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|  WELCOME
TO THE SPAM FAQ
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Spam FAQ
Hello
friends, family, and perfect strangers! The following
is an essential "how to" for using email responsibly,
and for combating those who refuse to. I hope
you find this information helpful and informative.
I encourage you to send this link to anyone that
you think would benefit from this information.
And if you have anything to add, just let me know!
In Lesson#1, we cover SPAM: What is it?
Who are these people, and how did they get my
email address? How can I prevent myself from ending
up on their lists?
In Lesson#2, we cover email hijacking.
This is where the Spammer forges your email address
to send his or her spam in order to avoid the
consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, this
is becoming more and more common as Spammers try
to avoid the systems being put in place to stop
them.
In Lesson#3, we will be covering what to
do, and what not to do, when we are the recipient
of spam. This is your guide to tracking down information
about your spammer, and what to do with that information.
In Lesson#4, we cover email hoaxes and
how to identify them. This section will help to
prevent you from looking foolish, as well as avoid
causing harm to others inadvertently. |
Okay,
lesson #1: SPAM.
Not just a hilarious skit by Monty Python, Spam
is any kind of unsolicited email, whether it's
6 emails a day from companies you've never heard
of, or forwards from well-meaning friends. Spam
is versatile. It can take a variety of different
forms, including but not limited to MLM schemes,
chain-letters, jokes, myths, virus scares, invitations
to join clubs or other organizations, solicitations
for donations, mythical children with fictitious
diseases that supposedly want prayers/business
cards/emails/other objects, people who want to
sell you "banned" CDs, name brand products
at unbelievable discounts, spy software.. The
list goes on and on and on.
How do spammers get my email address?
Many people just don't realize that by forwarding
stuff to you and 30 million other people, they're
placing your email address, as well as theirs,
on mailing lists. A particularly annoying manifestation
of spam messages is the chain letter, which threatens
bad luck to those who do not forward it, or good
luck if you forward it to a million people. For
some reason, people feel the need to leave all
of the previous senders' and recipients' email
addresses in the body of the message, perhaps
to prove that they have good luck coming to them
because they spammed so many people. By the time
a message has been forwarded 20 times, there are
upwards of 200 email addresses included. This
is a spammers' delight. Eventually, this will
make its' way to someone who wants to sell you
something, and each email address will be added
to his list of potential customers. Spammers tend
to work together, too. They often compile a list
of 10,000 or more email addresses, and then sell
or trade their lists with other spammers.
Other spammers create "bots" that scan
web pages and strip email addresses off of them.
These bots do not discriminate. Whether you have
a web page with a "contact me" link,
or have signed someone else's Guestbook and included
your email address, the bot will find it and index
it. One thing you can do to combat this is include
nonsense characters in the address to "confuse"
the bot. For example.. One of my email addresses
is ih8spammers@yahoo.com. I could write it as
ih8spammers*<&nospam;>@yahoo.nospam.com
instead, and leave a text note below it that says
"remove *<&nospam;> and nospam
to email me". A real person could read this
and follow the directions. A bot, however, is
a dummy program that will simply save the address
as ih8spammers*<&nospam;>@yahoo.nospam.com.
When the spammer tries to send me email at that
address, it will come back undeliverable. If enough
people employ this method, it can seriously inconvenience
the spammer. I wonder if they like digging
through hundreds of useless messages?
There are also spammers that use other peoples'
mail servers illegally to obtain addresses. This
method is a bit more complicated to go into, but
basically, each mail server has something called
a "mailer daemon" that is responsible
for keeping lists of users. If the mail relay
is open, (most are not) and you know the right
commands, you can query the daemon and ask for
a list of all users whose email addresses start
with "a" or another letter. If you've
ever received spam that was addressed to 50 users
whose email addresses all started with the same
letter(s) then this was most likely the method
used. If you belong to any mailing lists, you
might be targeted this way.
There are other ways that your email address can
be obtained, but those listed above are the most
common methods used.
A word about Forwards
When you feel you absolutely must forward something,
ALWAYS delete all of the annoying '>>>>>' characters
that appear before each line of the message. PLEASE.
Also, always delete the previous senders' and
recipients' email addresses. The more things
get forwarded, the messier and harder to read
everything gets. Unless you're trying to
make enemies, never send a forward that hasn't
been cleaned up first. (See the sample forward
message after the FAQ). As we learned in
the first lesson, by leaving 150 email addresses
attached to the mail, you risk getting each and
every one of them put on a mailing list. Your
email address will be sold to other spammers,
who will sell it to still more spammers.. Then,
before you even know what hit you, your mailbox
will be flooded with pyramid schemes and other
useless junk.
In Closing
Spam is harmful not only because it wastes your
time, but it ends up costing you money as well.
For every spam message you receive, anywhere from
5 to 5 million others have been sent. When the
Internet Service Provider (ISP) has it's mail
servers bogged down with those messages, it must
save them on it's computers. If the message volume
is large enough, it is forced to spend money to
buy more bandwidth, more hard drives, more computer
equipment, more phone line access, etc. This cost
is passed on to the people who use their services.
Usually, ISP's are not making very much of a profit
to begin with, and if the increased service rates
drive the customers away, it might well drive
the ISP straight out of business. |
|
lesson
#2: email hijacking of innocent
bystanders' email. This is a particularly nasty
thing when it happens, as often you don't even
know that your address has been used without
your permission. However, in some cases, the
innocent bystander's mailbox is bombarded with
"bounced" messages, which can have
the annoying side effect of filling your mailbox
up and causing legitimate messages addressed
to you to be bounced back to the sender. This
has happened to my Yahoo mail account twice
now, probably because some angry spammer read
this page and decided to get revenge on me for
telling you how to combat them. Basically, spammers
can buy software now which allows them to forge
email headers on outgoing mail to make it look
like an email came from a totally unrelated
third party. Since places like SpamCop block
known spammers' email from ever reaching your
inbox, and most ISP's use SpamCop or some version
of the Realtime Blackhole List (RBL) many messages
that they send won't ever be read. To get around
this, they pick an email address from their
list and forge their outgoing messages to appear
to be sent from this address. The reasoning
is that for starters, they won't have to get
all of the bounced messages back themselves.
Also, if the faked email address isn't blocked
by anyone, then all of their messages will be
delivered and they will have a greater chance
of selling whatever substandard product they're
trying to hawk. In the end, it comes down to
avoiding responsibility for their actions in
any way. Unfortunately, there's not much you
can do about this, as it's almost impossible
to get past the forged headers and find the
person who did this to you. However, in one
case, I was able to get the spammer's website
shut down because he very foolishly included
it in the email that forged with my address
in it. I was able to show his webhost thousands
of bounced emails I received that had his website
address in the message, and he was shut down
for spamming. You won't always get such satisfaction,
but when you do, it feels great!
|
Lesson
#3: why not to reply, send threatening
email, or make Angry phone calls to the spammers:
Most spammers have a "reply and get removed
from the list" email address at the end of their
message. 9 out of 10 times, it is either completely
invalid (they don't really want to take you
off their list), or it just confirms to them
that a real live person is reading their mail.
To a spammer, this means that it's not only
okay to send you more spam, but also to sell
your address to other spammers. This is
frustrating.
What is the appropriate method to fight spam?
The best thing to do, if your email software
has the option, is to filter your mail, or block
the spammers' email address. For example, in
Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5, there is an option
to block email addresses. By clicking on the
TOOLS --> MESSAGE RULES --> BLOCKED SENDERS
LIST menu, you can specify email addresses that
you don't want to receive email from. Any mail
that does come from those addresses will be
immediately moved to the trash bin, where you
can delete them without opening them. Or, if
you want to block email that contains certain
key words, open the TOOLS-->MESSAGE RULES-->MAIL
folder. Here, you can specify certain words,
phrases, etc. to block. You can also specify
what you would like done with them. You can
have them moved to the deleted items bin, to
a specific folder of your choice, or just outright
deleted. Most mail programs come with similar
features. If you need help finding them, simply
open your email browser, open the HELP menu
on the toolbar, and go from there. Even free
email like yahoo offers filtering and blocking
services. One of my favorite solutions has been
to make a "throwaway" email address.
Whenever I am downloading software or signing
up for anything online and am required to give
an email address, I give the throwaway address
out, taking special care to checkmark "do
not send me any offers through email" or
similar option. Once a week, I check my email
and report the spam to the appropriate places.
If you really want to hurt spammers, look up
the ISP or webhosting company that hosts their
email account. Look up the contact information
for the hosting company, and email their abuse
desk, usually abuse@insertcompanynamehere.com.
When doing this, be sure to include full message
headers for the spam you have received. When
you report spam, the company hosting the spammer
will usually warn them, suspend them, or shut
their accounts down altogether depending on
the severity and frequency of the reports they
receive.
If you are unsure of where to find headers in
your mail browser, google it and you'll get
a plethora of information.
RESOURCES
Here are a few links to sites that offer in
depth information on fighting spam.
|
Lesson
#4: Don't buy everything you read.
Emails such as "coke, bill gates, etc.. will
send you and everyone you forward this to a
free case of coke, a million dollars, etc.."
and "By holding a "gas out" we can make the
evil oil cartel lower their prices by hitting
them in the pocketbook" are what we call Urban
Myths. The truth is, someone was playing
a joke on coca cola, and on Bill Gates, and
a Gas Out will accomplish nothing, save possibly
hurting smaller gas stations that have absolutely
nothing to do with setting the oil prices. There
is a great website that details most of the
Internet myths located at http://www.snopes.com/index.html. I
would highly recommend that before forwarding
something, you look it up on his web site and
find out if it's really anything that you want
to sign your name to. There is alot of
misinformation out there, and spam/forwards
that are genuinely hurtful get forwarded every
day by well-meaning people who get taken in
by tricks and scams. One example is a message
sent claiming to be from the "Make-A-Wish
Foundation". This email claims that a dying
child wants business cards from around the world
so that he can be in the Guiness Book of World
Records. One family was forced to abandon their
house when it became flooded with mail. Their
son, who had recovered from cancer 17 years
ago, was still receiving cards from around the
world. The house was made into it's own postal
code, and the cards are still pouring in. I
have received several copies of this chain letter
in my inbox in the last few years. In addition
to harming the family, the nonprofit Make-A-Wish
Foundation is forced to field thousands of calls
and emails a year about this hoax, taking valuable
time away from the very important volunteer
work they do. This is just one example of many,
illustrating just a small portion of the suffering
caused by these hoaxes.
|
| The
moral of the story? The Internet is a wonderful
place, full of amazing, helpful, and fascinating
information. Have fun with it, but please
be responsible! Don't clog the Internet up with
useless, harmful stuff.. It only wastes time and
energy that could be used in better endeavors.
Thanks for reading my humble contribution to the
war on SPAM!
Jessie
|
| THIS
IS A REAL EXAMPLE OF SPAM. Notice that it has
been forwarded over 10 times and, in the process,
has "mushroomed" into a jumbled mess.
The original message has become almost totally
unreadable, not to mention virtually un-findable.
This is for informational purposes only. Coke
never has, and never will, run a promotion like
the one described below. I'm reasonably sure that
by posting this, I have not violated any copyright
laws.
-----
Original Message -----
From: omitted <omitted@omitted.com>
To: <omitted@omitted.com>; <omitted@omitted.com>;
<omitted@omitted.com>; <omitted@omitted.com>;
<omitted@omitted.com>; <omitted@omitted.com>;
<omitted@omitted.com>; <omitted@omitted.com>
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2000 7:47 AM
Subject: Fwd: Fw: Fwd: FREE COKE
>
>
> >From: omitted <omitted@omitted.com>
> >To:omitted@omitted.com
> >Subject: Fwd: Fw: Fwd: FREE COKE
> >Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 18:03:55 -0600
> >
> > >X-From_: omitted@omitted.com Sat Mar 11 17:23:33
2000
> > >Envelope-to: omitted@omitted.com
> > >X-Originating-IP: [omitted]
> > >From: "Bonnie" <omitted@omitted.com>
> > >To: omitted@omitted.com
> > >Subject: Fwd: Fw: Fwd: FREE COKE
> > >Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 17:23:16 CST
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >>From: "Shyann" <omitted@omitted.com>
> > >>To: "bonnie" <omitted@omitted.com>
> > >>Subject: Fw: Fwd: FREE COKE
> > >>Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 19:11:10 -0600
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>-----Original Message-----
> > >>From: omitted@omitted.com<omitted@omitted.com>
> > >>To: Tracy <omitted@omitted.com>; Tom
<omitted@omitted.comv>;
> >Tom
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Ted <omitted@omitted.com>;
Tami and Larry
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Sweetcrzy<omitted@omitted.com>;
Steve
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Steve C. <omitted@omitted.com>;
> >Steve
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Shyann<omitted@omitted.com>;
Shadd
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Sarah <omitted@omitted.com>;
robyn
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Pat <omitted@omitted.com>;
Nikki
> >
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Mike and Michele
> ><omitted@omitted.com>;
> > >>Michele <omitted@omitted.com>; Mary <omitted@omitted.com>;
> > >>Linda
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Leanne <omitted@omitted.com>;
Kent
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; John and David
> ><omitted@omitted.com>;
> > >>Jim and Judy <omitted@omitted.com>; Jay
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Jackie <omitted@omitted.com>;
Jack
> > >>and
> > >>Becky <omitted@omitted.com>; Gumby
> ><omitted@omitted.com>;
> > >>Firstbase <omitted@omitted.com>; Don
and Faye
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>;
> > >>Diane <omitted@omitted.com>; Deb <omitted@omitted.com>;
David
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Dave <omitted@omitted.com>;
Craig
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Chuck <omitted@omitted.com>;
Chris
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Cakelady <omitted@omitted.com>;
Brenda
> > >><omitted@omitted.com>; Anthony <omitted@omitted.com>
> > >>Date: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 6:54 AM
> > >>Subject: Fw: Fwd: FREE COKE
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> >
> > >> >-----Original Message-----
> > >> >From: Paula <omitted@omitted.com>
> > >> >To: Kim <omitted@omitted.com>
> > >> >Cc: Vicki <omitted@omitted.com>; karen
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; Jodi <omitted@omitted.com>;
LAURIE K
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; Diane L. <omitted@omitted.com>;
Laura
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; Lisa <omitted@omitted.com>;
Loni
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; Becky m <omitted@omitted.com>;
medic42
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; M <omitted@omitted.com>;
saint
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; sam <omitted@omitted.com>;
slingkie
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; sniffles <omitted@omitted.com>;
Terri
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; Tamie <omitted@omitted.com>;
brenda
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; Tamara . <omitted@omitted.com>;
> > >>angelspice
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; babbles <omitted@omitted.com>;
bev
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; Bud <omitted@omitted.com>;
Carol
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; CHELE <omitted@omitted.com>;
cookie
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; Darlene <omitted@omitted.com>;
Dawn
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; debby <omitted@omitted.com>;
fairy
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>; FRAN <omitted@omitted.com>;
Giddie
> > >> ><omitted@omitted.com>
> > >> >Date: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 4:28 AM
> > >> >Subject: Re: Fwd: FREE COKE
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >>Where's my COKE ???
> > >> >>What a ProMo !!!!
> > >> >>
> > >> >>Kim Zimmerman wrote:
> > >> >>
> > >> >>> Note: forwarded message attached.
> > >> >>>
> > >> >>> __________________________________________________
> > >> >>> Do You Yahoo!?
> > >> >>> Talk to your friends online with Yahoo!
Messenger.
> > >> >>> http://im.yahoo.com
> > >> >>>
> > >> >>>
> > >>----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>-
> > >> >-
> > >> >>>
> > >> >>> Subject: FREE COKE
> > >> >>> Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 15:56:19 CST
> > >> >>> From: "Judy " <omitted@omitted.com>
> > >> >>> To: omitted@omitted.com, omitted@omitted.com,
> > >>omitted@omitted.com,
> > >> >>> omitted@omitted.com,
omitted@omitted.com, omitted@omitted.com,
> > >> >>> omitted@omitted.com,
omitted@omitted.com,
> > >> >omitted@omitted.com,
> > >> >>> omitted@omitted.com,
omitted@omitted.com,
> >omitted@omitted.com,
> > >> >>> omitted@omitted.com,
omitted@omitted.com,
> > >>omitted@omitted.com,
> > >> >>> omitted@omitted.com,
omitted@omitted.com, omitted@omitted.comm,
> > >> >>> omitted@omitted.com,
omitted@omitted.com,
> >omitted@omitted.com,
> > >> >>> omitted@omitted.com,
omitted@omitted.com,
> > >>omitted@omitted.com,
> > >> >>> omitted@omitted.com
> > >> >>>
> > >> >>> Yeah right, like i believe this
lol
> > >> >>>
> > >> >>> >> > >>>> Subject: FREE COCA COLA FOR
A MONTH
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>>
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>>
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> Coca-Cola is offering
four free cases of
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> diet
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> coke
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> or
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> regular
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> coke
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> to
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> every
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> person you send this to.
When you have
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> finished
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> sending
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> this
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> e-mail
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> to
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> as
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> many people as you wish,
a screen will come
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> up.
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> It
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> will
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> then
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> ask
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> >where
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> you
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> > want your free coke
products sent. This is a
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> sales
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> promotion
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> to
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> get
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> our
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> name
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> out to young people
around the world. We
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> believe
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> this
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> project
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> can
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> be
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> a
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> success, but only with
your help. So please
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> start
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> e-mailing
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> and
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> help
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> us
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> build our database. Thank
you for your
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> support!
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>>
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> Always Coca-Cola,
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>>
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> Mike Hill
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> Director of Marketing
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> Coca-Cola Corporation
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> Atlanta, Georgia
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>> www.cocacola.com
> > >> >>> >> >> > >>>>
> > >> >>> >>
> > >> >>> ______________________________________________________
> > >> >>> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
> > >> >>
> > >> >
> > >>
> > >
> > >______________________________________________________
> > >Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
> |
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