Development Seed Blog

Skype Spam

User profiles on messenger are giving marketer an interesting new advertising angle. I was recently spammed on Skype. We are all very use to getting email spam but on messenger it is a little different... Skype has only been around a little over a year and a half but as it's users continue to grow rapidly ( 34,585,727 downloads at time of writing) it of couse is becoming a magnet for marketers.

The message is written very informally, similar to an IM with some classic text abbreviation's and they address me by first name and know I live in DC... I wonder how automated this is?

Does anyone have any that you would like to share?
Well here is my recent spam for you all to laugh at..


puronyrican dice : 17:46:59
Hi! Eric....i know you don't know me....but i'm looking for friends in the D.C. area...who might be interested...in an exciting new business opportunity......the company is called ACN...which stands for American Commnications Network...the opportunity...is basically...the chance to own your own telephone company!..per se...i know it sounds crazy...but it's true!...imagine...being paid...everytime...someone...pays their phone bill each and every month!!....including your own!..for as long as long as they remain a customer...of ACN!!...now i know....u could live with that right?.....so please check out the company....and visit...www.acninc.com...and if it's something you think...or anyone else you know...might be interested in doing...please don't hesitate to skype me!!....I just started in this business...and i do have a sincere desire to succeed in it...but i need to meet friends like you... in the Washington area...who can see how incredible this opportunity really is!!!......by getting in NOW!...you position yourself..for the opportunity...to attain substantial wealth!!...with this company...In Business For Yourself...But Not By Yourself...i hope to hear from you soon...

CHECK IT NOW!! www.acninc.com

I will be in the D.C. area between the 31st of October...and the 3rd of November... Your Friend In Waiting...
Mike Sponsor #01011404

Skype, spam, VOIP, The Field, Caught in the Filter, All tags
Comments
So how much Messenger spam is there? A lot!
EricGundersen On November 20th, 2004

I wanted to see how big messenger spam really is... I found the following information on ITFacts.biz

Spam sent via instant messaging is set to become a major nuisance in 2004, with the number of IM spam messages tripling from 400 million to 1.2 billion, according to research firm the Radicati Group.

Post new comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <img> <p> <li> <ul> <ol>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.

More information about formatting options