Aelita Anger

Oh, goody! I haven't gotten really pissed off by email in quite a while. Today I received the following email from Aelita Software to whose SPAM list I might have signed up some time ago in a fit of technology induced dementia.

I can't actually remember whether I did or not. In any case, this is what the email contained:

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 16:39:50 -0400
From: Aelita Support 
Reply-To: webmaster@aelita.com
To: hbo@egbok.com
Subject: Your New Aelita Password                                       
                                                                                                                
Dear Aelita Customer,
                                                                                                                
In the interest of protecting your personal information, we have added password security to our web site.
Your password has been set to tmppassword. Please follow these steps to select your new password:
 
 1. Go to http://www.aelita.com/engine/registration/login.asp?Reset=1
 2. Enter your email address, enter your temporary password as tmppassword and click Login.
 3. Complete the registration form. Be sure to choose a new password and enter it in the Password and
    Confirm Password boxes. Then click Register.
                                                                                                                
 
Please contact the webmaster@aelita.com if you have any questions.
 

et cetera.. My reply:

                                                                                                                
This is either a SPAM come on, or a case of identity theft enabled by an
incredibly stupid default password policy. Please delete any and all
information you have stored associated with the email address
hbo@egbok.com, since I don't want to be associated with you in either
case.

I CC'd the mail to idtheft@ftc.gov, which address doesn't exist. But if these guys are idiots, they may not realize that. (You actually have to submit a rather elaborate form to complain to the FTC about identity theft.) The other possibility is that it is indeed a SPAM come-on. If so, I've just confirmed that my email address is "live." But I've had this address since 1995, and I get three to five hundred SPAMs a day, most of which SPAMAssassin catches. One more list won't make much difference. That's also why I'm not terribly concerened about publishing my address on the web, again, through this posting. Bring on the SPAM! Posted by hbo at April 27, 2004 01:33 PM