Spammers take over New York Times e-mail list

Nobody likes spam, unless it is the stuff that you find in between two slices of bread, and when coupled with a slice of cheese, it can be touted as the perfect breakfast. I guess The New York Times also hates spam, especially after some spammers hacked into the newspaper’s e-mail marketing list, sending out e-mails that informed former subscribers to call The New York Times in order to reinstate their subscriptions. What made this offer all the more tantalizing was an “exclusive” 50% discount off the original price.

The e-mail does look legit, with the message as follows, “Dear Home Delivery Subscriber, Our records indicate that you recently requested to cancel your home delivery subscription. … We do hope you’ll reconsider. … To continue your subscription call 1-877-698-0025 and mention code 38H9H.” Not many were fooled, since a large number of recipients were never subscribers in the first place, or are current subscribers who have yet to cancel their subscription. Apart from that, The New York Times also confirmed that this e-mail is a fake. Hopefully everything will be peachy keen for the paper from now on.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Computers
Tags: Hacking, new york times, spam