SPAMmer Response...

[5-90]

I've been kicking this around for a little while, but I'm not sure how to go about it. My SPAM filter is probably getting full, and I'm tired of getting all the messages anyhow...

So, my question is this - does anyone know, offhand, how to do "mail-bombs" from a Windows machine? I know that clicking on the "unsub me" link only makes it worse, but I was thinking about taking it to the other extreme - just flood the goofy bastids, and see if that doesn't get me let alone. I get 300 or so messages from them - why not send them EACH 300 or so messages in return?

Kinda like a mini-DoS attack. Of course, I'd keep the target messages in my files, just to show that they did deserve it. After all, I don't need adverts - I have a physician, so I can see about getting Rogaine, Viagra, Cialis, or sundry other 'scrips on my own. I know how to use a phone book, and I'm happily married, so I do not require dating services, either. Besides, I get tired of the horrible misspellings anyhow - they could at least be arsed to write their messages properly, y'think? Seems to me that an advertisement should be as polished as possible...

Anyone? Anyone?

5-90

[Glenn B]

Not a good idea at all.
Many SPAM mails are Joe Jobs, and you will be return spamming innocent people. Many other addy's are invalid, so you will end up getting an equal number of returned mail.

[5-90]

OK - got any better ideas? I'm just getting sick to my teeth of the whole damn thing...

I'd also not mind seeing the Postal People start charging double for bulk advertisement mailings - then my own First Class and Priority Post rates might hold still...

I guess I've just had it with the intrusive advertisements for products I don't want or need. At least I can opt to not watch TV (I don't, usually,) and hit the "MUTE" button when commercials come on. I get tired of that as well tho - I'm not muting the commercials because they're not what I tuned in to watch anymore, but because so many of them are so dumb as to be insulting to a room temperature IQ...

5-90

[WB9YZU]

Here is my 4c.

One, IMO these things are bot generated anyway. There are bots which puruse the internet looking for recently used links. Since recent link info is kept in a number of places, your machine, the visited server, and on your ISPs machine, it seems like it would be an easy enough proposition to aquire that data. My server here is hit many times a day for requests for XP server files. I can only presume some of this data is in those files.Another program then compiles a list of possible IP addresses that may want that information.

IMO the mesages are machine generated as well. That would be the only possible explaination for many of the messages looking like they were compliled by "Eliza" (an old AI program).

Here is my basic advice:
Do not read or respond to any mail in your SPAM folder. Many of these emails have a flag that gets returned indicating you read the mail.
Just empty the SPAM folder when full. I have mine programed to reject most comon forms of SPAM. No title, "HI", "Info on your account"...
Just before I empty mine, I puruse the sender names. If I recognize one, I open it. If not, I do not and it all goes into the bit-bucket unopened.

Does it bother me that I get so much SPAM? Nope. The SPAM filter lets so few in that I almost never even check it. Yahoo! tosses the contents of my SPAM filter ever once and again anyway. So If I choose not to even look, it will all go away by itself.

[Glenn B]

The messages are formatted that way to get past the spam filters, in part.

I use spam filtering on the web servers, I do not use any ISP emails, and I run spam filtering in my email client and a decent set of rules. Works pretty well and keeps the annoyance factor at a minimum.

[johnlv6]

I have literally thousands of those junk emails. I get well over 500 per day! My yahoo email is pretty good about filtering them out....i still get about 5-10 that make it into my regular inbox (not the junk one).

[5-90]

That's about the boat I'm in - I get probably a dozen or so that get added to the SPAM filter daily, and probably 300-500 in the "bulk" mail folder. I probably cruise through the bulk mail folder about once a week (more, if I'm expecting something odd,) and just click "empty" automatically otherwise.

I'm just tired of having to do it. It's like the mail that comes to my house - fully 2/3 of it goes right into the recycle bin unread, and I'm tired of that as well.

I don't click on the links.
Most of the time, I don't even open the message.
I don't maintain an address book online. Important addresses are in my hat, others I want to keep are in a notebook.
I use FireFox, and it's set to clear my cache automatically when I exit (which I do a few times a day, just to flush caches.)

As far as "bot-generated" messages, I do recall the old Eliza programme. I think it used English better than most of these messages do - I could probably submit a few to engrish.com...

5-90

[ChiXJeff]

Yup, pretty much echoing what everyone else said.

Most spam is sent through open relays, which are mail gateways not locked down, or through subverted machines (unprotected Windows machines directly connected to the 'net.)

Probably the only valid email address in the spam is the one that got it to you. And some of the smarter spam generators even utilize bounce messages to get the damned thing past the filters.

Seriously, there really isn't jack that you can do about it electronically. The closest thing to it would be to figure out what the target site really is, and mount a DDOS attack. But I'm not suggesting you do that, that'd be illegal.

Just to demonstrate how easy it is to forge email, 4 years ago, I caused an email to be sent to the IT project manager from the CiC. Took me less than 30 seconds using nothing but a telnet client. His eyes bugged out and bounced off the desktop.

[whatevah]

fwiw, I run a webserver with email hosting on the server... I used to get a ton of spam, but then I blocked all mail from asia (since I don't know anybody over there, and they have the laziest network administrators and lamest laws). suddenly, I'm down to 2 or 3 spam emails a week, all sent from DSL computers in the US (coincidently, mostly on the same DSL provider that my home computers are on) I also use a couple automatic banlists, the main one is hosted by Spamcop.net, which I find to be very accurate.

like others have said... do not reply to any spam emails, or click on any links. I use Thunderbird for my email program and it's set to not show any images from emails not in my address book, because that's a popular way for spammers to check to see if email addresses are active or not. once they find an active one, they'll sell your address to other spammers. Definately do not send a reply email attack, as the email address is faked almost 100% of the time. Most use a random email generator to take a random address and match it with a random domain name from a list they use.

when I can get a spam email, I forward it to spamcop.net and use their form to report it to the hosting company it was sent through. not only will they be reported, but spamcop will add the address to their banlist for a couple days if they get any more complaints about that address.

[Ralph]

Jon, since you have several e-mail accounts used for specific individuals, set up your filter to deny all except from those in your addressbook.

[TRNDRVR]

I was annoyed by them SPAM emails too. I just finally accepted the fact that my penis is small (old age) and ordered some OEM MS software. HTH!

Oh yeah, I also bought 10 shares of some oil stock in the UK. At least something is going up. :gag:

Dan.

[5-90]

Jon, since you have several e-mail accounts used for specific individuals, set up your filter to deny all except from those in your addressbook.

Oh - the private ones are private, I don't get bothered on those. I just want to reduce message volume (especially for useless shite!) on my "public" addy.

I'm just tired of "forced advertising." If I could come up with a way to zap commercials at the source - on Madison Avenue - I would.

I understand, vaguely, that commercials are written to appeal to the "lowest common denominator," just like product instructions. The irritating part about that is, simply, are we that f'n stupid as a people?

5-90

[Ralph]

What I can't understand is that some people actually respond to this stuff. The spammers wouldn't do it if it wasn't working at some level.

[5-90]

It could just be people who don't know any better, and are clicking on the "unsub me" links.

Still, I just think something should be done. SPAM isn't any better than the junk mail that I also get every day, and I'm getting tired of that as well. There is enough to deal with every day, without getting some spurious BS thrown in with everything else. Kinda makes every day "election month" (just think of the loads of crap you get then...)

5-90

[Ralph]

The problem is that the internet is a global entity. Laws passed in this country concerning spam are unenforceable.

Spam is one thing, the stuff that really gripes me is the insidious spyware/malware garbage that goes around like SpySheriff, Spyaxe and Spyfalcon. I know of people who have gotten so tired of that crap that they actually try to pay for the stuff to get it off their computer.

[mojojojo]

why not just bite the bullet and change yur email address? doesn't really fix anything but at least u get to start over.