STAMP OUT SPAM

If you are a business owner, chances are that you are spending countless hours sorting out valid email from spam.    If you host your site with a major ISP such as AOL, Earth link or ATT, more than likely they will have a "spamcatcher" with their standard offering.  However, this is only the tip of the iceberg.  The intelligence built in into most of these spamcatchers is extremely limited, and if you report spam to the major ISPs, chances are that they will not get to it for days, if not months.  Further, most ISPs will only look at spam that originates within their network.  Otherwise, you are on your own.  This means that you have to play detective:  You need to trace an email message then you need to interpret email headers so that you can then report the culprit to the right ISP.   A brief look at the sources of spam  as you can imagine, reveal that they come from all over the world.  The culprits typically send spam using your email address, or your under your domain name.

Assuming that you have traced the email message, and interpreted correctly, you need to forward the message to the originating ISP. There are tutorials on how to complaint about spam,  while others have recommended that you word your complaint in such a way that it does not get you in legal trouble.  Refer to suggested letter:  If you are like us, you will probably want to use tools or services to help you fight spam.  One we are currently trying  SpamCop's spam reporting service

The Forum for Responsible and Ethical E-mail  http://www.spamfree.org/ 

SPAM fighting tools:  SpamCop's spam reporting service will help you report spam quickly and accurately. 

Reporting Cybercrime:  Click here 

Frequently Asked Questions:  

• http://www.faqs.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq/spam-faq/

• http://www.firelily.com/support/depression/trolls.html 

• http://www.firelily.com/support/recovery/flame.retardant.html 

Latest Developments:

Internet Providers Sue Hundreds for Spam
(AP) - Some of the nation's largest Internet providers, in an unusual joint effort, said Wednesday they filed six lawsuits against hundreds of people who were accused of sending millions of unwanted e-mails in violation of the new U.S. law against "spam." The legal actions by Microsoft Corp., America Online Inc., Earthlink Inc. and Yahoo! Inc., represent the first major industry actions under the "can spam" legislation that went into effect Jan. 1. The lawsuits, filed in federal courts in California, Georgia, Virginia and Washington state, were announced at a news conference. More...

Send suggestions to FightSpam@atwebo.com

Source of Spam:

Complaints to Earthlink:  abuse@abuse.earthlink.net Good luck if you ever get a response!

Complaints to AOL: Good luck if you ever get a response!

Keywords: massmail, spam, uce, ube, unsolicited, junk, email, e-mail -   Send your issue to "tosemail1@aol.com".

Keywords: usenet, newsgroup -   Send your issue to "tosusenet@aol.com".

Keywords: security, harassment -   Send your issue to "tosgeneral@aol.com".

Keyword: web  -  Sends your issue to "tosweb@aol.com".

Keyword: IRC -   Sends your issue to "tosirc@aol.com".

How to interpret Email Headers:  http://support.earthlink.net/support/TUTORIALS/email/mbx_interpret_headers.jsp

Tracing an email message:    http://samspade.org/t

Suggested Letter to responsible ISP:   (the Without Prejudice preamble below is to avoid legal issues)

"Without prejudice I submit to you this unsolicited commercial e-mail is from your user.  UCE is unappreciated because it costs my provider and ultimately myself, money to process just like an unsolicited FAX.  Please look into it and  let me know if you need anything else"

Where to Complain About Frauds & Scams: http://www.elsop.com/wrc/complain.htm 

How to Complain to Providers about Spam:  http://spam.abuse.net/userhelp/howtocomplain.shtml 

Fight Spam Resources:

• Abuse.net's introduction to spam: What is it and why is it bad?
• Elsop's anti-spam page - lots of other links to more information
• SamSpade - tools for the unix-deprived and other good info
• Bestprac.com - A guide for all types of users on how to avoid spamming
• abuse.net - ISP abuse address clearinghouse
• Realtime blackhole list - blocking of selected email servers
• Spamhaus - Lists ISPs who keep organized spamming alive
• The SpamCon Foundation (formerly suespammers.org)
• The author of this software, Julian Haight
• Net abuse jargon file - Cues for the acronym challenged
• Net abuse FAQ - all about spam
• An organization to fight "street spam" - those unsightly weight loss signs on the highway.
• Reading Email Headers.
• Sneakemail is a service that gives you more control over the emails you receive.
• SpamList is a config file for sendmail which agressively blocks spam. Use with caution.
• SpamWars, a humorous kill-the-spammer browser-based game
• Monitoring and reporting worm/hacking activity