BLATHER REVIEW

Is Google trying to scam us?

So anyway, I received a pretty run of the mill scam spam the other day. Apparently there's a problem with a Chase account that I have that doesn't, in reality, exist.

So, I did my usual thang of copy/pasting the provided "secure" Chase link into wordpad, just to see who really sent it. Lo! and behold! This is what the copy/paste revealed:

Clic The link below in order to regain access to
your Chase Cardmembers Account,simply:
https://www.chase.com/ [http://www.google.com/pagead/iclk?sa=l&ai=BS65WglgGRKqCIK_IiAK50NjDBpTzkQyonIydAuDoqgegjQYQARgBKAI4AEDKEUiZOVCujeiYBpgB2lGgAfTPgP4DyAEBlQIDgkIK&num=1&adurl=http://c-24-147-232-232.hsd1.ma.comcast.net:82/chase/index.php]

It runs through Google! WTF?!

I report. You be careful out there, y'heah?

UPDATE: I've contacted Google and requested that they "please investigate and respond". I wont hold my breath.

UPDATE 2: Just got a response!

Thank you for your note. Google doesn't send unsolicited email, and we
don't permit others to send unsolicited email through our mail servers. A
number of unscrupulous businesses have sent out mass mailings that appear
to be related to Google. We're actively pursuing all available legal means
to stop these miscreants from abusing our name and your inbox.

We understand your frustration with spam mail. We, too, receive many
"Google" spam emails every day. Here are a few examples of the ones we
see:

- Emails that contain Google.com URLs. These URLs commonly link to images,
webpages, or search results.

- Emails with a Google.com return address. Unfortunately, forging email
addresses, though obviously unethical, is relatively easy.

- Emails that claim you're a Google Lottery winner. While it may be
disappointing, there's no such thing as the Google Lottery.

- Emails that boast you'll get rich quick through Google. Or, emails from
companies that claim to be a partner of ours and "guarantee" high ranking
for your site - for a large fee. We're not affiliated with the companies
that send these emails, and we do not endorse their offers in any way. In
fact, we suggest that you reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited
emails as you do for "burn fat at night" diet pills.

Thank you very much for your understanding, and please accept our
sympathies for any inconvenience this has caused.

Regards,
The Google Team

Posted by Tuning Spork at March 9, 2006 10:34 PM | TrackBack