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July 29, 2009

Perhaps it's a sign of these economic times. A small New Jersey-based bakery with an online presence—and perhaps desperate to increase sales—sent the following unsolicited email message:

Subject: SWEET POTATO PIES AND MORE

BEAN PIES, SWEET POTATO PIES, CARROT PIES AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIES

ORDER YOUR FRESH BAKED PIES TODAY. FREE PIE WITH YOUR ORDER.

ORDER TODAY AND RECEIVE FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING.

http://www.[removed].com

The domain name is very bakery-like and has been around for just over one year.

This spam campaign appears to have been very much a roll-your-own effort. Aside from the lack of CAN-SPAM compliance (let me count the ways), the sender transmitted the message through a local (i.e., northern New Jersey) Verizon internet account. The Message-ID: header field included the name of the PC used to originate the message. The PC's name included the full name of the owner of the bakery (according to a local business directory).

The possible scenarios that led this small business owner down the spam path are too numerous to imagine. But somewhere along the line, he had to buy a list of email addresses and perhaps some bullshit "online marketing" program from a huckster. If enough complaints come into Verizon, he could lose his account entirely. If he keeps it up, some ISP could go after him on CAN-SPAM violations.

Can you hear one of your pies as it hurls toward you own face?