Yahoo news spam is over my head

[kas]

I am not the most experienced spam and scam fighter but am learning. However this confuses me.

I am following the trail of one that started with a simple spam post that I detected:

Hunting for Canadian Pharmacy?
by: abubathib
Online Canadian pharmacy will get top rated marks for being effortless to use. Read this report to find helpful [url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20110523/bs_prweb/prweb8469435]Online Canadian pharmacy[/url] data.
___________________________
[url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20110523/bs_prweb/prweb8469435]Online Canadian pharmacy[/url]

of course this was spam. No doubt. It wasn't an advertising forum or a medical forum..

Searching to see if there are any matches on blacklists verifies that much:

Email matches these ones:

www.stopforumspam.com/search?q=65%40thextracool.info

IP matches these ones:

www.botscout.com/search.htm?sterm=46.109.193.241&stype=q
www.stopforumspam.com/search?q=46.109.193.241
www.blocklist.de/en/view.html?ip=46.109.193.241

But what I am confused about is that link. Yahoo is a reputable site. Can a spammer really post articles on there or is that a real article?

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[kas]

Okay this is just odd ...

I will have to ask others about this as this is beyond me. Anyway here is a screenshot of the news article posted by that spammer who registered for a free account on prweb.com. I guess anyone who registers for that can post yahoo news articles?? Not sure how that works actually..

Renowned Canadian Pharmacy & Online Drugs Site Gets Top Marks from Canadian Online Pharmacies Customers for Ease of Use

Posted by a member of prweb.com on Mon May 23, 10:50 am ET

NorthWestPharmacy.com, a top Canadian online drugs site, reveals that its American patients keep coming back in part due to the ease of using the Canada pharmacy’s online website. By making Canada’s drugs simple to purchase, the company enhances the online pharmacy buyer experience of huge savings and exceptional service.

(PRWEB) May 23, 2011

NorthWestPharmacy.com, the only Shopper Approved five star rated Canadian online pharmacy, says that American customers want more than just big savings from their favorite Canada pharmacy online. The Canadian drugs company has scoured close to 19,000 authentic customer reviews its Canadian pharmacy and online drugs service has received over the past six months and found a recurring theme which is that its patients also appreciate the website’s ease of use.

“It’s not something new customers focus on at first but once they start placing orders with Canadian pharmacies online and run into all sorts of hurdles, bugs and glitches, they realize the importance of buying drugs from Canada or internationally from a Canadian online pharmacy that’s easy to use,” notes Mike Bhangu, a manager at the NorthWestPharmacy.com call center in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. “How easy it is to order Canada’s drugs online from the website can be an indication of how good the Canadian online pharmacy’s service will be because it shows how much they care about the customer experience,” he says.

If that’s true, the NorthWestPharmacy.com buying experience must be as stellar as the company’s 18,800+ Canadian pharmacy reviews and ratings¹ suggest. Sifting through the reviews – which are independently aggregated and displayed by the well-known ratings firm, Shopper Approved – reveals hundreds if not thousands of kudos for the Canada pharmacy online website’s ease of use and simple order process.

Writes Bobby E. from Florida in his review of the Canadian online pharmacy, “I found Northwest Pharmacy to have the lowest prices, fastest delivery and an easy web site to deal with. Whenever I had to contact them they were always very helpful ...” Among hundreds of others, the sentiment is also echoed by Kathy G. from Florida who raves, “I love you guys!! The prices are so much cheaper and very easy to navigate the web site... I will always order from you.”

And the site is indeed a breeze to buy Canadian drugs online from. Adding medicines is done with the click of a button, creating an account and completing a medical questionnaire takes but a minute or two. After completing the credit card form, all that’s left to do is send in your doctor’s prescription. That’s right, like all legitimate Canadian pharmacies online, a prescription is required from your doctor. No reputable Canadian online pharmacy will offer Canada’s drugs² or international ones without a prescription or do any online prescribing.

With prices often one-fifth that of American online pharmacies, one can understand why some 2 million Americans order Canadian drugs and international medicines from Canadian online pharmacies³. NorthWestPharmacy.com is proud to have paired these great low prices with its outstanding customer service and an easy to use website, as evidenced by nearly 19,000 unbiased NorthWest Pharmacy reviews through Shopper Approved. NorthWestPharmacy.com is the only Canadian pharmacy online to be awarded the Shopper Approved 5 star seal.

NorthWestPharmacy.com is also certified by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association. Your privacy is safe when buying Canada’s drugs online from this Canada pharmacy online because its website is privacy certified by TRUSTe. Every purchase of Canadian drugs or international drugs is independently covered by the buySAFE 3-in-1 guarantee, which is backed by some of the largest insurance companies in the world.

Customer Service
NorthWestPharmacy.com
1-866-539-5330
Email Information⁴

¹ = the link is:
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/prweb/bs_prweb/storytext/prweb8469435/41582076/SIG=12131qrur/*http://www.northwestpharmacy.com/Canadian-Pharmacy-Reviews.html

² = the link is:
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/prweb/bs_prweb/storytext/prweb8469435/41582076/SIG=113tri78c/*http://www.northwestpharmacy.com/

³ = the link is:
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/prweb/bs_prweb/storytext/prweb8469435/41582076/SIG=1227kapdd/*http://www.northwestpharmacy.com/canadian-online-pharmacies.html

⁴ = the link is:
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/prweb/bs_prweb/storytext/prweb8469435/41582076/SIG=11l1kbv59/*http://www.prweb.com/EmailContact.aspx?prid=8469435

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[kas]

Okay even though it is rated as a non-approved online pharmacy by legitscripts (www.legitscript.com/pharmacies/show/401/7590cde99dd31989f05fd4890b11326c2cc16920) I decided to take the chance and visit the links in that article as it didn't seem dangerous to look. But something odd happened when I started clicking and looking around. Take a look at the attachment!

The site exists but when you try to look around you get some not found search page:

The page cannot be displayed
The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings.
Please try the following:

* Search the Web _________________ [Search]

* Choose your topic of interest:

Cars Free Software
Casino Health Travel
Computers Jobs Web
Entertainment Music Web Hosting
Ebay Real Estate
Finance Shopping

* Click the refresh.gif * Refresh button, or try again later.
* If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.
* To check your connection settings, click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Connections tab, click Settings. The settings should match those provided by your local area network (LAN) administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).
* Some sites require 128-bit connection security. Click the Help menu and then click About Internet Explorer to determine what strength security you have installed.
* If you are trying to reach a secure site, make sure your Security settings can support it. Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Security section and check settings for SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0, PCT 1.0.
* Click the Back button to try another link.

Cannot find server or DNS Error
Internet Explorer

* The refresh.gif button is hosted on as.adwave.com which to me is a dead giveaway this is a scam

www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/as.adwave.com

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[kas]

Also found more info here:

www.mywot.com/en/forum/10546-why-is-northwestpharmacy-com-rated-bad

Mar 21, 2011 9:43:41 GMT -5 @g7w said:

northwestpharmacy.com

Click the CIPA seal notice:
Mailing Address: 101 20560 56th Ave., , Langley, BC, V3A 3Y8

aka: getcanadiandrugs.com - CIPA seal shows same address with different site name
(sites are registered in Panama)

related:
thecanadapharmacy.com
prescriptionwarehouse.com
membersrx.net

these are affiliates for: Global Health Management
ghmcanada.com

back to
northwestpharmacy.com

look at the web page on the left
Pharmawest Pharmacy
Unit #101 20560 56th Ave
Langley, BC, Canada
V3A 3Y8

(*Not all prescriptions dispensed by Pharmawest.)

IF you're Canadian, your medications come from the pharmacy at that address.
IF you live outside Canadian borders, your medications are shipped from another location, generally India.

It is illegal in the US to import many prescription medications.

Mar 21, 2011 15:39:59 GMT -5 @AlphaCentauri said:

I'll say why I voted it down. Unsolicited junk faxes. Unlike spam, US law prohibits sending commercial bulk faxes to recipients who are not established customers or people who have specifically requested the faxes. Providing a means of opting out is not sufficient. They send their faxes to the office where I work every day. What makes them think they are entitled to help themselves to our paper and toner?

This example literally came in as I was reading this thread:



No one in our office is ordering illegal drugs from Canada, and there is no one here who would have any reason to purchase Botox.

[kas]

Well even if they do require a prescription and are just marked as illegal because they are from outside of the USA, (as stated in this PDF file) they are still not trustworthy to me since they (blackhat CEO?) spammed that forum.

[kas]

Another one being talked about by a guy on WOT (think it is a guy.. not sure by that name):

[kas]

An image from someone else who came across this as well:



Explanation from a known spam fighter

That first link is taking us to a press release which either this spammer or his affiliate group have sent to Yahoo news in the hopes it will be published, which it was. The "press release" tells us nothing, but features carefully created Yahoo redirection urls.

Spammed url to the fake press release:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20110610/bs_prweb/prweb8560801

That "news story" features the following url:

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/prweb/bs_prweb/storytext/prweb8560801/41811748/SIG=12131qrur/*http://www.northwestpharmacy.com/Canadian-Pharmacy-Reviews.html

The domain us.rd.yahoo.com is the yahoo redirect url (thus: rd. ReDirect.) That's been around since the mid-90's and had been abused heavily when large-scale spamming got started. I guess someone figured it would be good to start that up again.

Note that it's redirecting to a specific page on the northwestpharmacy.com domain. If you try to visit that domain on its own you get an error message that attempts to replicate a standard Windows .NET IIS error, except this one of course features links to alternate online pharmacies.

All links on that individual page they linked to lead to this page, so the ultimate goal is to get you to click on one of the "suggested" links.

So either they made a mistake, or they're basically trying to ensnare you in an endless loop of "pay per click" links.

That IP range is - surprise surprise - located in Riga, Latvia.

It's standard redirect pharmacy spam but it also appears to have lost any links to their desired pharmacy site. And / or they want you to spend minutes clicking on every link which leads to nowhere.

You can report both the offending "news item" and the redirection to Yahoo Abuse. You could start with [e-mail].

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