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Spammers Using Students as Relays

Zendar writes "idg has an article about how students at the 151-year-old Tufts University were paid as little as $20/month to relay spam from computers in their dorms. Interestingly enough, the students approached the spammers about this scheme and not vice-versa."

39 of 450 comments (clear)

  1. students.. by kangoonisch · · Score: 1, Funny

    they will be the guys who will control the world later and they spam us already great futur ^^

  2. Little bastards.. by sudog · · Score: 0, Funny

    Youth these days! You give them an inch, they spam all over you.

    1. Re:Little bastards.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      Back in my day, we finished the jokes we started. None of this giving up in a huff, no sir. We took that joke out into the snow behind our shoddily constructed log cabins and we just kept beating on it till it was good and dead.

      Kids these days. You don't know how easy you have it.

  3. Dangerous by snitty · · Score: 5, Funny

    It seems that being medical test subjects would be less likely to get them killed.

    --
    Modular Redundancy--Because 4 out of 5 Nodes agree
    1. Re:Dangerous by DickBreath · · Score: 2, Funny

      It seems that being medical test subjects would be less likely to get them killed.

      Maybe we should re-introduce paddling.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  4. Crappy Student Jobs by ifreakshow · · Score: 5, Funny

    What happened to the good old days when college students sold blood, sperm or surfed the web to earn beer money!

    1. Re:Crappy Student Jobs by skwirl42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      And I thought my job working for Vector Marketing, selling Cutco knives was unethical (network marketing... ugh)

  5. I can think of better uses for them by petronivs · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought college students made all the coin they could ever need with those webcams.

    --
    This is the real signature
    (Beats those shadows on the cave wall, don't it?)
    1. Re:I can think of better uses for them by scott1853 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I heard they got some VC money a couple years back, but for some reason their website never took off.

    2. Re:I can think of better uses for them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      but for some reason their website [dorkymalecamwhores.com] never took off

      Aw man, slashdotted already.

  6. 20 Bucks? by MisterMook · · Score: 2, Funny

    Man, I can imagine doing something like this in a dorm but for only 20 bucks? You'd think that it would at least be worth TWO large pizzas a month...

    1. Re:20 Bucks? by scott1853 · · Score: 4, Funny

      You must have failed College Math 101. Dollar amounts are to be clearly be represented in Ramen noodle packets. Therefore, $20 = 160 packets = 160/3 meals per day = 1.8 months of good eatin'.

    2. Re:20 Bucks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I had a job. In fact, I had two. They both paid $7/hr...doing C++ and Mac stuff. Just enough to afford beer and Phish shows!

      The Hippie.

  7. Computer Nerds Gone Wild by SirSlud · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is like the computer nerd equivilent to "College Girls Gone Wild". Anything for a buck.

    Except instead of making me want to spank myself, I want to spank them.

    --
    "Old man yells at systemd"
  8. Oh, me, me, pick me! by lastberserker · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dear Mr. Spammer, I wouldn't mind to relay your
    spam at all! In fact, I would do it with a full
    satisfaction of doing a valuable service to the
    community! Please, pretty please, pick (and pay)
    me to be your relay!

    WBR / lastberserker

    .
    .
    .

    [...of course I won't detail on _where_ I would
    relay your spam, but what's the matter - noone
    would miss it anyways...]

    --
    My other Beowulf cluster is... er...
  9. You know it.. by grub · · Score: 2, Funny


    !!! MAKE MONEY FAST !!!

    Earn as much as $20.00 a month sending out unsolicited email!

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  10. What's next? by Honorbound · · Score: 4, Funny

    Will they be setting up servers to share pirated music and video or something??? Oh, wait...

    --
    "I'm not, like, that smart. I, like, forget stuff all the time." -- Paris Hilton
  11. ...but they could be making $50/hour by callipygian-showsyst · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...if they put a video cam in their dorm room. They sold out cheap!

  12. Thank Heavens for Diagrams! by greenhide · · Score: 5, Funny

    I didn't understand the article at all. Then I saw the helpful graphic at the bottom of the article. It clearly showed just how the process worked! Without that picture, I would have been in the dark.

    --
    Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
  13. Re:Follow the money? by Viol8 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well , these students must be pretty dumb anyway to do this for a measly $20 with the risk of being banned permanently from the uni network (or even the uni itself) so maybe the spammers ask for bank details (get them because of the amazing credulity of Simon Student), deposit $20 and then sell those details on to some people in Nigeria who always seem to be desperate for somewhere to deposit $20,000,000 :) Ahem.

  14. Flashbacks by fizbin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cutco....

    Must... sell... knives...

    The whole experience still makes me shudder.

    1. Re:Flashbacks by quintessent · · Score: 2, Funny

      Are they the ones who sell the "world's best knives"?

      A friend in college asked me if I'd heard of the world's best knives. I told him no, but I owned the world's cheapest knives, so if they ever broke or went dull, it would cost me nothing to replace them.

  15. Re:Tracked using MAC address by Usquebaugh · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh another name dropper eh.

    A more subtle way is that the college you attend in Cambridge has already implemented this. The only problem with this approach is that all the alumni from Cambridge Universtiy think you're trying to associate yourself with their older and more established college.

  16. Now... by Mysticalfruit · · Score: 2, Funny

    This just proves that Tuff's has a better business school than Harvards...

    --
    Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
  17. You know you are old when.... by gosand · · Score: 4, Funny
    What happened to the good old days when college students sold blood, sperm or surfed the web to earn beer money!

    You know you are old when:

    You had to work a real job to get money in college

    People refer to the "good old days" and in your mind it was yesterday

    There was no World Wide Web when you were in college (unless you count FTP, BBSs, and Gopher sites)

    Your final paper in Computer Hardware Design was on the Pentium processor, and you could only find three sources because it wasn't due to be released for another 6 months.

    You post on Slashdot recounting how old you are, hoping someone will think you are cool

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  18. Message to Spammers: by cybermace5 · · Score: 3, Funny

    To the Man in the Can:

    I am willing in the utmost confidence and secret to help your with some certain relaying needs. My server does waits idle at my residence in an yet to be disclosed location, ready to relay your messages to the considerate masses. In exchange for your sum of $20 per month, my server will confidentiality flood the Internet with your excellent offerings.

    I can personally and utmost attest to guarantee that you messages will pass through entire unaltered, and not be redirected to /dev/null, or replaced with the text "I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR X PERCENT OF ALL YOUR SPAM" and your home address & phone number. I would most certainly not monitor every spam you attempted to send at your discretion, and report each and every instance to the immediately authorities.

    I trust you to and maintain the highest level of integrity & confidence in this matter.

    --- Ham Nbu Jahir, Supreme Commander of Nigerian National Space Fleet

    --
    ...
  19. The pictograph at the end of the article? by way2trivial · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thank god for that,
    I'm a Windows user, and without that little GUI
    I wouldn't have understood the article at all!

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
  20. Re:Unrest is born. . . by Snork+Asaurus · · Score: 4, Funny
    Anything can be turned into a buck.

    Bucks urgently required. Please post formula.

    --
    Sigs are bad for your health.
  21. Yeah sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    And they have 12in dicks, make money FAST$$$, have a low rate morgage, and access to the hottest porn site on the net.

    Oh, wait a minute that can't be right because spammers lie.

    Hope they are enjoying the six pack all their spamming has earned them.

  22. Re:You worry that you are old when.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You remember the job you worked to get money in college as a real job

    People refer to the "good old days" and in your mind it was a while ago

    There was no FTP, BBSs, and Gopher and you fondly remember the green text on the terminals in the campus computer centers that you could still see 30 minutes later as you walked home in the dark at midnight and contemplated how to hack your account to get more computer time for the fun stuff.

    In the Engineering lounges they installed a cool new video game called "Pong".

    You thought you were cool because you used an interactive terminal instead of punch cards like the freshpersons.

    Your final paper in Computer Hardware Design was on an 8-bit microprocessor known as the 8088, with only one source who didn't give a damn about students' interest in their parts.

    You read Slashdot in the hopes of finding evidence that not everyone your age has gone over to the dark side (management).

  23. Re:Sick of spam? by RedWolves2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    almost-maxxed-out Visa

    And this same person is using the get out of debt spam mails to fix his visa card. Will the cycle never end?

  24. Re:Tracked using MAC address by soulsteal · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was compromised at one point in time my freshman year and had a smurf attack originate from my machine.

    I pray that these were not separate occasions.

  25. Re:The School is very liberal..this isn't surprisi by schon · · Score: 2, Funny

    (they send a person to your room with virus software if one's detected)

    Yikes!

    Wouldn't anti-virus software be a better solution?

  26. Business Plan by Skjellifetti · · Score: 2, Funny

    1. Hire Tufts students to sell Cutco knives to Anti-Spammers.
    2. Set up webcam to watch Anti-Spammers carve up Tufts students.
    3. ???
    4. Cleanup.

  27. Peanuts by dubiousmike · · Score: 5, Funny

    This just proves these students aren't as resourceful as they could be. I for one, would have placed some sort of trojan on as many people's computers I could find, then sell ALL of their machine's use for spamming. I mean, I'm certainly not condoning spamming and I dislike it myself, but if you are going to do it, do it right....

  28. Re:Unrest is born. . . by bradkittenbrink · · Score: 2, Funny
    hey kids, we should all know this one by now, here's the formula for you:
    1. anything
    2. ...
    3. Profit!
  29. Re:Unrest is born. . . by dacarr · · Score: 2, Funny

    For these guys? 1) Open yourself up as a spam relay 2) ... 3) Lose network access! Face it, people, $20/month will get you a shitload of ramen, but is it worth $20/mo to lose your gigabit network access?

    --
    This sig no verb.
  30. Re:Why [insert deity here] Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    When you allow anyone and everyone to do as they please, all hell will break lose.
    True, how true, and applicable to every aspect of life. For too long people have been allowed to do as they please; fortunately our government has finally decided to correct that problem. Thank [deity]!
  31. Re:They got bought cheap! by rjh · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you sell out for a price, regardless of circumstances, it means you sold out.

    H.L. Mencken was at a high society function and speaking with one of the grande dames of society. After some initial witty small talk, he asked her "Madame, would you sleep with me for a million dollars?"

    Much laughter later, she agreed.

    "Madame, would you sleep with me for one dollar?"

    The dame was grievously offended and asked Mencken what she thought she was--some whore?

    "Madame, we've already established that you're a whore," he replied. "Now we're just dickering about your price."