Did Paris Hilton get the “she has already gone to hospital” email?

I was annoyed that The Mangle disappeared off the first page in Google for people trying to find out what that nasty spam email that is doing the rounds at the moment is going to do to their machines if they click on the link it contains…

Why is the top link one to this site? ttp://visibleprocrastinations.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/she-has-already-gone-to-hospital/

And, I have become a page view junkie! I am sick of getting a dribble of hits to my blog, so I thought I would ensure bumping up visitor numbers with a tenuous link to Paris Hilton. I am pretty sure that Paris would have got this email as well – so I wonder what she thought of it? Paris, if you are out there, it really is nothing to worry about – no one is coming after you, it’s just an automated piece of spam that can’t distinguish you from Lindsay Lohan or even Jenna Jameson (that’s sure to get my page views up!)

Response to “She has already gone to hospital” Spam

Wow – a huge spike in my page views from my report the other day on this nasty piece of spam. Obviously, this email hit a lot of people, and they were doing the right thing by checking its status by searching on the Internet for some of the phrases the email used.

I had a look around to see who else had reported on this, and there was an entry on Yahoo! Answers Singapore. The question, posted by “Richard Chan” was “My Mum Received this Email Threatening to cripple her, What should I do?” I love one of the responses, from someone called “Fireproof Revolution” (and I don’t think he was being facetious):

Wow, thats a pretty scary e-mail! If you havent contacted police, or any kind of law enforcement or government agency I would definitely consider doing that because there are many crazy people out there and you never know if that person could be telling the truth or not. Most likely its just a fake, or prank, but you never want to take a threat lightly. I would see what the police could do about it. Maybe trace the e-mail address or something. Also if you or your mum dont have a gun in your house I would definitely consider buying one just in case for protection. A shotgun would be good because you dont have to have good aim to shoot it. Also you can get a shotgun for not too expensive if you get the right brand. I really wish you good luck with that, and will keep you and your mum in my prayers.

If you want to see the full Yahoo! Answers entry, here is a link: http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080421060013AALc7gH

Phishing Takes a Nasty Turn

Phishing scams, where devious types send emails with a view to tricking recipients into clicking on links with a view to installing malware or divulging personal information, have generally appeared as either salacious or mundane. The Mangle received a very, very disturbing version overnight – here is the content:

Hello, themangle.

Listen to me carefully, i don’t know what your name is, but i’ll find you and i’ll cripple you, because this is you who tempted her!!!

She has already gone to hospital, you’re next, this is evidence: <URL removed> 

 

 

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rjones5978         mailto:rjones5978@yahoo.com

Even though I know this email was sent to millions of email addresses, it is still very disturbing to read something that appears as a direct, violent threat. No doubt, just another trick in the phishing scammer’s armoury to attack unsuspecting Internet users out there. It does up the ante from a legal perspective as well. If the person perpetrating this gets caught, the punishment is potentially a whole lot worse than fraud and spam crimes. What’s the potential punishment for making violent threats?

Digital rego to track road users

Given The Mangle’s recent ’scoop’ on the use of RFID in the UK to control vehicle-related crime, it was interesting to read in The Australian today a similar initiative is being discussed in Australia:

AUSTRALIA’S states and territories have begun exploring the use of digital vehicle registration tags, using technology similar to electronic toll collection systems.

A spokeswoman for the transport and traffic authority, Austroads, confirmed that a multi-state licencing and registration taskforce had begun exploring the use of radio-frequency identity (RFID) tags to improve vehicle identification and reduce crime.

More on this story here: http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23462471-16123,00.html