I am a "Distinguished Professional Online"!!!

[Darren Dirt]

Dear ,

Recently you were selected as an inductee into the Distinguished Professionals Online Registry Among Executives[at this point I immediately and proudly stood up in my chair and straightened my tie, feeling all hoity-toity]. This selection was based on our research committees efforts to identify top professionals around the globe.

Click Here [yeah, right -- tracker URL obv.]

Unfortunately, we did not receive your vital networking information. In the workplace it isn't what you know, it's who you know...and who knows you. Social and business networking is the modern standard in developing relationships throughout the world. The potential for recognition and building networks within a community of 400,000 working professionals in numerous fields on a global scale is unlimited.

Consider this: if you make just one contact using the connections and visibility that Who's Who provides, it will benefit you for a lifetime. As we are trying to build a comprehensive network of business professionals, there is no cost for your inclusion. Please click the link below to fill out your basic listing. Our community needs you as much as you need it.

It is professional, accomplished individuals like yourself[why, thank you! what accomplishments, exactly?] that allows us to offer the visibility and advertising potential that we do. Again, we do require additional information to complete the selection process[Nobel Prize, here I come!] and kindly ask that you access this form on our website by clicking here.

Our registration deadline for this year's candidates is August 31st, 2010[zomg, I got this 10 minutes ago. Not joking. I guess I missed out? :FootStomp:]. To ensure you are included, we must receive your verification on or before this date. On behalf of our Committee, I salute your achievement and welcome you to our association.

Sincerely,

Robert Patterson[the movie star? from TWILIGHT? Wow, you sure get around...]
Vice President, Research Division

Distinguished Professionals Online
26 Bond Street[as in, My Word Is My Bond? Like in Jerry Maguire?]
Westbury, NY 11542, USA

Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. If you are not the intended recipient[how would I know if I am or not? you left the "Dear ___" part blank!], you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review[including reading this disclaimer, right?], disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please delete the communication and unsubscribe[okay I'll do that right away -- where's the link?] from the mailing using the options available in this email.

Always good to receive a belly-laugh inducing spray-and-pray spam at the end of the week...

Not only did this spam not even both to parse out a likely firstname.lastname from my government email address (blank! see above) but in the disclaimer at the end it says "if this got to you in error, you are prohibited from reading this disclaimer that tells you that you are prohibited from reading it it it got to you in error" so I had to bold the key arts of this "recursive disclaimer" , I don't know why but I just found it really funny.

Apparently others did to?
http://www.google.com/search?q=Distinguished%20Professionals%20Online

I feel so much less distinguished than others, though -- SOME people got MULTIPLE VERSIONS! http://www.scam.com/showpost.php?s=c411d74a1f1aa1052bf49001c92fe648&p=906895&postcount=16


But I don't feel so bad, at least I'm not the only one who :sigh: just missed the deadline...
http://www.maxshifman.com/2010/03/31/my-recent-nomination-into-distinguished-professionals-online-leaves-me-unimpressed/comment-page-1/#comments

[Mr. Analog]

You should have seen the virus going around the clients office on Wednesday/Thursday it was OBVIOUS phishing and yet so many people there fell prey to it. My faith in the people I work with has slipped significantly...

"Download this link: link to offsite PDF"

FROM: Someone in your corporate address book you've never talked to before.

[Darren Dirt]

I'd only click that link if it came from Robert Patterson, who is a Distinguished Professional VICE PRESIDENT(, baby!)

[Lazybones]

Ha, I know both of those messages..... however as far as I am aware I have successfully filtered out the professional SPAM message, and the new worm should already be completely blocked in multiple layers of our SPAM and AV defense systems.