Google Docs the Latest Spam Vehicle

Spammers have proven themselves as creative as they are tenacious. We've seen image spam, PDF spam and MP3 spam, and now the latest trick involves using Google Docs to get by spam filters.

Sending attachments like JPGs or Word .doc files has proven less than successful when compared to just sending the user a link in the hopes they will click on it, but spam with just a URL isn't foolproof, either. Spam filters have relied on checking the links in e-mails and blocking them based on suspicious Web addresses.

So by adopting Google Docs, spammers gain the credibility of Google's domain, since no spam blocker is going to automatically declare a Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) link to be spam. That's what they are hoping for, according to Matt Sergeant, an Anti-Spam Technologist at MessageLabs, which found the new misuse of Google Docs.More>>