thevirtualhandshake - Latest Comments in Hitting Spammers Where It Hurts

Re: Hitting Spammers Where It Hurts

Scott Allen — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 15:03:03 -0000

Great suggestion, Jim. What I did on my end was send it from an address I have that is purely a spam-catcher. You're right -- you shouldn't send a message to the From or Reply-to from the address at which you received it.

Re: Hitting Spammers Where It Hurts

Jim Russell — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 12:54:22 -0000

I can't believe you just recommended that people reply to a spam email in order to check if the From: header address is correct. Yes, spammers use fraudulent From addresses. BUT -- the fraudulent ones they use are often real email addresses of innocent folks unconnected with the spammers. I've had cases myself (as I'm sure other have) of getting automated bounce messages for emails that I never sent, because some idiot spammer decided to use my domian in the From header.

On the whole, I applaud your efforts, but I suggest you change Step One. Ignore the From and Reply-to headers, assuming they are bogus. Instead, learn to read the chain of Received headers and find out what mail server originated the message.

-bjimba-

Re: Hitting Spammers Where It Hurts

Rob L. — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 02:58:50 -0000

There is a certain satisfaction that comes when you report a spamming domain and receive this thank you from ICANN:

Thank you for your submitting and confirming your Whois Data report re:
website. Your report has been entered into ICANN's database.
A copy of your report will be forwarded directly to the sponsoring registrar for investigation. The sponsoring registrar is responsible for investigating and correcting the data in response to your report as described in ICANN's "Registrar Advisory Concerning Whois Data Accuracy"
http://www.icann.org/announ...
For additional background information regarding registrars' Whois data accuracy obligations, see also the Registrar Advisory Concerning the '15-day Period' in Whois Accuracy Requirements
http://www.icann.org/announ...
As discussed in detail in these advisories, it might legitimately take up to several weeks for the registrar to take action in response to your report.
Please save this email as a record of your report. If you have reason to believe that the sponsoring registrar may not be fulfilling its obligations, please forward your copy of this e-mail, along with any other relevant information, to ICANN's Registrar Liaison department at . ICANN will review your submission and work with the registrar to ensure compliance. Also, in order to assist our efforts to improve Whois data accuracy, we may contact you later via e-mail to follow-up concerning the registrar's handling of your report.
Thank you again for taking the time to help improve Whois accuracy by submitting your report.
Best regards,
InterNIC Whois Data Problem Reports System

And it's even more satisfying when you receive the final report on a domain that has been removed by ICANN.
I stand now at 8 domains being removed from the Internet and several more in the process.