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Spammer Gets Spam Mailed

ssblood noted a story about a spammer getting what he deserves as well as a related story from the Register. Essentially the virtual spammer is capable of sending a billion emails a day, and is getting sacks of physical junk mail from irritable folks. Apparently part of this plot was hatched on familiar turf too.

8 of 341 comments (clear)

  1. Now slashdot is getting spammed... by BlueArchon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...with old news, wonder why I even bother to point this out...

  2. Damn you! by Bish.dk · · Score: 1, Insightful

    When I first saw the article I went "Yesh! They got another spammer!!" ... That is until I noted the similarities with this story.
    I seriously can't believe that most /.-readers, who just happen to surf by in their spare time, can spot a duplicate story quicker than an editor, who is doing it full time. :)

  3. Re:Hmm this really isnt new by Saint+Nobody · · Score: 5, Insightful

    never reply to your spam mail. sometimes the address will be forged, and you'll be harassing some poor shmuck. sometimes you're just replying to a bot that notes you as a valid email address. plus, if you do wind up on a spammer's bad side, you're probably more likely to be the victim of a forged address.

    by replying to spam, you're betting that your spammer is ethical. do you really want to make that bet?

    --
    #define F(x) int main(){printf(#x,10,#x);}
    F(#define F(x) int main(){printf(#x,10,#x);}%cF(%s))
  4. Re:Hmm this really isnt new by hector13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    2, points:

    1) This has to do with sending real (snail) mail to a spammer, not email. It is a lot easier to filter out email then it is to go through 300+ letters a day to figure out if any of them are important.

    2) By replying to spam emails, you are probably doing yourself nothing but harm. I agree with your basic point, if everyone replied to every spam and swamped the spammer's network, it would work. Since that isn't the case, the only thing you are doing by replying is letting the spammer know that he has a valid email address.

  5. Re:"They're Out of Their Minds..." by jdera · · Score: 2, Insightful

    firebomb.... ya.... i like that....

  6. There oughta be a weekly profile... by mtec · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's make 'dup think' work for good, not evil...

    Spammer of the week.

    Ya' know - a puff piece profile. Who they are, what they do in their spare time, what their favorite color is, name address and phone number, shirt size...

    I'm serious. Why not?

    --
    Cake or Death? Cake Please!
  7. Re:Hmm this really isnt new by MonkeyBoy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hate to break the news to you, but of all the spams I've received over the past 2 days, not a single one was SENT from the account that is listed on the reply-to address. In fact, if you read the contents of the spam, you'll usually see them point replies to a completely different address, and "remove" requests to another (usually bogus) address. In not a single case does the subnet of the sender, nor the mail server used to relay the message, match any email address contained within the spam.

    Now, that's not to say that there are idiots out there who are ignorant enough to send spam with their own return address via their ISP's mail server, nor do I mean to say that there aren't enough spam-friendly ISPs out there loaning bandwidth to spammers running their own server farms (like the scumbag weasel $!@#$@# who's currently getting ever-increasing amounts of old-fashioned junkmail). I'm just saying that it's unlikely your actions will cause the effect you intend, as spammers who operate in the manner you need are in the minority.

    --

    Moof!

  8. Re:Spammers?John Poindexter is getting a taste too by Peahippo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    To add and update a bit to this:

    Some guy came up with a plan to fill bags (100ft wide and 800ft long) with Northern CA river water (in excess) and tow them to Southern CA (where it's needed). Recently, this plan was shelved since one of the first steps (California-wise, at least) involved environmental-impact studies for the rivers the bags would be filled from. The studies would have cost $1 million per river.

    I think this sums up CA's problem; progress is definitely dampened by such reluctance to move into the unknown, and the level of assurance desired is simply too expensive. That, and the fact that you shouldn't build cities in the desert or even an arid land.

    To expand upon this article with personal opinion:

    I think the USA has more than lost national identity and will Balkanize within a generation. But like the Congress thinking that declarations of war are "anarchronistic" (ref. Rep. Ron Paul), actual secession will also be an anachronism. The secession will be accomplished by other means. A mixture of official and unofficial methods will be used to make sure that Californians stay in, and non-Californians stay out. We kind of have that kind of thing now, scattered over America as local policy; if you are a Black man, try wandering around your town's wealthier sections and see how long it takes before a cop stops you ... and takes you back home (... or to the "big house" ... remember, as soon as you stop moving on the public way, you are "loitering" and thus subject to arrest).

    To dimly predict, it might occur that the CA legislature votes for an "assurance bond" for people moving into CA. To live there, you must present $10000 in cash or a bond good for same to local authorities. Of course, this doesn't say "you can't live in CA", but for people unable to come up with $10K, it does say that ... and official language once again doesn't match unofficial intent. (I modeled this prediction on the experience of a petroleum engineer and his wife (a teacher) when they moved to New Zealand for a year. NZ required them to have $50K on hand just to get into the country.)

    Time will tell. That's the good part about the future ... it's going to arrive anyway, so you'll find out eventually.

    --
    [also misbehaves on Kuro5hin as Peahippo]