Interesting: no more spam

anton#1 · Nov 11, 2004

I got around 300 spam a day, when I signed on with spamarrest. With this kind of service the sender has to confirm that he sent you an email.

I kept on receiving 300 spam a day in my mailbox with spamarrest.

Lately something very strange happened. The amount of spam dropped to almost zero in one day. First I was convinced that spamarrest was having problems. I investigated - everything is ok. My email is fully functional.

Does anyone have idea or link about this?

Nexus · Nov 11, 2004

Mm.
http://www.doingfreedom.com/nas/spamarrest.htm

Spam is so despised by every rational human on Earth that many locales have passed laws against the practice, and individuals and companies have sued spammers for millions of dollars. Spam has spawned an entire industry dedicated to its extermination. You might think that these little facts would cause businesses to shy away from this form of advertising. Really, how smart is it to antagonize and enrage your potential customers?

You can look at this write-up a couple of different ways. I'm still looking for a challenge-response system that makes sense.

~ Nexus

mole · Nov 11, 2004

Spam Arrest actually generates back reverse spam into the system, compounding the waste load the ISPs already are facing.

Your IP could be barred because of this, or people receiving your spam arrest verification mail may actually report you as spamming them.

The best way I've discovered if your email is spam infested is to use spamcop.net's webmail service.

anton#1 · Nov 11, 2004

Funny thing is: I dont need spamarrest anymore, since no spam is coming in. All my other email addresses still receive a shitload.

Also: most spam goes to the email address I use to register domains on; administrative email - the one you want to keep for renewal notices from the registrar.

seeker · Nov 11, 2004

spamcop.net is over protected.

It has in MANY cases caused my own email to friends to be stopped as spam...
It isnt a good solution IMO.
I havent found a good solution yet.

JuniperPark · Nov 11, 2004

My Spam rant:

1) Since I do a lot of online business I got a lot of spam, but about 40% of it is FROM Symantic, Norton, and others 'warning' me that I have sent a virus. Since **ALL** recent viruses forge the return address, and this fact is documented by the same company sending me the 'warning', this is 100% SPAM.

2) 99.9% of people I talk to spend less than 2 minutes per day clearing their box from SPAM. About 99.8% of the people I talk to turned on or purchased spam controls, and lots at least one VERY important email, most people lost MANY important emails.

This is INSANE. People are buying the hype that spam is so awful simply because software dealers and ISPs have something new to SELL. I've personally seen deals over $1,000 fall through because some idiot didn't want to delete 10 spam emails a day and paid $30 for spam filter software. Stupid stupid stupid.

As far as Spamcop, I documented an incident with them in which I nearly filed a lawsuit against both Spamcop and my ISP. A spammer forged my return address, not even spelling the domain name correctly, and filed a complaint with my ISP, which threatened to suspend my web hosting account. The spam mail in question originated in Russia, pointed to web site not under my ISP's control, and advertised a product I have absolutely nothing to do with... Yet Spamcop ignored all evidence and common sense and blacklisted me. Again, the DOMAIN NAME wasn't even spelled correctly, making the situation absolutely impossible -- that's how corrupt SpamCop is.

seeker · Nov 11, 2004

to add to it:
JUST TODAY, my server company sent me an email that they have received complaints from spamcop about me spamming from one of my accounts.
Guess what?
that account doesnt even have an email account configured for it.
It took me 1 minute to see that the IP was inconsistent with my dedi server, but spamcop nevertheless reported me and I was 'threatened' with discontinuation from my server company until I replied...

JuniperPark · Nov 11, 2004

seeker said:
to add to it:
JUST TODAY, my server company sent me an email that they have received complaints from spamcop about me spamming from one of my accounts.
Guess what?
that account doesnt even have an email account configured for it.
It took me 1 minute to see that the IP was inconsistent with my dedi server, but spamcop nevertheless reported me and I was 'threatened' with discontinuation from my server company until I replied...

Send a certified registered letter to the VP of your web hosting company, explaining as simply as possible:

1) That you have been threatened for no reason

2) Spamcop has a history of giving false information, a fact widely known in the industry

3) Give reasons why it is impossible that you are the culprit (include the originating IP of the email from the headers - it will not be yours)

4) Tell them in VERY clear terms that they are to cease all threats and harassment, and if they ever shut your service off, you will sue for all damages including loss of potential profits.

They are now 'on notice' and can't claim it was an accident later.

seeker · Nov 11, 2004

thanks for the explanation! I was wondering how to do that.
Do I send a letter to both the hosting company and Spamcop?
Does it have to be a letter or is an email sufficient?

Thanks!

JuniperPark · Nov 11, 2004

seeker said:
thanks for the explanation! I was wondering how to do that.
Do I send a letter to both the hosting company and Spamcop?
Does it have to be a letter or is an email sufficient?

Thanks!

I'm not sure if this is true in your country, but in the US certified registered mail (where the receiver must provide identification and provide a signature which id mailed back to you) usually means you're DEAD SERIOUS, and this is looked upon very favorably as notification by the courts. If only costs a few $$ and enough time to go to the post office, so it's definately worth it.

I would send it to both companies, since both can be held liable for any damages, and can no longer hide behind the 'mistake' or 'accident' claim. Their intentional negligence is causing people to lose money, a point to be driven home.

Nexus · Nov 11, 2004

seeker said:
spamcop.net is over protected.
It has in MANY cases caused my own email to friends to be stopped as spam... It isnt a good solution IMO.
I havent found a good solution yet.

Tell me about it. But, do you pull the germ infested rope from the drowning man? It's kind of do or die these days. I'm not having trouble with spoofiers, as much as with INCOMING mail to "catch-all" e-mail accounts. Spam-Cop provides a service to the drowning. While I'd definitely rail against being demonized, there are a lot of people out there who don't know they're being used by people who use their open relays. Not knowing isn't really an excuse when it helps to cause part of this complex problem.

~ Nexus

paybacktime · Nov 11, 2004

funny cause I liked spamcop.net... Over protected eh?

mole · Nov 12, 2004

seeker said:
spamcop.net is over protected.

It has in MANY cases caused my own email to friends to be stopped as spam...
It isnt a good solution IMO.

I have used a boatload of spam filtering software and services in the past, and looking through your quarantine list or 300 spams every day ain't my idea of productivity.

I have one email that I used since 1998, and I wasn't careful with where that email was dished out. It's flea infested now. So I use spamcop to give it a tick-bath. I whitelist all my key contacts, and let spamcop chop the heads off anything else it deems even remotely as spam. I just download whatever gets through and just leave spamcop to auto-delete the massive heaps of spam it collects without bothering to look at it.

This is in addition to my email server host chopping them off first. Free email is never an option if you are serious about doing business on the Internet.

Even when a few spam straggles through, it gets auto-whacked straight out into the spam folder by Norton Anti-Spam.

I have long changed my admin email to a strictly guarded thing, and will not hesitate to change it if it falls into the hands of spammers. Prevention, I have learnt, is always better than cure.

So far, spam has now become a non-issue for me. I don't waste my time on it any more.

seeker · Nov 12, 2004

well mole, this might work for you, but spamcop for example will in mosty probability blacklist my email when I try to email you about a domain purchase.

I dont want that happening to me, so I prefer to just take 10 minutes a day to get off the spam manually. A trained eye can get rid f them very fast.

MediaHound · Nov 12, 2004

Alex,
Post your problem here
news.admin.net-abuse.blocklisting
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&group=news.admin.net-abuse.blocklisting

answer all the questions they ask you, and it will get seen by them.
Rarely will they remove a listing, but it's known to occur.
And this is the only place where you have a chance for SpamCop to hear you out.
The people you talk to arent them. You won't talk to them, but they're within reach. Just explain your case and if its true, your all good.

@ JuniperPark - The datacenter has every right to delete an account that gets any portion of their IP block blacklisted. Certified letters won't get you out of that mess, no matter how 'dead serious' they make you look. You can't make demands on them. Get yourself blacklisted, if it's by mistake or not, you have to jump the proper hoops. Have you ever visited news.admin.net-abuse.blocklisting?

seeker · Nov 12, 2004

Thats a great resource!
Thanks.

MediaHound · Nov 12, 2004

anytime pal

David G · Nov 12, 2004

seeker said:
to add to it:
JUST TODAY, my server company sent me an email that they have received complaints from spamcop about me spamming from one of my accounts.
Guess what? that account doesnt even have an email account configured for it. It took me 1 minute to see that the IP was inconsistent with my dedi server, but spamcop nevertheless reported me and I was 'threatened' with discontinuation from my server company until I replied...

If you put the email headers of spams you get into the free Interrogate Window of www.spamcop.com it often will report the spam originated from your IP Address because the program is too poorly programmed to recognize obviously disguised headers (which are easy to see yourself by looking at the headers).

There are a few firms named spamcop including spamcop.com, spamcop.net. Also www.cloudmark.com who has a good program named spamnet (and one I recommend). Cloudmark's Spamnet seems to delete a good percentage of spams from your inbox automatically and I have never seen it delete a legit one.

P.S. Anyone know a good spam filter to delete directly from your server rather than wait until it gets delivered to the inbox?