Some time ago I downloaded a Firefox extension called Blue Frog which supposedly helps you combat email spam in your inbox. Blue Frog is from a company called Blue Security that claims to “stop spam as soon as it reaches your server”. Seeing as though I get quite a bit of spam and even though Gmail is quite thorough at identifying and sending it straight to the spam folder, I thought I’d give it a try.
I hate any kind of spammer with a passion and Blue Frog claims to report all senders of unwanted emails to the relevant authorities. Well, I’m game for anything that might get the vermin in to trouble, so off I went and downloaded it.
Some weeks later, I was still receiving the usual amount of trash in my inbox and the Blue Frog client was a resource hog on my laptop’s CPU, so I uninstalled. “Never mind”, I thought. “Some day someone will introduce a new application that will put an end to this crap once and for all.” So off I went minding my own business.
Only today I received an email from one Lorinda Richter, and while writing this post I received the exact same email from a Boggs Cyrus, saying:
“You are being emailed because you are a user of BlueSecurity’s well-known software “BlueFrog.” http://www.bluesecurity.com/
Today, the BlueSecurity database became known to the worst spammers worldwide. Within 48 hours, the database will be published on the Internet, and your email address will be open to them all. After this, you will see the spam sent to your mailbox increase 10 – 20 fold.
BlueSecurity was illegally attacking email marketers, and doing so with your help. Many websites have been targeted and hit, including non-spam sites. BlueSecurity’s software has been fully analyzed, and contains an abundance of malicious code. This includes: ability to send mass mail to users; the ability to attack websites with Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS); the ability to open hidden doors on any machine on which it is running; and a hidden auto-update code function, which can install anything on your computer and open it up to anyone.
BlueSecurity lists a USA address as their place of business, whereas their main office is in Tel Aviv. BlueSecurity is run by a few Russian-born Jews, who have previously been spamming themselves. When all is said and done, they will be able to run, hide and change their identities, leaving you to take the fall. YOU CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES and expect to get away with it. This email ensures that you are well aware of the situation. Soon, you will be found guilty of computer crimes such as DDOS attacking of websites, conspiracy, and sending mass unsolicited bulk email messages for everything from viagra to porn, as long as you continue to run BlueFrog.
They do not take money for downloading their software, they do not take money for removing emails from their lists, and they have no visible revenue stream. What they DO have is 500,000 computers sitting there awaiting their next command. What are they doing now?
1. Using your computer to send spam ?
2. Using your computer to attack competitor websites?
3. Phishing through your files for your identity and banking information?If you think you can merely change your email address and be safe while still running BlueFrog, you are in for a big surprise. This is just the beginning…”
Ooh, scary indeed. But firstly, if this is a valid email then why does it have to give reference to Blue Security’s owners being “Russion born Jews”. What difference does that make? Spammers are spammers regardless of nationality or religion.
My feeling is that these emails are from the spammers themselves, and they’re obviously not using their real names. A quick Goog search on Lorinda Richter shows up nothing, and the results for Boggs Cyrus don’t give much away either.
My question is, how did they get hold of my email address? And how did they know I had used the Blue Frog extension? The person/people who sent the email didn’t use the BCC option and I can see a number of other recipients received it too. Interestingly, they’re all Gmail accounts.
I hope Blue Security is reading this so they can shed some light on it all.
Technorati tags:
blue+frog, blue+security, spam, spammers, spamming
Stephen is a communications consultant based out of the UK. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen
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F1
Yes, you are correct: spammers, annoyed that Blue Security works, are trying a variety of tactics (all quite lame) to try to discourage members. What they are in fact doing is creating more positive publicity for Blue Security than anyone could have ever hoped for.
The spammers are saying “Blue Security works and we’re scared”. Well, cool! It’s time for them to grow up and try to earn an honest living.
More info here:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060501/20060501006163.html?.v=1
Stephen
Thanks for your comment F1 but my questions are, how do these spammers know that I’ve used Blue Security in the past? How did they (spammers) get my email address? Why has my spam intake literally tripled in the last 24 hours? And how are they spamming me with other people’s email address who have nothing to do with it all?
For all I know they could be using my email to spam other people too. In fact, they probably are. I think Blue Security need to answer these questions.
Roger
The answers are easy. The spammers already had you on their list. They took Blue Security’s tool and cleaned you off their list. Then they compared the original list to the clean list, and attacked the addresses that were cleaned off. You can only be targetted this way if they already had you on their spam list.
Your spam intake has increased because the spammers are trying to intimidate Blue Frog users. This is only going to cost them more, since most Blue Frog users will just report the spam, and hopefully, the spammers will lose even more bots.
Stephen
Thanks Roger,
It’s still strange how they seem to be hijacking other people’s email addresses and using them to spam though.
Roger
They know that what they’re doing pisses everybody off, and is often illegal, or at least in violation of any service agreements, so they use forged return addresses, hijack other peoples PCs to send their garbage, and, in general, do everything to prove themselves sociopathic halfwits.
Adder
Does BlueFrog still work for anyone? It looks like the site went down.
Stephen
Yes they had to shut it down in the end. A win for the spammers me thinks.