and are meant to either steal your money or credit, or sell you counterfeit drugs, shoes, or watches, or to trick you into installing a Trojan Horse application onto your computer. Think of the web surfing general public as being akin to free-spirited geese, searching the World Wide Waters for knowledge and goodies, and criminal spammers as foxes - looking to turn them into prey.

So, the next time you get a spam email offering you incredible discounts on Viagra, Cialis, herbals, male enhancement products, or unsecured loans, or cheap "Bling" from counterfeit goods, or sensational videos of phony news or imaginary events involving actors or recording artists, or alarming messages supposed coming from a financial institution you may deal with, think twice or three times before you click on the links in those messages. The criminal minds behind these spam blasts are like foxes. They are sneaky and use stealth to trap their intended victims. They do not come in peace. They want to steal from you. If you are tricked into purchasing something spamvertised chances are very high that your credit or debit card information is in the hands of criminals. They may use it themselves, and/or sell it to the highest bidder, on special chat forums frequented by members of the spam underground. Buy from a spammer and your "goose" is going to be cooked. The fox has your account by the tail, like the fox in the sculpture gets the goose.

My own solution - and suggestion for you - is to use MailWasher Pro to filter out spam email before you download it to your email client. The program is very effective at recognizing spam, using a built-in learning filter, consulting online databases of known spam senders and domains, and custom written spam filter rules, many of which I write and publish.