  The recent observation by the PAMELA satellite of a rising positron fraction
up to $\sim$ 100 GeV has triggered a considerable amount of putative
interpretations in terms of dark matter (DM) annihilation or decay. Here, we
make a critical reassessment of such a possibility, recalling the elementary
conditions with respect to the standard astrophysical background that would
make it likely, showing that they are not fulfilled. Likewise, we argue that,
as now well accepted, DM would need somewhat contrived properties to contribute
significantly to the observed positron signal, even when including e.g.
clumpiness effects. This means that most of natural DM candidates arising in
particle physics beyond the standard model are not expected to be observed in
the cosmic antimatter spectrum, unfortunately. However, this does not prevent
them from remaining excellent DM candidates, this only points towards the
crucial need of developing much more complex detection strategies
(multimessenger, multiwavelength, multiscale searches).
