Instant Messaging on Omid Farhang

Please give me your credit card

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:42:00 +0000

I won’t abuse it, I promise…. cross my heart… spit into the wind… etc.

Hi folks,

Yesterday, I received this SPIM (Instant message spam) …

usnews3.com sounds kind of official, doesn’t it? and the page looks impressive…

There are lots of links on the page, but unfortunately, a mouse-over of each link reveals that they all go to the same place…

That’s not a good sign for a legitimate webpage. Moreover, a whois shows that it was registered just on 7th December 2009, and that the ownership is hidden behind a privacy protector service.

ICQ scam in the wild

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:25:00 +0000

I have received a message this morning from an ICQ account with the following text written in UTF-8 and plain text:

The message from ICQ.com
******
Hello.
_ICQ.com: we Remind you that all ICQ numbers which have not passed activation, 1.1.2010 will be removed from a server without restoration possibility. _
_The status of yours ICQ numbers: NOT activated. _
For activation send SMS on number 8353 with the text 144444
In the reciprocal message you receive acknowledgement on activation and your password from number.
ICQ.com Together with AOL.com

Warning over sexy instant message called ‘Fembot'

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:49:00 +0000

(BBC) Lonely internet users are being warned about Fembot, a piece of malicious software that poses as a flirtatious woman looking to chat on instant messaging services.

Victims are persuaded to give out personal information that could be used for fraud or identity theft, according to security experts.

Fembot was first spotted in 2007 but hasn’t been seen much since then.

However, there are signs she may be back on the scene in time for Valentine’s Day.

10 tips for safe instant messaging

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:58:43 +0330

Ten safety tips for messaging apps — updated from the 2009 AIM-era guide to cover WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and similar services.