/campaigns/
ofis a thing.
I wouldn't normally do this, but I cannot adequately describe the abject amateurism of the email that I received from IJDMSR—the Indian International Journal Dental and Medical Sciences Research [sic]. So, below is a screenshot of that message.
Unlike many open access publishers, IJDMSR is quite transparent about being based in India. In fact, it doesn't even try to pass off an offshore address at all. And its article processing charges are openly quoted in INR for Indian authors, and USD for international authors. All of which sets IJDMSR aside from the run-of-the-mill predatory publishers.
But that's not quite enough.
Firstly, I have not opted-in to emails from IJDMSR. Secondly, the journal is not within the scope of my expertise, so why contact me? Clearly, they're using a harvested address list. Finally, why are the three links in the message wrapped in Nexonjet email marketing trackers? In fact, the link to the journal website could be much simpler than this:
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ijdmsrjournal.com/&source=gmail&ust=[snip]" href="https://nexonjet.com/index.php/campaigns/ej757gb13195e/track-url/[snip]" style="color:#1155cc" target="_blank">www.ijdmsrjournal.com</a>
This would would look and work the same in the message, without the tracker:
<a href=https://www.ijdmsrjournal.com/" style="color:#1155cc" target="_blank">www.ijdmsrjournal.com</a>
Not only that, but an image tag tracker is also included, for good measure:
<img width="1" height="1" src="https://nexonjet.com/index.php/campaigns/ej757gb13195e/track-opening/[snip]" alt="" />
Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions
This is pretty standard email marketing fare. But I don't like being tracked. While the level below campaigns
in the URL is specific to the campaign itself, the level below track-url
and track-opening
is specific to the recipient. As such, it could be used as a confirm-live
. This did, however, get me thinking.
A lot of spam mail is sent via email marketing platforms such as NexonJet, MailWizz, ElasticMail, and MailChimp. Campaign success is monitored through tracking links in the message, either clickable links or image tags. If my webhost ever supports message body search and :blackhole: directives for SpamAssassin/qmail, or I change to one that does, I will simply add a URI search for /campaigns/ to send offending email to oblivion, without the need to check for unendingly different bulk-mailing platforms. As long as they use campaigns
or similar characteristic keywords in the tracking URL, that is.
describe LOCAL_UCE_TRACKERS campaign mailer tracking links
uri LOCAL_UCE_TRACKERS /\/campaigns\/|\/keyword2\/|\/keyword3\//i
score LOCAL_UCE_TRACKERS 15.0
Alternatively, a rule based on the unholy trinity that is the tracking pixel might work. (thinking)
Job's a good 'un. (thumbup)
That IJDMSR message in full
It just screams professionalism, doesn't it?
