When you get hoax or spam emails . . .

Poststructural Pub
1

When you get hoax emails, spam emails, phishing emails, or whatever, what language are they in?

Obviously, I realize that some people speak languages other than English, and that they use them in email, but I’ve never received any in languages other than English – and the occasional Russian, for which I have no explanation.

Reading the McAfee website about the hoax PowerPoint email, I noticed explanations in French and German. No English.

Does this mean that if you’re French, you’ll get the hoax in French? If so, how do they know? My name is French, but I don’t get emails in French. Only English and Russian.

I’ve never gotten a single one in Spanish, even though we’re pretty much bilingual here. If it was a geography thing, I’d expect to get some in Spanish.

That could explain why I get some in Russian. We have a large Russian community here. But how anyone not-here would know that is beyond me. Even people who are-here don’t know it.

I don’t know whether to feel deprived or grateful.

2

I’m no expert at this, but I imagine that since there are lists of IP addresses by country available, they can target the email to certain IP address. You could write an email in many languages and then send the email in a language appropriate for the recipient.

Additionally, much spam is propagated by using people’s own contact lists to spawn more spam. Usually most of your contacts in your home email are people in your own country. (Usually at the office they’ve got more spam barriers in place.)

3

I would like someone to make a virus that causes a computer to do something really undesireable when a person sends their 100th forward.

4

I’ve had spam emails in French, but then I belong to IrlandeTradFR@yahoogroupes.fr.