Hey, 'Donald Trump Wants You'!! (... & Other Lies Told by Spammers in 2005)

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 28, 2005--America Online, Inc.:

According to AOL's 3rd Annual Top Ten Spam List - Spammers Are Getting
More Sophisticated, Devious and Dangerous

SOS -- or 'Special Order Spam' -- Tops 2005 List




Does Donald Trump really want you? Will the Penis Patch improve your
sex life? Is your mortgage application ready? Can you lose 6-20 inches
in one hour with a body wrap? Did Lisa send you to the wrong site?

The answer to each of these questions is almost certainly no. But they
are examples of increasingly sophisticated methods spammers are using
to prey on email users this year, according to AOL's third annual Top
10 Spam List.

This year's analysis of hundreds of billions of attempted spam
messages targeting AOL's global email customers finds that spammers
are using more "special order" style subject lines. In fact, six in 10
of the top subject lines this year fall into this category, compared
with just two in 2004, and none in 2003.

Instead of generic pitches for products, "SOS" -- or "special order
spam" -- attempts to trick the consumer by pretending to be from a
friend, or part of a legitimate, customer-driven transaction. For
example, this year's Top 10 spam list features "Your Mortgage
Application is Ready"; another claims to have sent "you to the wrong
site," and others simply say "Thank you" or "Re: " as if they are
responding to the recipient.

Returning favorites on the AOL Top 10 list include pitches for
products that claim to improve physical appearance, sexual material,
and offers for prescription drugs.

Here are AOL's 2005 Top 10 global spam subject lines (spam categories
in parenthesis):


1) Donald Trump Wants You - Please Respond (popular recognition)

2) Double Standards New Product - Penis Patch (sexually oriented spam)

3) Body Wrap: Lose 6-20 inches in one hour (body improvement products)

4) Get an Apple iPod Nano, PS3 or Xbox 360 for Free (technology
offers)

5) It's Lisa, I must have sent you to the wrong site ("personalized"
correspondence)

6) Breaking Stock News** Small Cap Issue Poised to Triple (stock
scams)

7) Thank you for your business. Shipment notification (77FD87) (bogus
transactional spam)

8) (IMPORTANT) Your Mortgage Application is Ready (mortgage-related
scams)

9) Thank you: Your $199 Rolex Special Included (high-end "deals")

10) Online Prescriptions Made Easy (pharmaceutical)


Source: AOL. This list is unscientific, and is not in any specific
order. Parenthetical notations above are AOL's own editorial
classification.

"Spammers have been on a year-long mission to mislead and deceive in
2005," said Charles Stiles, AOL's Postmaster - who helps direct AOL's
24/7/365 spam fighting unit. "While the volume of spam reaching AOL
email inboxes has remained at low levels compared to it's height in
late 2003, the spam that's out there is more insidious, crafty,
devious, and dangerous than ever. So when it comes to protecting your
in box, consumers should adopt a 'code red' mentality for 2006,
because ultimately their personal identity is at stake."

The Changing Face of Spammers, 2004-2005:

Long gone are they days when spam was being generated by grandma
peddling her cookie recipes, alumni seeking takers for college
reunion-socials, tech-savvy teens, or small time spammers looking to
make a quick buck. In 2005, spammers - and their tactics - became more
sinister, organized and sophisticated.

"What we're seeing is that spammers are far more organized and
professional than ever before," added Stiles. "They are going after
Mainstreet USA with 'back alley' tactics, and they are doing it with a
specialized team that's working overtime to hide the source of their
spam by employing zombie PC's, bot-nets and using other nefarious
tactics. Spam gangs on the internet engaging in 'hit-and-run' spam
attacks in 2004 have turned into a tightly-knit, controlled, web-based
spam mafia coordinating sustained attacks on netizens in 2005."

2005 Spam - By the Numbers:

The combination of consumer software tools, filtering technology,
public policy, litigation and enforcement, and industry partnerships
helped AOL stay one step ahead of the spammers throughout the year,
even as they become more sophisticated. Spam reaching AOL customer
email boxes remained at low levels in 2005, with a decline of more
than 75% since its peak in late 2003 (as measured by member
complaints). In 2005, AOL has also been blocking an average of 1.5
billion spam messages each day from reaching the email boxes of the
AOL Network. The total number of spam emails blocked by AOL in 2005
reached over a half trillion (556 billion) - a slight increase over
2004. Finally, the percentage of total email that AOL blocks as spam
at the gateway reached 80% in 2005 (or, AOL is blocking 8 out of every
10 attempted emails as spam in 2005).

New Spam Fighting Tips for the New Year:

Here are tips from AOL's Stiles on what consumers can do to help win
the war on spam and protect themselves from "Special Order" attacks,
and other new forms of spam.

1) Protect ALL personal information online. Don't give out any
personal information in response to spam - in fact, don't respond to
spam at all! Also, it's not just your social security number and
financial information you'll want to protect. Some spammers start by
asking for simple information like your name, phone number or address,
which could lead to follow-up, more personalized and targeted spam -
which AOL labels "SOS" spam, or "special order spam".

2) Don't click on links in spam. Avoid hyperlinks in junk email; in
many cases they will take you to a spammer or scammer's Web site. AOL
automatically disables web links in spam.

3) Keep spam filters up to date. Make sure your PC's spam filters are
updated, and "fine tune" your spam folder regularly. Consider adding
this year's AOL top spam subject lines to your content/keyword
filters. By customizing and grooming your spam filters, you'll
increase the amount of good mail you get, and divert the junk to your
spam folder.

4) If it looks suspicious, report it. Remember, spam is getting more
and more difficult to identify, so if there is any question about an
email's legitimacy, pass it along to the experts to investigate. The
more you report spam to your ISP, the more it will help companies like
AOL to hunt spammers down and put them out of business.

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate a leading network of
Web brands and the largest Internet access subscription service in the
United States. Brands include the AOL(R) service, the AOL.com(R)
website, and the AIM(R), MapQuest(R), Moviefone(R), Netscape(R),
CompuServe(R) and ICQ(R) services. America Online offers a range of
digital services including the TotalTalk(R) voice service. The company
also has operations in Canada and Europe. America Online, Inc. is
based in Dulles, Virginia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time
Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX).