There are many kinds of spam, such as standard criminal spam, the kind of spam your business might actually send if you’re not careful, or (believe it or not) do-good virtuous spam. Most genres of criminal scam are pretty boring, although male-organ-enhancement spam can get pretty creative.
One kind of criminal scam, however, is truly imaginative: the fake news headline, often designed to get you to click on what purports to be a link to a video. True, the majority of that genre consists of pretty straightforward celebrity-porn come-ons, generally involving one or more of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Angelina Jolie, or Lindsey Lohan. But a significant minority engage in absurdist humor, such as (real examples all):
- Paris Hilton Discovers Cure for Cancer at Home, in Her Spare Time
- Britney Spears Weds Plaster Wall In Surprise Ceremony
- Michael Jackson Auctions Himself On Ebay!
or, in my absolute favorite,
I don’t want to minimize the threat here – the very creativity shown makes this kind of spam particularly dangerous, and major news organizations such as CNN are going crazy trying to warn people away from it. Still, even bad guys can toss off good lines every now and then. 🙂
Other live samples from my spam folders include:
Politics and politicians
- John McCain Takes the Olympic Gold in ‘Gymnastics’
- msnbc.com – BREAKING NEWS: Japanese Prime Minister denies World War 2 ever took place
- Bush Accidentally Starts The War On Iran
- UN Threatens Sanctions If Obama Not Elected In November
- Obama Is Anorexic Over-Exerciser
- McCain says Obama is fool
- Obama found dead in shock accident
- New National Anthem Proposed By Bush
Palin forswears fancy campaign clothes
Hilton, Lohan, and Spears
- Britney Spears Stashed Guns in her Vagina – Paparazzi Duck for Cover
- Britney Spears Not Bipolar – New World Order Conspiracy Afoot
- Britney & Jamie Spears: Rosemary Rottencrotch is our real birth mother!
- Pope Benedict, Britney Spears & Dalai Lama Condemn BIGfib Book
- Lindsay Lohan Arrested For Emulating Paris Hilton
- Paris Hilton Ditches “That Stupid Dog”
- Paris Hilton makes me feel horny says Britney Spears
- Paris Hilton Not Killed in Car Crash; Nation Mourns
- Paris Hilton Had Sex With Aliens!!
- Paris Hilton’s interview with Burma’s General Than Shwe
- Lindsay Lohan: “I just really, really love snorting coke, ok?”
- Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton Discuss Sex in Jail
- Lindsay Lohan’s Drug Possession a “Misunderstanding”
- George Bush Pardons Lindsay Lohan
Miscellaneous
- Jason Kidd Feels Guilty After Stealing Ball from Chinese Point Guard
- Man gets bitten while peeing in bush
- msnbc.com – BREAKING NEWS: London named top literary destination
- msnbc.com – BREAKING NEWS: Tour Manager Mostly In Charge of Getting Band Drugs
- BREAKING NEWS: Nuts! Jackson Backs Neutering Stray Politicians
- WITNESS – A hacker’s tale of golf with Christina Kim
- msnbc.com – BREAKING NEWS: Mary-Kate Olsen supplied drugs
- Inspired by Fake Steve Jobs, Fake Paris Hilton Makes Big Announcement
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