I Didn't Realize The Sanctions Had That Much Bite
CAPTAIN ED
By Ed Morrissey on Iran
Spam has become an unfortunate part of life for anyone with e-mail, and all of us spend at least a few minutes each day tweaking our filters to keep it out of our inboxes. Every once in a while, something new and unusual comes along that almost makes it worthwhile when it sneaks past all of the traps. This morning, for instance, I received a note that purported to be from the Internal Revenue Service:
Notification of Tax Refund on your VISA or MasterCard Now,
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity
we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $209.30.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
Fox example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. ...
Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and indicated.
You have to love the really sophisticated spammers that can't manage to write in complete sentences. They also show in this case that English is their second language, unless "Fox example" is a regional idiom of which I am unaware. However, in this case, there's a reason. The link for my $209.30 refund has the domain name of www.tehran.agri-jahad.ir, which is an Iranian domain.
In fact, the domain belongs to the Iranian government -- specifically, the Ministry of Agriculture of Jahad. Apparently, the crops haven't performed as well as expected this year, and someone named Mahmoud Mohseninia has decided to look for other revenue streams. Mohseninia hasn't learned how to cover his tracks very well on InterNIC registrations, though, just as he hasn't mastered American English.
So now the Iranians have become the new Nigerians. Have the international sanctions hurt so badly that the Iranians have resorted to e-mail fraud for their revenue? |
