Anatomy of a Phishing/Spam Email

Fact of modern life: I am sure none of us are unfamiliar with the junk mail that we receive via regular post on a daily basis, including (but not limited to):

• 'Special Credit Card offers' (often from Discover, which, surprisingly, some people still seem to use)
• Cheques ('Checks' in the US) from Credit Card companies (even if you would never, ever use them, mostly because of ridiculously high fees associated)
• Offers to enrol in or switch one's Car Insurance (whether you drive or not)
• Offers to swap one's TV provider from Cable to Fiber Optic to some kind of Satellite Dish-based system and vice versa (often along with enticing bundles)
• Random catalogs from random stores (including ones you have barely sniffed at, perhaps, but never purchased from)
• Desperate requests - often bearing pretty name-labels for free - from various otherwise charitable organizations (including ones you didn't know existed)

... and so forth. I sometimes worry (I know! Right?) about the tremendous amount of paper and postage that is wasted by these organizations, wondering whether the money, time and effort frittered away in such fruitless enterprise couldn't have been spent more constructively elsewhere by them.

Pensées - entry 00007

So... here. As promised in Pensées from Moi.

Original publishing date: April 13, 2010.

Original Title: Spam Skillet Casserole