• by Ray Schultz , March 6, 2020

If misuse of his name by malware artists is any indication, Donald Trump is a shoo-in to win reelection this year. 

Suspicious emails using the Trump name in some form made up the bulk of political unsolicited commercial email (UCE) sent in January and February — some 74%, according to a blog post by Proofpoint. 

This indicates that Trump “not only has the incumbent’s advantage but also maintains the strongest brand as he did in 2016."

In contrast, Joe Biden accounted for 7%, Bernie Sanders for 5%, Buttigieg for 4% and the others for less than that. Trump's total was three times that of all the other candidates combined. 

Of course, the totals may have changed following the departure of several candidates from the race.

The study says Bloomberg-related UCE increased in the lead-up to the Nevada debate, as did volume for Sanders and Biden.

While Proofpoint did not study sentiment in depth, it notes that subject lines included “included a mix of both positive and negative language for all candidates.” The company tracked subject lines mentioning the last names of candidates.

In addition, the Trump name accounted for 51% of the suspicious web domains registered in the period.

Here the competition was more robust — the Sanders name was used in 28%. The others were in the single digits. And the Sanders registrations spiked when he appeared to be the leading candidate.