After getting spammed, you'll now get spimmed (spamming IM)

The Hindustan Times ^ | 4/1/04 | Press Trust of India

[mylife]

After getting spammed, you'll now get spimmed

Press Trust of India Paris, April 1

A new form of Internet spam, this time aimed at users of instant messaging (IM) services, is set to explode.

The phenomenon has been dubbed 'spim' by experts, who reckon that this year 1.2 billion unsolicited messages will be sent over IM services run by Yahoo, MSN and other companies, and the volume will triple in 2005, New Scientist warns in next Saturday's issue.

Seventy per cent of 'spim' is pornography related.

Unlike email, IM software allows users to exchange messages in real time.

"This makes spim more insidious than spam because the messages pop up automatically, giving the recipient no chance of deleting them," the British weekly notes.

In 2005, some 35 billion email spams are expected to flood the Internet, according to an estimate made by the technology market research firm Radicati Group, of Palo Alto, California.

Spim, although just a tenth of this total, will grow at three times the rate of conventional spam as mass emailers turn their attention to growing number of IM users.

[William Martel]

Nothing new about this. I've been getting these so-called "spim" messages for a good year or two now. They are quite obnoxious.

Some of them are interesting, though, because they have rudimentary "bot" AI. They carry on a very short conversation with you before sending you to the site. I've had a little fun once in a while chatting with them (when I'm bored and/or drunk, that is)!

[The Duke]

Go Jabber! :)

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[New Horizon]

This began happening about a year ago...about the same time the Messaging service in Windows (different than the Instant Messenger) started getting nailed with the same stuff.

[mylife]

I found the crux of the article to be (Spim) is set to explode.

[mylife]

I havent seen it yet.

I use IM alot to communicate long distance.

I never use it for public chat forums

[Viking2002]

Try having an ICQ account. You'll get spimmed to death.....GRRRRRR.

[mylife]

I dropped ICQ years ago. I miss the POWWOW Nation though.

I use MSN mostly and Yahoo for some stubborn friends and family

[Viking2002]

For my stubborn friends and family, I provide my e-mail address. LOL

[itsahoot]

Nothing new about this. I've been getting these so-called "spim" messages for a good year or two now. They are quite obnoxious.

Got one on my cell phone today, is this a great country or what?

[devane617]

Don't use IM. Problem solved...

[New Horizon]

I don't even know what a public chat forum looks on Messenger...but I do use it to communicate to PEI (Canada) to relatives.

I have had to put a "block" on "all other users" to get rid of it, and only allow Messenger to give me messages from my "allow" list...which, unfortunately, is pretty small ;-)

[New Horizon]

Don't use IM. Problem solved...

That's about it.

[mylife]

Thats what I use this stuff for. I have a brother in India and it is the best way to communicate with him

[Redo]

I need back up please, i have msn add-on msnplus and i got a message to update it so i clicked on it to update, but for my surprise i found that "Spim" stuff based on mysearch.com. I used the adaware program to delete it but it still appears in my browser somekinda search toolbar, can you help me please to get rid of this??