The Democratic Governors Assocation: Spamming
The Democratic Governors Association (DGA), an arm of the U.S. Democratic political party whose goal is to elect Democrats as governors of U.S. States, is spamming heavily on behalf of political campaigns across the country. Their ESP is Silverpop, currently owned by IBM.
There’s not a lot else to say. The DGA is hitting a pile of spamtraps, enough that I expect the IPs to be listed in major blocklists in short order. The email addresses that this is being sent to are scraped, typoed, and many never existed at all. The data is obviously not opt-in. That a supposedly legitimate ESP such as Silverpop would allow this sort of list to be mailed from its IPs is really, really sad.
Below are samples of spam seen to my spamtraps in the past 24 hours.
Sending IP: 74.112.67.134
Spam Sample:
Actual Headers:
Received: from mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com (mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com [74.112.67.134])
by <xxx> (Postfix) with ESMTP id <xxx>
for <xxx>; Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:##:## +0000 (UTC)
DKIM-Signature: <xxx>
DomainKey-Signature: <xxx>
Received: by mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com id <xxx>
for <xxx>; Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:##:## +0000
(envelope-from <<xxx>@bounce.dga.mkt6018.com>)
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:##:## +0000 (GMT)
From: "alert@dga.net" <info@dga.net>
Reply-To: info@dga.net
To: <xxx>
Message-ID: <<xxx>.JavaMail.app@<xxx>>
Subject: EXTENSION:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_Part_<xxx>"
x-mid: <xxx>
x-job: <xxx>
x-rpcampaign: <xxx>
x-orgId: <xxx>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:<xxx>@bounce.dga.mkt6018.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
Readable Email:
From: alert@dga.net <info@dga.net>
To: <spamtrap>
Subject: EXTENSION:
MATCH EXTENSION: ALL GIFTS DOUBLED UNTIL MIDNIGHT
TO HELP MICHELLE OBAMA ELECT DEMOCRATS!
http://links.dga.mkt6018.com/ctt?<xxx>
NO ONE WAS HELPING MICHELLE, Friends. Then a donor called and told us:
ALL DONATIONS DOUBLED BY MIDNIGHT.
<removed>
This advertisement is paid for by DGA Action and DGA-New Hampshire, Ben Metcalf, Chairman, 1401 K Street NW, Washington D.C. 20005, not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Sending IP: 74.112.67.134
Spam Sample:
Actual Headers:
Received: from mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com (mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com [74.112.67.134])
by <xxx> (Postfix) with ESMTP id <xxx>
for <xxx>; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 17:##:## +0000 (UTC)
DKIM-Signature: <xxx>
DomainKey-Signature: <xxx>
Received: by mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com id <xxx>
for <xxx>; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 17:##:## +0000
(envelope-from <<xxx>@bounce.dga.mkt6018.com>)
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 17:##:## +0000 (GMT)
From: Battleground Dems <info@dga.net>
Reply-To: info@dga.net
To: <xxx>
Message-ID: <<xxx>.JavaMail.app@<xxx>>
Subject: ANYTHING?! (please tell us <xxx>)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_Part_<xxx>"
x-mid: <xxx>
x-job: <xxx>
x-rpcampaign: <xxx>
x-orgId: <xxx>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:<xxx>@bounce.dga.mkt6018.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
Readable Email:
From: Battleground Dems <info@dga.net>
To: <spamtrap>
Subject: ANYTHING?! (please tell us)
MICHELLE OBAMA’S CAMPAIGNED IN WISCONSIN — TWICE.
ELIZABETH WARREN’S ON HER WAY.
AND WHEN WE ASKED FOR YOUR HELP — CHIRP, CHIRP, CHIRP.
WE ASKED ONCE, TWICE…
… we didn’t know if there was ANYTHING ELSE WE COULD SAY.
<removed>
This advertisement is paid for by DGA Action and DGA-New Hampshire, Ben Metcalf, Chairman, 1401 K Street NW, Washington D.C. 20005, not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Sending IP: 74.112.67.134
Spam Sample:
Actual Headers:
Received: from mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com (mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com [74.112.67.134])
by <xxx> (Postfix) with ESMTP id <xxx>
for <xxx>; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:##:## +0000 (UTC)
DKIM-Signature: v=1; <xxx>
DomainKey-Signature: <xxx>
Received: by mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com id <xxx>
for <xxx>; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:##:## +0000
(envelope-from <<xxx>@bounce.dga.mkt6018.com>)
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:##:## +0000 (GMT)
From: "campaign@democraticgovernors.org" <info@dga.net>
Reply-To: info@dga.net
To: <xxx>
Message-ID: <<xxx>.JavaMail.app@<xxx>>
Subject: Not gonna happen
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_Part_<xxx>"
x-mid: <xxx>
x-job: <xxx>
x-rpcampaign: <xxx>
x-orgId: <xxx>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:<xxx>@bounce.dga.mkt6018.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
Readable Email:
From: campaign@democraticgovernors.org <info@dga.net>
To: <spamtrap>
Subject: Not gonna happen
WE’RE GOING TO IMPLODE, <xxx> — polling prodigy Nate Silver says Democrats can gain nine states … BUT WITHOUT THE MONEY DEMOCRATS. COULD. LOSE.
Campaigns are checking in every day to …
- Fight voter suppression in Florida. No can do.
- Elect Wendy Davis in Texas. Wish we could.
- Save true-blue Massachusetts. Check back tomorrow.
Democratic campaigns have volunteers and field teams working around the clock to battle the GOP and win — but if we can’t pay for ads and GOTV, we’ll abandon them and watch DEMOCRATS LOSE EVERYWHERE
<removed>
This advertisement is paid for by DGA Action and DGA-New Hampshire, Ben Metcalf, Chairman, 1401 K Street NW, Washington D.C. 20005, not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Sending IP: 74.112.67.134
Spam Sample:
Actual Headers:
Received: from mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com (mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com [74.112.67.134])
by <xxx> (Postfix) with ESMTP id <xxx>
for <xxx>; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:##:## +0000 (UTC)
DKIM-Signature: <xxx>
DomainKey-Signature: <xxx>
Received: by mail5420.dga.mkt6018.com id <xxx>
for <xxx>; Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:##:## +0000
(envelope-from <<xxx>@bounce.dga.mkt6018.com>)
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:##:## +0000 (GMT)
From: Team Democrats <info@dga.net>
Reply-To: info@dga.net
To: <xxx>
Message-ID: <<xxx>.JavaMail.app@<xxx>>
Subject: WHERE IS EVERYONE?
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_Part_<xxx>"
x-mid: <xxx>
x-job: <xxx>
x-rpcampaign: <xxx>
x-orgId: <xxx>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:<xxx>@bounce.dga.mkt6018.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
Readable Email:
From: Team Democrats <info@dga.net>
To: <spamtrap>
Subject: WHERE IS EVERYONE?
NOTHING’S CHANGED, <xxx>. The latest fundraising report is terrible — WHERE IS EVERYONE?
If you’re holding off on giving because you think this can wait — IT CAN’T! THERE’S NO TIME. It’s up to you to fund winning Democratic campaigns — RIGHT NOW YOU’RE ABANDONING THEM! (Say goodbye to TV ads, mailers, and canvassing!)
<removed>
This advertisement is paid for by DGA Action and DGA-New Hampshire, Ben Metcalf, Chairman, 1401 K Street NW, Washington D.C. 20005, not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.