General David Petraeus Scandal -- The Porn Star Connection

Ever since reports surfaced that a woman named Jill Kelley may have been receiving harassing emails from the General's mistress Paula Broadwell ... interest in Kelley exploded.

But here's the rub -- Kelley's name is spelled very similarly to that of legendary porn star Jill Kelly (who starred in myriad of adult classics including "All New Girls Who S*** C*** and Eat C**") ... and the similarity instantly catapulted the adult actress back from obscurity.

In fact, XXX movies featuring Kelly have seen a 500% increase in sales ever since the scandal broke ... this according to Gamelink.com, a titan in the online adult movie industry.

GameLink VP of Bus. Dev. Jeff Dillon tells TMZ ... Kelly has also shot from the 212th most searched XXX actor on the site to #4 (in case you were wondering, #1 is Sunny Leone).

Dillon explains, "I am not sure if [the scandal] is jogging peoples memory of the famous Jill Kelly porn star, or if there is confusion with the name. Either way we are giving surfers what they want and featuring some of Jill Kelly’s bestselling titles.”