[sylpheed:32545] Re: Rendered HTML messages

[Bob White]

On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 15:24:59 +0100
Paul <claws at thewildbeast.co.uk> wrote:

> On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 08:06:15 -0600
> Bob White <bob at bob-white.com> wrote: 
> 
> > Is that a Windows concern?  I've never worried about loading images
> > from an HTML page on Linux.  Am I doing something that's riskier than I
> > think it is?
> 
> That depends. For example, some spam mail includes specially coded img tags in
> html mail which serve to indicate in some way that a spam message has been
> received, possibly the recipient of the spam message is revealed by loading
> the remote image too. Personally I'm cautious about spam messages, but mostly
> they are just stopped at the server or filtered in to my local spam folder,
> and here just a quick look at the message list, (From header), is enough to
> determine false positives. So, I would say that regardless of the operating
> system, you can become a victim of spam or phishing mails, although the risks
> are probably greater if you use certain m$ products.
> 
> best regards
> 
> Paul
> 

OK, thanks for that explanation.  It might be noted that I very seldom
render an html message in my browser and it's going to have to be a
pretty good spam to trick me into it. :)  I would say that 99% of the
time just looking at the subject will reveal that it's spam.

Bob W.