One of my old email accounts that I still use (because it has the best usenet feed) has no spam filtering on it whatsoever (long funny story), so I can see this stuff any time I want.  And the credit-card thieves have, as you guessed, been using anti-theft rhetoric for yonks.

What amazes me is how grammar and writing style continue to be a very apt indicator.  I could almost write a spam filter based only on grammatical observations.

Finally, a *real* purpose for that superbland legalese!