Nigerians for Ron Paul

Continuing our series of blog posts exposing the unhinged nature of the supporters of Ron Paul for President, the excellent Don Surber points us to this press release from the University of Alabama-Birmingham that solves part of the mystery regarding the amazing run of victories for Mr. Paul in on-line polls.

Apparently, at least some of the excitement generated is the result of a sophisticated - and illegal - spam campaign:

The new messages have headlines such as:
 
Ron Paul Wins GOP Debate!
Ron Paul Eliminates the IRS!
Ron Paul Stops Iraq War!
Vote Ron Paul 2008!
Iraq Scam Exposed, Ron Paul
Government Wasteful Spending Eliminated By Ron Paul

Warner says, "We've seen many previous emails reported as spam from other campaigns or parties, but when we've investigated them, they all were sent from the legitimate parties." The important distinction between the new emails and previous emails, Warner says, is the fraudulent nature of the message. Legitimate messages tell who they are from, and provide a means of "unsubscribing" from future messages from the same source.

According to the CAN-SPAM Act, the primary law under which unwanted email can be prosecuted in the US, one of the factors that makes a message spam is deceptive sending practices. In the messages reviewed at UAB, emails were received from Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and Nigeria already this morning. In each case it was clear that the computer sending the message did not belong to the person who was listed in the "From" address. Such as a Houston resident, whose email was sent from a computer in Italy, or a Silicon Valley computer worker, whose email was sent from Korea.

As Don Surber points out, "If I were running for president, I would make sure my campaign obeyed the federal laws. All of them."

Spammers from Nigeria? Probably some of the same folks who send us those delightful invitations to help the son or daughter of a dead Chief bring millions to America.

Note to all legitimate and sane Ron Paul supporters: Are these the kind of people you want to be hooked up with?