I usually don’t give much thought to the spam that makes it through my filter, and most of it is also boring and predictable (whoever knew there were so many dead people with unclaimed millions running around Africa and Asia?). But one that popped in today, sent with malicious intent and undoubtably toxic attachment by someone in the Eastern Hemisphere, is both pretty clever and unintentionally hilarious:
From: Delta Air Lines
Thanks for the purchase!
Booking number: 3LSMXK
You will find attached to this letter PASSENGER ITINERARY RECEIPT of your electronic ticket.
It verifies that you paid the ticket in full and confirms your right for air travel and luggage transportation by the indicated flight Delta Air Lines.On board you will be offered:
– beverages;
– food;
– daily press.
You are guaranteed top-quality services and attention on the part of our benevolent personnel.We recommend you to print PASSENGER ITINERARY RECEIPT and take it alone to the airport. It will help you to pass control and registration procedures faster.
See you on board!
Best regards,Delta Air Lines
Aside from the telltale misuses of American English (“daily press,” “control and registration procedures”), it’s pretty clear the author is not only not a Delta employee, but has never experienced domestic American air travel (and probably can’t even imagine it). I mean, really: Food? Top-quality services? Benevolent personnel?
I could swear that is the same guy who occasionally writes diaries at dKos.
I especially liked the advice to take the receipt “ALONE” to the airport.
@1 I think you’re right, except for the ID of the blog. This is wingnut grammar, not DailyKos grammar.
In other spam, AOL News is running a story about “the birthists,” i.e., conspiracy nuts who believe Obama isn’t a U.S. citizen (and therefore is ineligible to be president).
In AOL’s online poll, about 47% of the respondents said they believe this crap. Which happens to be almost exactly the same percentage of AOL subscribers who voted for McCain-Palin. That kinda tells you who these nuts are, doesn’t it?
Never mind that the Obama citizenship smears have been thoroughly debunked. Facts never stop these spammers, any more than laws stop Nigerian bank letter scammers.
Well, I have news for the rightwing conspirach theorists: Obama is president. He is living in the White House and working in the Oval Office. He is signing legislation passed by a Democratic Congress. He is not going away — at least, not for another 3 years and 11 months.
Suck on it, propeller beanies.
My favorite all-time spam was one peddling something called, in all seriousness, “Dr. Loomboggle’s Lightning Horsepurge and Life Elixir.”
I think my favorite came from an ostensibly former Muslim who came to Christianity by having “met my maker.” I damn near ruined a keyboard when I saw that one.
@5: I wonder how the introduction went….
Unfortunately, many people don’t read e-mail carefully. My own rule is that I delete without opening e-mails from people I don’t know and who don’t have info in the subject line which indicates I need to hear from them. If the subject line is vague or blank, it gets deleted anyway.
And I NEVER click on a link in an e-mail, or download attachments except when I am expecting something (spreadsheet, etc.) from them. If I need to access info from my bank or airline, I go to their website to retrieve it, and don’t rely upon a link in an e-mail.
In my own company, we have a password we use in our e-mail text to indicate that the attachment is legitimate. The password changes regularly. If the e-mail doesn’t include the password, we get on the phone and chew out whoever sent it. Hacker’s could conceivably get into our servers and harvest our e-mail addresses and those in our address books, but they aren’t likely to go through each message to break the code in order to find the password.
@rph: if you’re careful, and have up-to-date antivirus software you can safely read most any message. Heck even many attachments can be scoured to see what’s in them.
While your system seems fairly safe, it certainly takes a lot of time and effort. I guess it’s cost-benefit curve your business has decided on.
Another solution is to buy a MAC.
Oops, living in seattle you might be forced to buy microsoft.
How fitting for left wingnuts. Micro & soft.
Layne @ 8: Since no anti-virus system is fullproof, our company insists on each of us taking extra measures with computer security. Our system is linked internationally with financial and operational systems, so a breach could cause a lot of damage. It’s a pain at times, but so far it seems to have worked.
But that doesn’t mean that spammers don’t use my e-mail address sometimes as a cover for their spam. Our vendor’s systems aren’t as secure, and from time-to-time spammers will root out my e-mail address from one of our vendor’s address books, and send out spam in my name. It’s annoying as hell when I start getting returned mail as a consequence, or even worse if I find some site administrator has blocked my e-mail as a consequence.
You got to love those man-made global warming believers…
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had to cancel an appearance Monday at a global warming rally in Washington, D.C., that was hit by a snowstorm because her flight was delayed, her office told CNSNews.com.
…
Speaker Pelosi’s office confirmed to CNSNews.com that her flight had been delayed, but they could not say where the flight was coming from or whether she was flying commercial or charter.
It would be so much more helpful if only instead of snow it was a heat-wave.
The fact that her office couldn’t say about her choice of flight, commercial or charter, speaks volumes.
@11
What science courses did you take and where?
One snowstorm, one heat-wave, one anything does not make any type of scientific pattern.
Please stop!
@11
What science courses did you take and where?
One snowstorm, one heat-wave, one anything does not make any type of scientific pattern.
Please stop!
Sorry about the multiple postings! I guess I am fried about this!