Guerilla spam fighting
Myob
bandwidth is related somehow to spam. For years, I have been filtering
spam email before it gets to my users. I believe that I have filtered over
95% of this spam. Even though my users do not see this spam, I still am
occurring losses associated with bandwidth costs. I have come up with
several ways of passing these costs back to the spammers.
This post is not about complaining to the abuse department of various ISP
since their AUP (User and privacy policy) does not allow them to give out
the names and addressess of the spammer involved. What I'm talking about
is going after the people who use spamvertising to generate their business.
Let's pass the cost and inconveinience of spam back to them.
1. Each time you get a spam, go to the website advertised. Look for
toll free numbers on the website. If you find one, post the URL with the
corresponding url to this newsgroup and encourage people to call and
complain about thir spamvertising procatice. Call only once for each spam
(Unless you are at a payphone) in order to be protected from prosecution
for harrassment.
2. Submit a real looking but fake credit card order. make up a name,
address, phone number, email address, etc. As for a credit card number,
you will have to use something that will pass a credit card validity test
script. These scripts do a calculation on the submitted credit card number
to ensure that they are entered properly. If credit card number is entered
properly, the submitted for is usually passed to a script on a website that
emails the submitted info to the person selling the item (no, this is not
done securely because the offending website does not want to make a proper
monetary investment to do so).
These are credit card numbers that will pass a validity check but belong to
nobody (they cannot be charged)
Visa 4111111111111111
Visa 4012888888881881
MC 5555555555554444
MC 5105105105105100
AMEX 371449635398431
AMEX 378282246310005
AMEX 378734493671000
Disc 6011111111111117
Disc 6011000990139424
Use a search engine such as google and punch in these numbers for proof
that they do not belong to anybody. You can also download programs that
create valid looking credit card numbers.
3. Get the spamvertised site into trouble. This is easily done if the
site is advertising software or other item at a ridiculously low price.
Microsoft Office products being advertised below $100 dollars usually means
that the seller is distributing pirated or illegally bundled software
product (If Microsoft product, complain to pir...@microsoft.com). If
another brandname, do a search on the internet using the company's
brandname and the word piracy. This will usually get a url or email
address where you can report the seller.
4. I am also considering writing form pages where people can submit fake
orders at the click of a mouse button for sites that spamvertise to me.
6. The following site has been advertised in spam sent to me:
http://www.planfor365.com/yt4/ There is a toll free voice mail line
(888-271-1767) for this seller . Please give them a call and complain
about their spamvertising policies. Of course, do not leave them you email
address if asked :-)