Bound to Happen

Today, I got my first spam-scam exploiting the Katrina and Rita devastation. It's pretty subtle — it looks like the main purpose is simply to validate their list of sucker e-mail addresses. The wording of the pitch is mostly innocuous, although they clearly didn't have a proofreader. The biggest tip-off that it's a fake is that it's from "Micheal [sic] Moore" of the "Red Cross Society," with an address that doesn't look anything at all like username@RedCross.org. (The fact that it was sent from Israel with a fake South African address is also a clue, but it takes a bit more of a trained eye to spot.)

Yes, wherever there is misery and human suffering, the real Red Cross will be there to help out, and the scammers will be there to help themselves. There's nothing quite so tempting as a sucker with his heart on his sleeve.