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January 11, 2009

The latest pump-and-dump stock spam has been arriving under the guise of an outfit named SmartTraders (hyping an energy stock). I don't know if such an organization really exists. The messages have forged From: addresses, and the originating servers are all over the place—likely from botnetted PCs. No legitimate emailing company would take such CAN-SPAM-flaunting risks.

As if to make the spam sound like it's a legitimate stock newsletter, look at this B.S. (not Bachelor of Science) compliance statement near the end:

SmartTraders may receive compensation. In order to be in full compliance with the Securities Act of 1933, Section 17(b), SmartTraders discloses compensation in our disclaimer for our efforts in presenting and disseminating information contained herein. Unauthorized use, dissemination in whole or in part, disclosure, distribution or copying of this private email is prohibited without written consent. SmartTraders received $800 compensation from a third party for dissemination of company news. SmartTraders encourages readers to review the investing information available from the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and/or the National Association of Securities Dealers ("NASD") The NASD has published information on how to invest carefully at its web site.

This reminds me of the pre-CAN-SPAM days when spammers would cite a U.S. Senate bill number that was supposed to make recipients believe the message complied with government regulations (the bill never left the Senate).

And then this pump-a-dumper ends with a classic:

This is a 100% opt-in only newsletter intended for a specific audience. To unsubscribe please Reply with "Unsubscribe" in the header

Don't try to assign logic to the assemblage of those two sentences. Your brain will explode, like the sci-fi movie robot that blows up when a confronting human tells it that everything he (the human) says is a lie.