https://tedium.co/2026/02/25/vibe-coded-email-spam/ Tedium. About / Archives / Sponsor Us Search Tedium [ ] They're Vibe-Coding Spam Now They're Vibe-Coding Spam Now << Previously ... Subscribe Shuffle Support Us On Ko-Fi Nextly ... >> Share This Post: [share-open] ShareOpenly Share Well Share Amazingly Waste Pixels They're Vibe-Coding Spam Now The problem with making coding easier for more people is that it makes spam more conventionally attractive. Which is bad. By Ernie Smith * February 25, 2026 https://static.tedium.co/uploads/ClouStorageFull.gif #email #spam #claude #ai #lovable #vibe-coding #malware I have a problem: Unlike most people, I actually read my spam folder on a regular basis. (Often, they're some of the most interesting emails I get.) I find spam to be intriguing, interesting, and often highlighting some modern trends. And sometimes, it surfaces something I actually care about that missed my other folders, like an upcoming interview I'm excited to share with all of you. But one thing about spam that has been true across the board is that it's ugly. Really, really ugly. Often, what will happen with spam is that they'll get your email address through questionable means, say a leak of your information in an exploit, and flood your inbox with some of the worst crap you've ever seen. But recently, some of these clearly trash emails have gotten a design upgrade: spam-screenshot.pngA spam email informing me that my fake cloud storage platform is full. That is a relatively attractive spam email, trying to sell me on a scam. It is obviously the work of one Claude A. Fakeguy. It has that swing. Other, less attractive spam emails also have this swing, such as this one: UglySpam.pngA less attractive email informing me of upcoming video game addiction litigation. How did they know!?!? But what I think the real tell is that these emails hang together when you have images off, which they did not in the past. This is a problem, because in your spam folder, images are automatically turned off. Hence why this email warning me that my antivirus plus renewal failed now looks like this: Warning.pngOh no, what will I do on my Linux computer that doesn't support your antivirus program? This is a funny, if troubling element in the history of spam--and probably a spot of bad news for people who use vibe coding to actually make real things. ... Nobody? Sponsored By ... Nobody? If you find weird or unusual topics like this super-fascinating, the best way to tell us is to give us a nod on Ko-Fi. It helps ensure that we can keep this machine moving, support outside writers, and bring on the tools to support our writing. (Also it's heartening when someone chips in.) We accept advertising, too! Check out this page to learn more. freespins.pngThe strange thing about spam is that it tells you what the internet's underbelly is into. The slop looks more competent than ever Put simply: Now that the baseline of what makes something well-designed, albeit spartan, has increased, many of the signs we once used to detect a spam message are getting thrown out the window. Which means that we're more likely to get hit by spam that tricks us into clicking. And that's bad news as we attempt to protect ourselves from the crap hiding in our inbox. We're likely to trust less and accidentally give away more. And untrustworthy figures who don't know how to code are more likely to throw more crap our way. This is a point Anthropic itself pointed out in one of its own reports from last summer, about "no-code" ransomware that can be built by people incapable of actually building ransomware without the help of an LLM. Despite this, these people can create commercial malware programs that they can sell for up to $1,200 a pop. The security platform Guard.io makes clear that platforms like Lovable are going to enable a new class of criminal: Just like with "Vibe-coding", creating scamming schemes these days requires almost no prior technical skills. All a junior scammer needs is an idea and access to a free AI agent. Want to steal credit card details? No problem. Target a company's employees and steal their Office365 credentials? Easy. A few prompts, and you're off. The bar has never been lower, and the potential impact has never been more significant. That's what we call VibeScamming. And, for people who vibe code, the real problem is that, long-term, their stuff is going to look very untrustworthy because of the specific mix of chrome, color, and emojis that vibe-coded applications specialize in. The thing that ultimately makes something look human is the addition of actual design and human flair. I encourage you to actually put a little humanness into what you build if you're going to do it and share it with the world. How to spot a vibe-coded faker But for many, it is going to be harder than ever to tell what's real and what's fake. Which means you should probably go out of your way to use techniques like email obfuscation and email aliases to protect yourself. (It makes it easier to tell which bread-baking forum violated your trust, for one thing.) On the plus side, there are still tells. A key one is if they refer to you by not your name, but the name of your email address. Another is the from address, which is often some highly obfuscated bit of junk designed to evade detection. The one that made me laugh recently was when I got really crappy spam emails on an address that has never gotten them for the first time, promoting traditional spam topics with a Claudecore flair. They seemed random, but were extremely easy to get rid of, because they were all emailed from a bare Firebase domain, meaning that I could remove them with the help of a single filter. Just because spam emails are more attractive now doesn't mean the people making them aren't still extremely stupid. Spam-Free Links A quick shout-out to the only tool that makes my inbox bearable in 2026, Simplify Gmail. Oh good, there's a new web browser for PowerPC Macs in 2026, and per my pal Action Retro, it's quite good! Speaking of inboxes, this story of an AI safety exec letting an AI tool delete her inbox is so darkly funny that I'm surprised it's real. -- Find this one an interesting read? Share it with a pal! Want to actually learn how to code with minimal vibes? Check out our sponsor Scrimba, which mixes video lessons with interactive code windows--and makes it feel downright approachable. Sign up here for a 20% discount. Ernie Smith Your time was wasted by ... Ernie Smith Ernie Smith is the editor of Tedium, and an active internet snarker. Between his many internet side projects, he finds time to hang out with his wife Cat, who's funnier than he is. << Markdown's Moment Subscribe Betting Against Substack >> [ ] Subscribe to Tedium Get more bizarre takes in your inbox. This is a newsletter that existed before Substack. (We even turned Substack down!) Our goal is to outlive it. But we will be unable to do so unless you put your email in this box and let us invade your inbox with these messages that we send when we feel like it. It's an important obligation. Are you up to the task? [ ] Shoryuken! [ ] [ ] Tedium can email me random bits of errata and rants about salsa jars. I am signing up for this. Tedium T Logo Once upon a time, there was an internet that was weird and fascinating and didn't make you mad. Since 2015, Tedium has tried to bring that internet back through a commitment to weirdness and a love for the obscure and offbeat. 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