Hey, 'Donald Trump Wants You'!! (... & Other Lies Told by Spammers in 2005)

Does Donald Trump really want you? Will the Penis Patch improveyour sex life? Is your mortgage application ready? Can you lose 6-20inches in one hour with a body wrap? Did Lisa send you to the wrongsite?

The answer to each of these questions is almost certainly no. Butthey are examples of increasingly sophisticated methods spammers areusing to prey on email users this year, according to AOL's thirdannual Top 10 Spam List.

This year's analysis of hundreds of billions of attempted spammessages targeting AOL's global email customers finds that spammersare using more "special order" style subject lines. In fact, six in 10of the top subject lines this year fall into this category, comparedwith just two in 2004, and none in 2003.

Instead of generic pitches for products, "SOS" -- or "specialorder spam" -- attempts to trick the consumer by pretending to be froma friend, or part of a legitimate, customer-driven transaction. Forexample, this year's Top 10 spam list features "Your MortgageApplication is Ready"; another claims to have sent "you to the wrongsite," and others simply say "Thank you" or "Re: " as if they areresponding to the recipient.

Returning favorites on the AOL Top 10 list include pitches forproducts that claim to improve physical appearance, sexual material,and offers for prescription drugs.

Here are AOL's 2005 Top 10 global spam subject lines (spamcategories in parenthesis):

1) Donald Trump Wants You - Please Respond (popular recognition)

2) Double Standards New Product - Penis Patch (sexually oriented spam)

3) Body Wrap: Lose 6-20 inches in one hour (body improvement products)

4) Get an Apple iPod Nano, PS3 or Xbox 360 for Free (technology
offers)

5) It's Lisa, I must have sent you to the wrong site ("personalized"
correspondence)

6) Breaking Stock News** Small Cap Issue Poised to Triple (stock
scams)

7) Thank you for your business. Shipment notification (77FD87) (bogus
transactional spam)

8) (IMPORTANT) Your Mortgage Application is Ready (mortgage-related
scams)

9) Thank you: Your $199 Rolex Special Included (high-end "deals")

10) Online Prescriptions Made Easy (pharmaceutical)

Source: AOL. This list is unscientific, and is not in any specificorder. Parenthetical notations above are AOL's own editorialclassification.

"Spammers have been on a year-long mission to mislead and deceivein 2005," said Charles Stiles, AOL's Postmaster - who helps directAOL's 24/7/365 spam fighting unit. "While the volume of spam reachingAOL email inboxes has remained at low levels compared to it's heightin late 2003, the spam that's out there is more insidious, crafty,devious, and dangerous than ever. So when it comes to protecting yourin box, consumers should adopt a 'code red' mentality for 2006,because ultimately their personal identity is at stake."

The Changing Face of Spammers, 2004-2005:

Long gone are they days when spam was being generated by grandmapeddling her cookie recipes, alumni seeking takers for collegereunion-socials, tech-savvy teens, or small time spammers looking tomake a quick buck. In 2005, spammers - and their tactics - became moresinister, organized and sophisticated.

"What we're seeing is that spammers are far more organized andprofessional than ever before," added Stiles. "They are going afterMainstreet USA with 'back alley' tactics, and they are doing it with aspecialized team that's working overtime to hide the source of theirspam by employing zombie PC's, bot-nets and using other nefarioustactics. Spam gangs on the internet engaging in 'hit-and-run' spamattacks in 2004 have turned into a tightly-knit, controlled, web-basedspam mafia coordinating sustained attacks on netizens in 2005."

2005 Spam - By the Numbers:

The combination of consumer software tools, filtering technology,public policy, litigation and enforcement, and industry partnershipshelped AOL stay one step ahead of the spammers throughout the year,even as they become more sophisticated. Spam reaching AOL customeremail boxes remained at low levels in 2005, with a decline of morethan 75% since its peak in late 2003 (as measured by membercomplaints). In 2005, AOL has also been blocking an average of 1.5billion spam messages each day from reaching the email boxes of theAOL Network. The total number of spam emails blocked by AOL in 2005reached over a half trillion (556 billion) - a slight increase over2004. Finally, the percentage of total email that AOL blocks as spamat the gateway reached 80% in 2005 (or, AOL is blocking 8 out of every10 attempted emails as spam in 2005).

New Spam Fighting Tips for the New Year:

Here are tips from AOL's Stiles on what consumers can do to helpwin the war on spam and protect themselves from "Special Order"attacks, and other new forms of spam.

1) Protect ALL personal information online. Don't give out anypersonal information in response to spam - in fact, don't respond tospam at all! Also, it's not just your social security number andfinancial information you'll want to protect. Some spammers start byasking for simple information like your name, phone number or address,which could lead to follow-up, more personalized and targeted spam -which AOL labels "SOS" spam, or "special order spam".

2) Don't click on links in spam. Avoid hyperlinks in junk email;in many cases they will take you to a spammer or scammer's Web site.AOL automatically disables web links in spam.

3) Keep spam filters up to date. Make sure your PC's spam filtersare updated, and "fine tune" your spam folder regularly. Consideradding this year's AOL top spam subject lines to your content/keywordfilters. By customizing and grooming your spam filters, you'llincrease the amount of good mail you get, and divert the junk to yourspam folder.

4) If it looks suspicious, report it. Remember, spam is gettingmore and more difficult to identify, so if there is any question aboutan email's legitimacy, pass it along to the experts to investigate.The more you report spam to your ISP, the more it will help companieslike AOL to hunt spammers down and put them out of business.

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate a leadingnetwork of Web brands and the largest Internet access subscriptionservice in the United States. Brands include the AOL(R) service, theAOL.com(R) website, and the AIM(R), MapQuest(R), Moviefone(R),Netscape(R), CompuServe(R) and ICQ(R) services. America Online offersa range of digital services including the TotalTalk(R) voice service.The company also has operations in Canada and Europe. America Online,Inc. is based in Dulles, Virginia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary ofTime Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX).