Got a good one today.

Dear Webmaster,

We found your web site, stevepugh.net from the internet and liked it very much! We hope you’ll consider exchanging links with our site, Octopus Links.

Our web site provides cutting edge Automated Link Exchange Services.
Lifetime membership to our services is currently FREE!
Please DOWNLOAD the attached web file to visit our site….

When you exchange links using our system, you can also exchange links with ALL our members. No more begging for links!

Have a nice day!
Jay, the Octopus

P/S: link exchange the fast and easy to to boost your web site search engine ranking and get an avalanche of free web traffic!!

There was no attachment for me to download to “visit their site” (i.e. get infected with a nasty virus). Fairless clueless even by spammer standards.

I decided to visit the domain used in the e-mail address, expecting to see either a link farm or something totally innocent and unrelated to the spam. Instead I saw a one page site with broken links and this:

( Be afraid... )

Very True Mood:  confused

Yesterday, I received a typical piece of link farming spam:

Dear Webmaster,

My name is Richard Volt, and I run the web site Online Dating with ManWoman.com.au | Find Your Perfect Match Online:
http://www.manwoman.com.au/

The other day I wrote you to let you know I’m very interested in exchanging links. I’m sending this reminder in case you didn’t receive my first letter. I’ve gone ahead and posted a link to your site, on this page:
http://www.manwoman.com.au/links/weblogs_3.html

…

Before deleting the message I clicked on the link to the page supposedly containing the link to my site (it’s safe to look at that page,I can’t speak about the rest of the site). As expected it did no such thing. However, I did spot one familiar link:

Stephen Pollard
A daily news commentary/blog, using newspaper columns and internet sources for analysis of the days events.

Now, it’s been stated that Pollard is an Ignorant Git, and who am I to argue with people who read his drivel regularly?, but in this case is he an innocent victim of the spammers? Or has he resorted to acting in cahoots with them in order to expose his hackery to a larger, unsuspecting audience?

[Update] - I spoke too soon, my site is linked to from the next page in the link farm. Damn, I was just too slow in getting around to dealing with my spam and it had been moved downwards by the flood of new submissions.

Very True Mood:  chipper

Dear Sir/Madam:

Can you Please provide the name of the person
in charge of your marketing or sales department,
phone number, or e-mail address.
...

Really, don’t tempt me.

…. he became an e-mail spammer

From: 	"Sue A. Bentley"
To: 	stephen@pugh.net
Date: 	Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:46:05 +0000
Subject: 	Alpha male

Finally!

I have always worried about the size of my penis.
When I have sex, even though she says that the
sex is good, I know that what she really wants
is an extra inch!

Apologies to the real Sue A. Bentley whose name and e-mail address have most likely been stolen by an anonymous spammer.

The latest comment spam to fail to get past WordPress’s filter contained a link to the usual sort of pill pushing site. This image was on the site:

Now, do you think they’re selling pills for bladder control problems?

Today I got a comment spam, nothing very unusal just the normal online poker thing. But what was odd, and novel, about it was that the two dozen or so links in the comment all had rel="nofollow" as part of the link code.

Hang on, I thought, isn’t nofollow supposed to be defeating comment spam? (It’s not intended to stop comment spam hitting your blog, at least not straight away, but it is intended to make comment spam less attractive to search engines thus eventually killing it off by reducing the ROI.)

So why would a spammer send out comment spam with nofollow already included?

It could be that the spammer in question is an idiot who doesn’t know what they’re doing. Nice thought but most spammers are actually quite smart. I know it doesn’t look like it when you receive a million penis/breast enlargement spams which (a) you don’t need anyway and (b) don’t apply to your half of the population, but they are playing the numbers game in a big, and profitable, way and they do know what they’re doing.

So maybe they’ve discovered that some blogs are letting comments through without moderation so long as they have rel="nofollow" on all links, coupled with search engines that don’t yet support this new “standard”.

Or maybe they’re just experimenting to see if the above case is true anywhere. Damn I hate my blog being used as a lab rat.

Any thoughts?

Dear Intending partner

This mail may not be surprising to you if you have been following current events in the international media with reference to the Middle East and Palestine in particular.

I am Mrs. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of YASSER ARAFAT, the Palestinian leader who died recently in Paris.

Since his death and even prior to the announcement, I have been thrown into a state of antagonism,confusion, humiliation, frustration and hopelessness by the present leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the new Prime Minister. I have even been subjected to physical and psychological torture. As a widow that is so traumatized, I have lost confidence with everybody in the country at the moment.

You must have heard over the media reports and the Internet on the discovery of some fund in my husband secret bank account and companies and the allegations of some huge sums of money deposited by my husband in my name of which I have refuses to disclose or give up to the corrupt Palestine Government. In fact the total sum allegedly discovered by the Government so far is in the tune of about $6.5 Billion Dollars. And they are not relenting on their effort to make me poor for life. As you know, the Moslem community has no regards for woman, hence my desire for a foreign assistance.

I have deposited the sum of 20 million dollars with a security firm abroad whose name is withheld for now until we open communication. I shall be grateful if you could receive this fund into your bank account for safe keeping and any Investment opportunity. This arrangement is known to you and my personal Attorney.He might be dealing with you directly for security reasons as the case may be.

In view of the above, if you are willing to assist for our mutual benefits, we will have to negotiate on your Percentage share of the $20,000,000 that will be kept in your position for a while and invested in your name for my trust pending when my Daughter, Zahwa, will come off age and take full responsibility of her Family Estate/inheritance.

Please note that this is a golden opportunity that comes once in life time and more so, if you are honest, I am going to entrust more funds in your care as this is one of the legacy we keep for our children.

In case you don’t accept please do not let me out to the security and international media as I am giving you this information in total trust and confidence I will greatly appreciate if you accept my proposal in good faith.
Please expedite action.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs Suha Arafat

This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED, if you received this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether is electronic or hard copy format.