Spam is so blatant most of the time but every once in a while one catches my eye for whatever reason.  I got a typical one this morning with the subject “Your morttgage offers” that slipped past the spam filters and weaseled its way to my inbox.  The misspelling of the subject line alone means that a) they’re misspelling on purpose to avoid a filter on spam buzzwords like “mortgage” or b) it’s originating in a country that doesn’t use English as their primary language.

Anyway, if you look at the URL for the “morttgage” company listed below, something sticks out.  Obviously I’d never click on these but I always see where they’re trying to redirect you.  So, we see “google.co.uk” – ok, legit beginning.  Then I see “&adurl which means I’ll be redirected to this site with a .tw domain.  Taiwan?  Hm, not sure I want my house financed by a company based in a country that will eventually be crushed by its big brother across the strait.

Now, the last word of the URL is what leads me to believe this isn’t a legit ad.  How many banks and mortgage companies have the word “ejaculate” in their web address?  Is this some special type of financing that I’m not aware of?  Perhaps they give away a six pack of Sweetwater Happy Ending upon your signing of a new mortgage?

If I can ever remember to dig it up, I’ll post a document I had compiled of all the inventive spam titles I got over the course of the few years when spam went from being one or two a day in your inbox to 300+.  Not that I would ever use Hotmail again, but I did rue the day that spam eventually hijacked my favorite email address – wwndd@hotmail.com, forcing me to abandon it.  What the heck is WWNDD, you ask?  What Would Neil Diamond Do, of course.