At first I thought it must be spam. But the headers appeared almost genuine. Then I checked the IP address, and I was surprised to discover that it was owned by Microsoft. The IP address 65.54.233.98 had a DNS lookup of bay21-f9.bay21.hotmail.com.
Surely Microsoft wouldn't allow one of their hosts to be hijacked by spammers?
The content of the message seems very spammy ... You can check the details here.
I tried looking for other evidence of spam from this IP address. There is one positive in the OpenRBL. An Aussie list (AUDNSBL/dnsbl.net.au - Multiple Spam Traps Block List formerly bl.reynolds.net.au).
The Google Groups abuse listing also returned three positives.
Blars has listed them. He returns 127.1.8.48 which translates to the following (alleged) misdemeanors:
- Wants spam campaigners to jump through hoops,
- Legal Threats
- Attempted mail relay exploits
What is happening here?