Keep Yourself Safe from the Most Dangerous Spam - Russian Spam

Out of the blue, Russian spam has become one of the worst types of spam to find in your inbox.  The content ranges from the basic advertising strategies you see in the United States to malicious viruses that are able to cripple both users and ISP networks.  Needless to say, this takes up a lot of valuable time and resources.  

Why Russia?

Like many countries, Russia as taken crucial steps towards preventing spam.  Yet and still, despite the emails being filtered by SpamCop.net before it is unleashed, these harmful emails are still reaching a large amount of recipients.  Here is a question posed by several users, "Why can't they control it?"  One possible reason may be due to a lack of DNS blacklisting and proper adjustments on network spam filters.  Many have speculated that the country simply can't prevent it from being outsourced because they haven't employed the appropriate security measures. 

The father of Russian spam

Vardan Kushnir was said to be behind the evolution of Russian spam.  He was actually a brilliant software developer who had a glorious path ahead of him; unfortunately, he picked a road filled with much more deceit and destruction.  After battling his own government over political issues, Kushnir found his new weapon - spam.  He used a mass emailing campaign in attempt to sell off shares of Sophim.  The only thing that stopped him from completely succeeding was the state of Kansas who informed Kushnir that the transaction required a brokerage license.  He was also known for launching Russian spam operations that focused on political threats, traits of a troubled post Soviet-Union madman. 

Friends of Kunshir say he had dreams of being a great software developer "like Bill Gates."  Instead, he chose a different route.  His endless reign of spam and boastful antics made him a much feared man in his own country and throughout the world.  In the end, Kunshir's reckless lifestyle sent him in spiraling into crisis, resulting in unsuspecting murder.  

Russian spam today

Kunshir's evolution has left an impression on several up and coming spammers.  Many Russian spam messages speak of unique schemes.  Some of the scams revolve around enhancement products, gambling web sites, and faulty merchandise.  One of the biggest spam emails currently going around is the advertisement of fake Rolex watches. 

While some recipients have not been too alarmed because they can't translate the messages, others are rightfully concerned.  Here is a quick way to hold off emails you receive containing foreign languages, a few methods that will hopefully keep them out:

•                     Create separate links for your stored mail.

•                     Delete all of the mail for your stored, trashed, or quarantined folders.

•                     Transfer all of the foreign spam mail for the local inbox and to the mail folder of your anti-spam program.  This is usually as is easy as a drag and drop procedure.  

Getting the emails out of your inbox is a great way to limit the spam until they have been analyzed by your anti-spam program.  If you still find yourself receiving a high amount of unsolicited Russian emails, your entire system may have been compromised by a remote program.  At this point, you would need to cancel the current email account and seek the appropriate action to delete the infection.