Some unfortunate email users, including me, are being deluged with thousands of spam emails that appear to come from Google Maps.
The messages, from several different names carry a variety of messages such as: “your request submitted online has reached the end of the review process Check information ➤➤➤ See on Google Maps”
There is a link to “view in Google Maps”. All those I have checked go to a website https://linkparty.cc/………..
A check on Whois.com shows that this site was registered only on 9 October and the registrar is accredited Hong Kong Nicenic International Group. There is no other information. However the Whois entry offers an email address for reporting abuse to Nicenic: abuse@nicenic.net.
There is a discussion on Reddit which claims the messages doe come from Google Maps with a number of contributors complaining that Google is not fixing the problem expeditiously
One commentator writes:
Looks like someone figured out some loophole to send spam via Google Maps, these emails have legit headers, they pass all DMARC checks, they are not just forging the From header, they are literally sent by Google Maps on behalf of spammers.
Subject: See custom map on Google Maps
SPF: PASS with IP 209.85.220.69 [mail-sor-f69.google.com]
DKIM: ‘PASS’ with domain google.com
DMARC: ‘PASS’
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) is an email authentication protocol. It is designed to give email domain owners the ability to protect their domain from unauthorised use, commonly known as email spoofing.
Google offers spam filtering on the Gmail website. However it is not always a solution. I have set two filters: one to skip the in box and one to delete these messages. As a result I never see them if I read my email via the Gmail website, but I cannot stop them appearing in the Mac Mail client on my laptop or desktop. Even if the mail client is not left running, as soon as I start it up, I am deluged with these messages. However if I use Outlook on the Mac, I do not see them. Nor do they appear in Apple’s iPod mail client.
http://itwire.com/security/spammers-co-opt-google-maps-for-massive-email-deluge.html