Skype spam on the rise

For those who regularly use instant-messaging services like Yahoo Instant Messenger and Microsoft's MSN Messenger, you know that IM spam arrived long ago and shows no signs of leaving. Tuesday, however, I received my first Skype spam. Lucky me.

Unfortunately, I'm not alone. Skype spam is on the rise. It was just a matter of time, and I can't really complain, given all the value that I and my company derive from Skype.

However, the problem that I have with this spam business is that these dirty spammers keep confusing me with a mindless Windows sheep! (See right.)

Now, I can accept many things, but being confused with a Windows user? Unconscionable. :-)

More seriously, when are we going to start seeing spam filtering software and such, much like we have in spades for e-mail? Is there not enough corporate dollars in instant messaging to justify worrying about spam? Today, probably not, but that will likely change. Oracle, IBM, and others seem to think there's lots of money in collaboration tools.

This activity is all in corporate communication tools, but perhaps this will eventually lead to more protection of this sort of communication on the public chat networks, as well.

[techman21]

Set your privacy setting so that only your contacts can Chat with you or call you.

[ja-watson]

One of the reasons that Skype spam is on the rise is that Skype is apparently doing nothing to try to stop it. The most likely reason Skype is not trying to stop it is that the spammers and pornographers are a huge help to Skype's ridiculous claims about registered users. Who is really stupid enough to believe that Skype has "339 million registered users"? As any Skype representative how many of those are accounts created by spammers, and you get no answer. Who is really stupid enough to believe that Skype is getting 300,000 new user registrations every day? Ask how many of those are spammers, and you get the same lack of response. Setting up a Skype spamming system, complete with automatic account generator, is relatively easy, and the procedure for doing so was described in detail by the Skype Cheerleaders (Skype Journal) some time ago.

By the way, changing your privacy settings in Skype will NOT stop the spam, you will still get an ever-increasing stream of spam/pornographic "contact requests".

[mworthen]

ja-watson - Excellent points. Earlier today I related my frustration with Skype's apparent indifference to their growing spam problem:

http://cultureandcurrentaffairs.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/skype-spam-pseudo-solutions/

Let's hope it doesn't take them long to take customer's concerns seriously. Skype offers an otherwise excellent service but all it takes is a hungry competitor and lousy customer relations to knock them down.

Mark D Worthen PsyD

[mworthen]

I didn't realize that URL's are not automatically hyperlinked here. So here's that link again, this time in 'clickable' form:

<a target="_blank" href="http://cultureandcurrentaffairs.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/skype-spam-pseudo-solutions/">Culture and Current Affairs Blog - Skype Spam Pseudo-Solutions</a>

Mark D Worthen PsyD

[mworthen]

ooops. What's up CNet? No links at all?! Very strange.