Messaging spam, sometimes called SPIM, is a type of spam targeting users of instant messaging services. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A screenshot of PowWow, one of the first instant messengers with a graphical user interface Instant messaging or IM is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. ...

The increase in messaging spam may be motivated by its rise in popularity as well as the many steps to crack down on spamming since the late 1990s. For the band, see 1990s (band). ...

Instant-messaging applications

Instant messaging (IM) systems, such as Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, MSN Messenger,Tencent QQ and ICQ, are popular targets for spammers. Many IM systems offer a directory of users, including demographic information such as age and sex. Advertisers can gather this information, sign on to the system, and send unsolicited messages.

Using privacy options to guard against messaging spam

To combat SPIM, many users choose to receive IMs only from people already on their contact list.

• With Yahoo! Messenger, users can click Messenger -> Preferences -> Ignore List and check the box "Ignore anyone who is not on my Messenger List."
• With AOL's Instant Messenger, or AIM, users can click My AIM -> Edit Options -> Edit Preferences -> Privacy and check "Allow only users on my buddy list"
• With MSN Messenger, users can click Tools -> Options -> Privacy and check the box "Only people on my Allow List can see my status and send me messages"
• With BitWise IM, users can click Preferences -> Server / Contact List -> and check the box "Whitelist my contact list so that only users on my contact list can see me online or contact me"
• With Trillian, users can click Trillian -> Trillian Preferences -> Identities & Connections, and in all ICQ accounts click on the Miscellaneous tab and uncheck "Allow users to see my status on the web". There is also a plug-in available called Trillian Spam Challenge which asks unknown contacts from any medium to enter a phrase proving they're not a spambot, before the message is allowed through.

If you send someone you know an instant message, and they do not respond, it may be because they do not yet have you in their messenger's allow list. Ask the user to add you to their allow list first, Trillian is a multiprotocol instant messaging application for Windows created by Cerulean Studios that can connect to multiple IM programs from one client, such as AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Bonjour, Jabber, and Skype networks (the latter four with Trillian Pro which allows for additonal...

Using AIM 'warn' feature

The free AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service allows users to 'warn' other users. The warning decreases the number of messages an account can send, slowing down spam, and shows the AIM address as warned to other users that it may try to message. This feature does have the potential for abuse, although such cases are minimal.

Messenger service spam

Screenshot of an advertisement message sent using the Messenger Service.

In 2002, a number of spammers began using the Messenger Service in Microsoft's Windows NT-based operating systems to get their message across. This isn't the same as the Windows Messenger instant messenger application included with Windows XP; rather, it is a function of Windows designed to allow servers to send alerts to administrator workstations. Windows Messaging spam appears as normal dialog boxes containing the spammer's message. Windows Messaging spam can be delivered using any NetBIOS port, so to block it at a firewall entails closing down ports 135 through 139, and 445. Image File history File links Screenshot of an advertisement message sent using the Messenger Service. ... Image File history File links Screenshot of an advertisement message sent using the Messenger Service. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Messenger Service is a network-based system notification service included in modern versions of Microsoft Windows. ... Microsoft is one of few companies engaging itself in the console wars Where they are up against sony, nintendo, and of course sharps new console which may cause a threat. ... Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. ... Windows Messenger is a proprietary instant messaging client installed by default on Microsofts Windows XP operating system. ... Windows XP is a line of proprietary operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ... Example of dialog box from Microsoft Windows Dialog boxes are special windows which are used by computer programs or by the operating system to display information to the user, or to get a response if needed. ... NetBIOS is an acronym for Network Basic Input/Output System. ... It has been suggested that network layer firewall be merged into this article or section. ...

Alternatively, Windows users can simply disable the Messenger Service entirely though the Windows services list available via Run/services.msc.

Messenger service spam, in particular, has lent itself to spammer use in a particularly circular scheme. In many cases, messenger spammers send messages to vulnerable Windows machines consisting of text like: "Annoyed by these messages? Visit this site." The link leads to a Web site where, for a fee, users are told how to disable the Windows messenger service. Though the messenger service is easily disabled for free by the user, this scam works because it creates a perceived need and then offers an immediate solution. Often, the only "annoying messages" the user is receiving through the Messenger service are advertisements to disable the Messenger service itself.

Subsequent Windows XP Service Packs have disabled the Messenger Service by default.

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Creating an account will conceal your IP address and provide you with many other benefits.ou are not currently logged in. While you are free to edit without logging in, your IP address (viewable here) will be recorded in this page's edit history. Creating an account will conceal your IP address and provide you with many other benefits.ou are not currently logged in. While you are free to edit without logging in, your IP address (viewable here) will be recorded in this page's edit history. Creating an account will conceal your IP address and provide you with many other benefits. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... E-mail spam is a subset of spam that involves sending nearly identical messages to numerous recipients by e-mail. ... A DNSBL is a means by which an Internet site may publish a list of IP addresses that some people may want to avoid and in a format which can be easily queried by computer programs on the Internet. ... The Spamhaus Project is a completely volunteer effort founded by Steve Linford in 1998 that aims to track e-mail spammers and spam-related activity. ... To prevent e-mail spam, both end users and administrators of e-mail systems use various anti-spam techniques. ... A spambot is a program designed to collect, or harvest, e-mail addresses from the Internet in order to build mailing lists for sending unsolicited e-mail, also known as spam. ... Address munging is the practice of disguising, or munging, an e-mail address to prevent it being automatically collected and used as a target for people and organisations who send unsolicited bulk e-mail. ... Address munging is the practice of disguising, or munging, an e-mail address to prevent it being automatically collected and used as a target for people and organisations who send unsolicited bulk e-mail. ... Ensuring a valid identity on an e-mail has become a vital first step in stopping spam, forgery, fraud, and even more serious crimes. ... A Directory Harvest Attack or DHA is a technique used by spammers in an attempt to find e-mail addresses. ... SpamCop is a free spam reporting service, allowing recipients of unsolicited bulk email (UBE) and unsolicited commercial email (UCE) to report the offense to the senders Internet Service Provider (ISP), and sometimes their web host. ... Dictionary spamming is a spamming technique where spammers attempt to guess E-mail addresses by using a dictionary attack based on adding plausible names as prefixes to known domain names. ... Spamdexing or search engine spamming is the practice of deliberately creating web pages which will be indexed by search engines in order to increase the chance of a website or page being placed close to the beginning of search engine results, or to influence the category to which the page... A Google bomb is Internet slang for a certain kind of attempt to influence the ranking of a given page in results returned by the Google search engine, often with humorous or political intentions. ... Keyword stuffing is considered to be an unethical Search engine optimization (SEO) technique. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... On the World Wide Web, a link farm is any group of web pages that all hyperlink to every other page in the group. ... A web ring is group of related web pages linked to each other in a sequence that forms a ring. ... Referer spam is a kind of search engine-targeted spam. ... Spam in blogs (also called simply blog spam or comment spam) is a form of spamdexing. ... Link spam (also called blog spam or comment spam) is a form of spamming or spamdexing that recently became publicized most often when targeting weblogs (or blogs), but also affects wikis (where it is often called wikispam), guestbooks, and online discussion boards. ... Sping is short for ping spam. Pings are messages sent from blog and publishing tools to a centralized network service (Ping Server) providing notification of newly published posts or content. ... A scraper site is a website that pulls all of its own information from other websites. ... Telemarket Office // Early History Telemarketing is a registered trademark owned by Nadji Tehrani who founded TeleMarketing Magazine in 1982. ... An auto-dialer is an electronic device that can automatically dial telephone numbers to communicate between any two points in the telephone, mobile phone and pager networks. ... Mobile phone spam is a form of spamming directed at the text messaging service of a mobile phone. ... VoIP spam is an as-yet-nonexistent problem which has nonetheless received a great deal of attention from marketers and the trade press. ... This phishing attempt, disguised as an official email from a (fictional) bank, attempts to trick the banks members into giving away their account information by confirming it at the phishers linked website. ... An advance fee fraud is a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance relatively small sums of money in the hope of realizing a much larger gain. ... A typical lottery scam is a scam email that tells the recipient they have won a sum of money in a lottery. ... Make money fast is a title of an electronically forwarded chain letter which became so infamous that the term is now used to describe all sorts of chain letters forwarded over the Internet, by e-mail spam or Usenet newsgroups. ... The night singer of shares sold stock on the streets during the South Sea Bubble. ... Newsgroup spam is a type of spamming where the targets are Usenet newsgroups. ... Flyposting is the act of putting advertising posters or flyers in illegal places. ... // A possible 19th century mass telegraph In the late 19th Century Western Union allowed telegraphic messages on its network to be sent to multiple destinations. ... The Network Abuse Clearinghouse assembles data on what its sponsors see as misuse of the Internet. ...