Spammers try manipulating the unconscious

Users opening their spam are blasted with a rapid series of images, for 10 to 40 milliseconds, which include the word "buy".

According to ZDNet, the technique was first tried in the 1950s and although there is no evidence that it forces you to buy, the technique is banned wordwide, just in case.

The big idea is that the spam recipient could be influenced by the spam without being aware of it.

A spokesPanda said it was the first time the outfit had detected an Internet threat that uses subliminal techniques.

The outfit fears that there could be damage to young children who see the advertisements, not to mention those who are suckered for various scams. Of course it recommends a good spam filter to prevent the ads getting into the machine.

It is worthwhile pointing out that no-one has managed to get a worthwhile effect from subliminal advertising. There have been no clockwork oranges created, although many have tried. If it was so successful then why doesn't Panda release subliminal messages to the spammers telling them not to send the stuff?

More here. µ