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When Spammers Try To Sue You

Posted by timothy on from the a-reputation-of-solid-gold dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes: "I was looking for information about what recourse there is against spammers when I came across this site. It appears that Bernard Shifman sent email to several people trying to solcit employment via spam, and when they replied to him, asking him to stop, and reporting the spam to his ISP he threatend them with a lawsuit. It's a very entertaining read."

5 of 756 comments (clear)

  1. Why hasn't SpamCop been mentioned? by Tsar · · Score: 5, Informative
    I'd have thought that someone would have brought up SpamCop by now. Is there a better service that I don't know about?

    Anytime I get a spam, I hit the link that I received when I registered with SpamCop, and paste the email (complete with header) into the provided textbox. SpamCop processes the email, compiles a report of the offending spam, computes the appropriate reporting addresses, and delivers a copy to each one.

    It even allows you to add text to the beginning of the report. I always add this:
    The electronic mail message referenced in this report was transmitted to a user or users of an electronic mail service based in the state of Tennessee, USA, in direct violation of Tennessee Code Title 47, Chapter 18, Part 25: "Unsolicited Advertising by Electronic Means." See http://www.spamlaws.com/state/tn.html for the complete text of this law.
    Does that make me a bad person?

    --
    Tsar's Hypothesis: As the population of the Earth increases, the sum of human intelligence remains constant.
    1. Re:Why hasn't SpamCop been mentioned? by vandan · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes SpamCop is good.
      I can testify that they actually do make a difference because I was threatened with legal action myself after reporting a local (Australian) marketing company to spamcop. Apparently they lost their account with their ISP.
      I got a phonecall from an idiot who started threatening me with a lawsuit to recover 'great financial hardship' or some crap. It was a very abusive conversation. So then I rang the Australian Direct Marketing Association and told a girl there my story, put together a formal complaint. I haven't heard anything since (this was probably 3-5 months ago now).
      So anyway the point is that SpamCop works & work GOOD!

  2. Slashdot THIS link and cost spammers $$$ by vandan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Click here and then each link on the page and the advertisers gets charged the amount shown in small print. But for a permanent solution: I want to charge people who send me email. I would obviously pay back all those people who send stuff I wanted to see, and not pay back those who pissed me off. What's the chance of this happening? It would be good.

  3. Re:Replying to spammers is fun by Col.+Klink+(retired) · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is the reply I last received from enforcement@sec.gov:

    Dear Investor:

    Thank you for taking the time to forward to us another instance of advance
    fee frauds. I have fwded. it in turn to the Secret Service at:
    419.fcd@usss.treas.gov.

    Our only request would be that you be kind enough to forward any additional
    iterations of and/or variations on the Nigerian advance fee fraud spam you
    receive directly to the Secret Service. That Federal agency is handling
    this matter, and it would be a great help for you to send them to the Secret
    Service instead of the SEC: 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov.

    Again, thanks for your e-mail.

    Sincerely,

    Jim Daly
    U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
    Office of Investor Education and Assistance
    (202) 942-7173, (202) 942-9634 (fax)
    oiea@sec.gov

    --

    -- Don't Tase me, bro!

  4. A spoonful of research... by CyberLife · · Score: 4, Informative
    I took the liberty to do a little bit of research on good 'ol Bernie. Here's what I found:
    • The address listed on his domain registration is over four miles from city hall (source: MapQuest.com). Granted I know nothing about Chicago's layout, but I would assume this is not in the high-rise district.

    • There are no less than nine schools and nine supermarkets within the immediate vicinity of his location (source: MapQuest.com).

    • In his block alone there are 164 housing units of which nearly 50% are single occupant dwellings. In addition, nearly half of the housing in that same block are rentals. (source for both: US Census for 2000)

    • Again, his block alone is only about 1/4 of a mile long (source: US Census for 2000).
    Now, the "suite" number listed on his domain registration is in the 400's, implying it's on the fourth floor. The fact that there even exists a unit number in the address proves it's a multi-occupant building. Taking into consideration all of the above information along with the type of work he claims to do, it's my opinion (possibly incorrect) the address listed in his domain records is most likely a single-family apartment.

    I seriously doubt his claims of the greatness of his career. He's probably just some wannabe compulsive liar who screwed up and refuses to bow out gracefully.

    BTW, I'm not infallible (wait a minute, yes I am) so I would appreciate others checking my figures. :)