Cable Forum - Microsoft Anti-Spam email warning

Just got the message below in my Hotmail account...at first it looks very convincing, but a closer inspection (apart from the spelling mistake...why can spammers never spell correctly?) it's nothing to do with MS at all. I'd advise against clilcking the link.

Quote:

Microsoft initiated a global anti-spam campaign. For the first time the major email providers announced they will work together to fight the flood of unwanted commercial e-mail cluttering their customers inboxes(SPAM). Aol, Yahoo, EarthLink, Comcast joined MIcrosoft in order to create the major datebase of persons who use credit/debit card for online tranzaction.

The Anti-Spam Technical Alliance (ASTA), whose participants include Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq "YHOO"), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq "MSFT"), EarthLink (Nasdaq "ELNK") and America Online Inc. (NYSE "TWX"), today unveiled the result of more than a year of close collaboration by presenting a host of detailed best practices and technical recommendations for the entire industry in an effort to fight the scourge of spam.

The proposal provides recommended actions and policies for Internet service providers (ISPs), e-mail service providers (ESPs) and e-mail users as well as large senders of e-mail including governments, private corporations and online marketing organizations. These recommendations primarily focus on two key issues: helping solve the e-mail forgery problem by eliminating domain spoofing through Internet Protocol (IP)-based and signature-based solutions; and best practices to help prevent ISPs and their customers from being sources of spam. We need your authentication in order to protect your e-mail and IP address from unsolicited bulk e-mails. For future internet transactions you will receive a personal key code. We will never ask you to enter your password or the personal key code in an email or send such information in an email. You should not share information about your account once you got the internet personal key code. Before you get the key code you will be contacted trough phone to verify your information.

Please complete the Microsoft proposal at:

https://www.anti-spam-center.com

If your account information is not verified within 48 hours, you will not receive a personal code.

***Note that the phone confirmation is very important.

Sincerely,

Member Services
Microsoft, Inc.