Ever Wondered who Mugu is? May 30, 2005
Posted by Martin in : Computers, Websites , trackbackThere seems to be a person called Mugu who makes a point of signing every guestbook they can with some strange but inoffensive message. Mr (or Mrs) Mugu is indeed a busy busy person.
I had one such visitation over the weekend and decided to investigate. The most logical choice was Mugu.com which gave me a good foundation.
Address book spamming: somebody or something has been using a fake address (e.g. mugu@mugu.com) to pollute address books all over the web. There is no way for the real mugu.com to prevent that. This domain does not send or receive email at all.
This spamming attack may be connected to the Nigerian banking/money transfer email scam. The ‘mugu’ is a calling card left by the spammers to mark a guestbook as harvested for email addresses.
Fortunately my guestbook is designed to be crawler-resistant anyway (replacing the ‘@’ symbol with ASCII code) so guestbook users are in no danger.
I took a look at Mugu.info which explain’s that ‘Mugu’ is the nickname given to a victim of the Nigerian 419 Scam.
Whilst I no way condone 419 scamming, the actual implementation is interesting. Presumably it still does make money and has evolved from the “wife of an assasinated president” to the “tsunami victim with no next-of-kin” and yesterday I received an “I want to invest in propertly in your country” mailing.
Only last year I was asked by the customer services manager of a reputable bank in Bangkok for my opinion on the content of a Nigerian 419 Scam email. This gentleman’s friend had received the letter and was understandably excited about it. It was only on my advice that he did not pursue things further. It horrified me then that people let their excitement cloud their logic to such an extent.
I enjoy 419 Eater which shows many scambaiting exploits where the scammers have themself been humilitated, had their time wasted, or has even cost them money.
Comments»
I just wanted to let you know your site is great! Please keep up the good work! I will definitely come back often. I am a successful businessman always seeking unique investment opportunities. If you happen to come across any, please feel free to send them my way at slcroydon@gmail.com
Thanks again!
Hi,
Thanks for your site.
Matilda
matildacarpenter@yahoo.com.au
For anyone who visits 419 eaters, do not get involved in scam baiting unless you know what you are doing- it is very important
Behind this Mugu person is more often than not a gang of Nigerians.
Okay, you may feel you are safe in your own country, but there is evidence that members of this gang are in alot of countries…
The mugu is the 419 scammer,he claims each website by leaving his name as a mugu so no other scammer will send their fake material to the emails listed in the guestbook. I have turned the tables on these idiots and have talked a few of them into sending ME money.I made $150 off of them last week!
Thanks for the admit, thedevguy67@yahoo.com
Thanks for the info