I was checking my email’s Spam folder today and one message that really caught my attention is the spam email with the subject “Angelina Jolie’s Free Video”. No, I was not intrigued by the subject but I saw my very own email address as the sender of the message. I opened the message and it says I receive the email because I am subscribed to MSN featured offers.
Content of the MSN Featured Offers Spam
Here is the edited content of the email:
Click Here! (I removed the link but it leads to http://195.190.13.98/video-nude-anjelina.avi.exe. please do not open the link in your browser, it might contain viruses or spywares!)
About this mailing:
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MSN Featured Offers. Microsoft respects your privacy. If you do not wish to receive this MSN Featured Offers e-mail, please click the “Unsubscribe” link below. This will not unsubscribe you from e-mail communications from third-party advertisers that may appear in MSN Feature Offers. This shall not constitute an offer by MSN. MSN shall not be responsible or liable for the advertisers’ content nor any of the goods or service advertised. Prices and item availability subject to change without notice.©2008 Microsoft | Unsubscribe | More Newsletters | Privacy
Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052
Now, I do not remember subscribing to MSN featured offers so I decided to google for some information. It appeared that the MSN Featured Offers is really a spam message and it is becoming a culprit to many email users.
Is the email really from MSN?
A respectable company such as Microsoft would not be sending nude videos of the “Wanted” star even to their subscribers. I honestly believe the message comes from spammers, not from MSN. It appears that the MSN featured spam actually uses the recipient’s address as the sender.
How I got the MSN featured Offers Spam
Honestly, I do not know how I started receiving this type of spam but I remembered doing something before spam messages started flooding in my spam folder. Last month, I signed up to a site that allows people to use their free vectors but only upon sign up. I signed up using my major email and was advised I can only start using their vectors upon confirmation of my email address. The confirmation never arrived but I have been receiving more spam messages ever since. I still consider some carelessness on my part though as potential reason why I receive this spam.
How to stop receiving the MSN featured Offers spam
This is the hard part. It is difficult to stop receiving or remove this MSN featured offers spam messages once they get into your mailbox. I still have to figure out how I can really get rid of receiving this message. Nevertheless, here are some things that you might find helpful:
1. Mark the MSN featured offers message as Spam. If you receive the mail in your inbox and not in your spam folder, mark it as spam, this will help your email service provider identify these messages as spam and will likely filter them out in the future.
2. Do not click the unsubscribe link. Clicking unsubscribe links and buttons coming from spam messages, will just confirm your email is working and ready to receive more spam messages.
3. Do not open or click on any link that comes along with the email. You may be likely getting Trojan or TR/Crypt.XPACK.Gen file.
If you have any advice how to stop this MSN featured offers spam, please leave a comment, your advice is greatly appreciated (and needed).
Spam solution
One of the ways to eliminate spam is to use spam blocking software in your computer. There are several anti spam solution available that you can take advantage of. The Barracuda anti spam filtering solutions company, for example, which specializes in anti spam service, offers a number of spam filtering solutions including barracuda spam products that block spyware, viruses and spam from getting through a computer system.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:56 am
so how do we get rid of it?
November 12th, 2008 at 1:06 am
I’ve been getting this too. The first time I saw it, I suspected that they were pushing an exploit (malware, fake ActiveX control, etc.). I think that there are two reasons they’re using forged email headers that appear as though you sent the email, one, it intrigues people because they know that they didn’t send the email, two, I suspect that some popular email filter doesn’t block mail sent by you, so they’re exploiting it.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
We all know the solution … the governments should finally do something to track down those internet maffia guys and trow them in jail. They pollute our personal and professional lives, costing us billions of Euro yearly on global economy. They are stealing money from our community by the millions every day, and nobody ‘really’ reacts. THEY are the real terrorists of today, they are the cockroaches in your clean kitchen. Track ‘em down, detroy all they have, lock ‘em up forgood. So we can live without them bugs.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:38 am
[...] email spam messages are hitting email accounts. This time, it does not come from a hoax CNN or MSN offer but from “ClickCulture special offers”. One of these emails has the subject [...]
November 10th, 2008 at 12:57 am
When I first received SPAM appearing to come from my own address I hesitated before sending it to my SPAMfighter ’sin-bin’ fearing that I would consequently be labelled a spammer and my legitimate emails would be blocked by the Spam filter of the intended recipients.
I contacted SPAMfighter and was impressed to receive from them a prompt, targeted, personal reply reassuring me that it was safe so to do. It seems that it is technically very simple for spammers to fix it so that your address appears as the sender, but SPAMfighter tell me that if you block this type of Spam there will not be any unfortunate repercussions.
November 9th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I just got an email today that was titled “bush kills obama” and even though I know that is not true I opened the email just because it said that I was the sender and I thought that was weird. So when I opened it all of these popups just started coming up. I couldn’t stop them I had to turn my computer off. When I turned it back on the pop ups stopeed popping up but i think there may have been a virus in there. And as luck would have it my Norton anti-virus protection trial just ended earlier this month so I guess I will have to look into buying an antivirus software. Did anyone else encounter the weird pop-ups as well or find any other problems from opening that e-mail?
November 9th, 2008 at 9:41 am
[...] MSN featured spam is hitting email accounts again. Several times these week, messages entitled with the subjects [...]
November 9th, 2008 at 2:11 am
I have a program in my outlook express called spamfighter, and if i block the user then I will not get my mail since they emailed it to me and from me. If anyone has any suggestions on how to do this please let me know..ASAP
July 17th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I updated the post Teun, I made some research today and it seems there is nothing we can do about this message once it starts arriving in the mailbox.
My suggestions above would seem to be the best things to do when you start receiving this MSN featured offers message
July 17th, 2008 at 3:51 am
I would like to see the advise too!