I wonder if anybody else is getting these. I've had about 6 or 8 emails like this today, all with different but rather unusual text. No links or pictures or anything else on them.Here's the latest.

"Did you see anything strange in the garage. Just two words!" out beyond the Far Cliffs. His one sorrow was not solituile, it was that
The sergeant saluted and disappeared, and Willy slammed the file shut again in that trembling hard curve - slowing, slowing, and stalling once

,mine seem to be failed delivery....to someone ive never sent a mail to

Had lots of those too ......

Jasper I have been getting those for a couple of days now...and ntl are supposed to have a spam filter in operation!

Here is an exact copy of my latest gobbledegook....

'saw each other once, but very briefly, of course."
everything that had seemed like nonsense and the delirious ravings of a
undulated, and tiny rainbows exploded and died in the air. Redrick looked at......'

Thats it, word for word, nowt left out...

Fozzie

Don't know , but I guess they're trying to "curious" you into replying.
Then once they know you're email address is genuine, you'll be spammed to deeth

yep, got 3 today. different text

i never open mails from peeps i dont know,some from peeps i do know as well

Yea I've been getting them for a while whats the point? I just assume they are up to no good and delete the little darlings.

For what it's worth...

Googled the phrases.

All can be found on this web page...

http://www.davar.net/EXTRACTS/FICTION/PICNIC.HTM

Translation of a Russian novel "Roadside Picnic" ???

I thought someone was mailing me the 3 word story LOL

lol, i always assumed they did it to get past spam filters, by throwing in a proper piece of literature.

I think the spammers quote lots of text from books so that this drowns the text that spam filters look for.

Does seems strange that no links are there.

I would just delete them, and expect lots more, hope you ISP filters them out.

Spammers are doing it to check email address LINK

Dave

quote:

---

Originally posted by need4speed
Spammers are doing it to check email address LINK

Dave

---

as above the random text is to avoid detection by spam engines/detection systems and they are probing for responses from active email addresses to harvest for further spamming.

I have been involved with spam issues at work and I'm not allowed to give detail but needless to say we have had several meetings of late as we have seen a signifcant increase in specifically targeted spam over the last week and a half.

Ned.

ps not intended for home users, but anyone invovled in corporate email systems I'd suggest you checkout http://www.spamhaus.org/ and their public DNSBLs

As ned says. It uses un weighted words that pass through detection just so you can get information on how to enlarge your penis or sutain you erection for longer! I've done mine about 15 times now. Its three foot long.

I've been getting these for a few weeks now - same random text. They are a nuisance but I just get in the habit of deleting them when a batch arrives.
I realise they are trying to get you to reply but I have to wonder if anyone is daft enough to reply - surely it cant be cost effective to do this type of random spamming.

it is normally foreign spamming gangs that change email and ip address nearly every time (or with 30 mins) they can find out whether an email address exists easily enough when contacting microsoft exchange servers once they have a valid smtp handshake/session open, not sure of the other email server types as I don't have direct experience but guessing its the same as they all use the same smtp protocols for establishing sessions between source/relay and destination servers. They are onyl trying to get a reaction from a user to see that the account is active and used so they can target spam more acurately and I'd take a guess that is someone is stupid enough to reply to one of these messages then they are probably going to reply or fall for whatever spam/scam comes their way next!

Ned.

[Edited on 11/7/06 by ned]

That all makes a lot of sense - I just mark all mine as spam with the Cloudmark Spamnet system I use.