Halloween has barely passed but spammers are already flooding the net with their Christmas spam campaigns. The spam messages sport urgent-sounding headlines like “Quantities are low!” and advertise knock offs of designer handbags, watches and jewelry. Anyone who clicks on the included link is taken to a very slick and legit looking site that is actually malicious. It’s a fake storefront designed to steal personal and financial info. Experts say that the Cutwail botnet is responsible.

As if that weren’t enough, believe it or not, Valentine’s Day themed spam has already been spotted as well! The spams are in the form of love letters and hawk male enhancement products and shady internet pharmacies claiming to offer cheap Viagra and Cialis. In addition, spam exploiting the 2010 World Cup, which is over 6 months away. Those spams are thinly veiled 419 or Nigerian scam messages. The Cutwail and Rustock  botnets are responsible. It appears spammers are getting a very early jump on upcoming holidays and events and are trying a variety of different scams. This is only the beginning. Expect more holiday themed spam and malware attacks to be unleashed as the season unfolds.