This message popped into my email inbox today:

A few points worth mentioning:

• The [SPAM] tag was not added to the subject header by any software on my end. As near as I can tell, it was either put there by the spammer’s own email server, or added manually.
• The particular inbox to which the message was addressed is protected by a server-side whitelist service (SpamArrest). For the message to get through, somebody has to go to the trouble of explicitly confirming that they’re really a human and put themselves on the approved list. The sender did this.
• The same message has been sent several times under different email addresses. Every time, I ban the address and a while later it makes its way again with a new sender address (which has to be manually confirmed with SpamArrest, again).
• I feel bad for the ‘real’ Dr. Lulu Gwagwa of South Africa, who appears to be a most accomplished investment banker.

For some reason, the perpetrators of this message are really determined that this message get through and a lack of response (or continuous placement on the ban filter) doesn’t seem to deter them. That they consistently confirm their own address through SpamArrest tells me that they are not exactly high-volume ‘shotgun’ spam traffickers. Those people rarely provide a working reply address.

On the other hand, I have to admit that opening with an apology and the fact that they admit they got the email while doing a ‘random transaction’ on the Internet shows refreshing candor.

Sadly, I am forced to ban the sender once again, as much as I appreciate the effort.