Mike Masnick ✅Nov 25, 2022
Has anyone ever seen this before? I posted something for sale on Craigslist, and someone responded with interest but (1) said they "don't reply from cl mail" and telling me to email a different address and (2) more weirdly, below all that is pages and pages and pages of what looks like a children's book text. The text is actually in white and I only saw it because I was in dark mode. I looked later in light mode and you don't see it at all.
Show threadMike Masnick ✅

I should be clear: I get that the book text is almost certainly designed to get around spam filters. I see that all the time in... spam. But why is it in a CL reply?

And is it enough of a red flag to avoid?

Nov 25, 2022 at 6:50pmWeb
Show threadXenoPhage Nov 25, 2022
@mmasnick I'd look at it another way .. Is there a legit reason to actually have that in an email? I wonder if it's a spammer who had it all set up for something else and because it's hidden, they forgot it was there when they sent the email..
Show threadAndrew MNov 25, 2022
@XenoPhage @mmasnick that's my guess - back when I did pen testing we'd test client training with phishing messages and I pasted Dickens into a comment block in our email template to add length and get around length heuristics in spam filters.
Show threadKevin GaminNov 25, 2022
@mmasnick If you have to ask, I'd say the default answer is "yes".
Show threadRob GwinNov 25, 2022
@mmasnick Might not have a specific purpose in this context, probably just built into whatever spambot software they're using.
Show threadMartin Vermeer FCDNov 25, 2022
@mmasnick Sometimes seen something like this on web pages, hidden in comment.
Show threaddjohngoNov 25, 2022
@mmasnick
Yes.
Show threadAutumn the Red SageNov 25, 2022
@mmasnick It’s in the CL reply because they are likely scammers who bulk reply to a lot of CL posts and are trying to avoid CL filtering them out. In this case, it’s not your spam filter they are trying to avoid, it’s CL’s.
Show threadGeorge William HerbertNov 25, 2022
@mmasnick red flag, report it to Craigslist
Show threadGojira1000Nov 25, 2022
@mmasnick Yes. That's a scammer forgetting to clear the text. Report them.
Show threadJLab8Nov 25, 2022
@mmasnick yeah. It's either leading to an account takeover attempt of your email or obtaining your bank account info for a "wire transfer."
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 47Nov 25, 2022
@mmasnick Ignoring the weird text in the email, the "'don't reply from cl mail' and telling [you] to email a different address" is a huge red flag by itself and you should definitely ignore this person and optionally report them to CL.