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ENGL 3179/5179: Elements of E-Rhetoric Elements HomeProjects
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Elements > HandlistOfSpamFeatures
What to watch for: for descriptionsThese are additions to ListOfRhetoricalFeaturesOfEmail
gibberishGenerally in target language, but makes little sense and is not part of the message itself. Might not show up on screen but only in printing. Or might be white type on white ground. This might have something to do with dodging spam filters. We're looking into this.
More likely, the purpose is to foil antispam tools that block specific message subjects. Spammongers also attempt to evade this type of blocking by misspelling words or inserting punctuation, as in "Re'grow your H'air" or "Get out of D$E$B$T," both of which are actual subject lines from messages sent to the User to User mailbox (pctech@ziffdavis.com).
Gibberish within a message may have the same purpose. Smart spam-blocking utilities attempt to detect spam based on patterns of text in the message. If a substantial chunk of the message is gibberish that varies each time it is sent, the spam blocker may have a harder time identifying the message as junk. Of course, the next generation of spam blockers may include a gibberish detector!"
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