Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Spammer Ducks For Cover

Posted by michael on from the everyone-loves-spam dept.

rabidgremlin writes "The New Zealand Herald has an article about a NZ based spammer who has shut up shop after being at the receiving end of an anti-spam campaign. Good riddance I say, but some of his comments ("never intended to break any regulations" and "I'll just stick to search engines and web sites - that's still plenty of fun and money.") had me wondering if he and other spammers are as really naive as the article makes out."

19 of 363 comments (clear)

  1. yeah... by edrugtrader · · Score: 3, Funny

    and how does this guy plan on marketing his new websites?

    "well, i figure i'll just use my vast email lists and invite everyone to check them out... that can't be illegal, can it?"

    --
    MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
    1. Re:yeah... by karnal · · Score: 3, Funny

      Quote:

      that can't be illegal, can it?"

      --
      WANT TO BUY ILLEGAL DRUGS ONLINE? - EDRUGTRADER.COM! [edrugtrader.com]

      Wow.

      **lameness filter bypass**

      --
      Karnal
  2. 20 phone calls? by Champaign · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, the guys sends millions of e-mail messages, then he closes up shop after getting 20 unsolicited phone calls.

    Guess that's what you call "can dish it out, can't take it"...

    1. Re:20 phone calls? by imnoteddy · · Score: 4, Funny
      If even a tiny group of all the people who receive spam would give feedback by making a phone call, I think it could make many spammers to reconsider their business.

      I have an email filter rule that looks for toll-free numbers and puts them in a folder. Every morning I call the (usually 2 or 3) that have come in the last 24 hours and say politely, "I got your email about (whatever) and just wanted to let you know I'm not interested" and then hang up. No abuse, just waste their time and probably confuse them.

      --
      No electrons were harmed creating this post, though some may have been subjected to electrical and/or magnetic fields.
    2. Re:20 phone calls? by optikSmoke · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hello, this is [insert telco here]. You have a collect call from EAT MY DICK YOU COCKFACE SPAMMER. Press 1 to accept the charges now.

      Excellent.....

    3. Re:20 phone calls? by Steve+B · · Score: 4, Funny
      A spammer might not take phone calls seriously enough. That's why I'd prefer to a put a horse's head in his bed.

      At which point the bed would contain an entire horse.

      --
      /. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
  3. what a maroon by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Mr Atkinson said that on a good day he and his associates would send out 100 million messages."

    "he had received more than 20 phone calls, five of them obscene"

    oh for shame. 20 phone calls. some of them obscene! Good golly, why should the poor man have his time wasted in such a way? :rolleyes:

    --
    This space available.
    1. Re:what a maroon by wo1verin3 · · Score: 3, Funny

      >> "he had received more than 20 phone calls,
      >> five of them obscene"

      According to our records Mr Atkinson had choosen to opt-in on recieving such telephone communications, if he wishes to be removed please have him send an e-mail to an address that doesn't exist at someone elses organization.

  4. Oh, this is so NOT a good idea . . . by Brad+Cossette · · Score: 5, Funny

    You realize, Mr. Atkinson, that by backing off now you're encouraging us to continue this kind of behavior on other spammers . . .

    In a truely please-don't-blink moment, the man who claimed to send out 100 million messages a day on such wonderful things as penis-enlarging pills complains about receiving 5 obscene phone calls . . . they were probably just disappointed customers. ;)

    --
    -- "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" [Oscar Wilde]
  5. I can help... by Erik_the_Awful · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...if only someone would post Shane Atkinson's Address and Phone Number. I don't think 20 phone calls is enough. I think Shane Atkinson needs to experience the power of "internet karma..."

    I'll be watching for any details you might post.
    -EtA

  6. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonym0us+Cow+Herd · · Score: 3, Funny

    My 10 year old (5th grade) has had an e-mail address for several years.

    --
    The price of freedom is eternal litigation.
  7. Somebody, please by Gherald · · Score: 5, Funny

    Post his e-mail address and phone number!

    No really, this is for legitemate business. I represent a major supplier of penis enlargment pills, and I just want to offer him my company's services.... ten thousand times per day.

    --
    The unofficial /. digest
  8. Personally by Hal+The+Computer · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm not worried about Artificial Intelligence, when they invent Artificial Stupidiy, then I'll be scared.

    --

    int main(void){int x=01232;while(malloc(x));return x;}
  9. Re:Counter to the spirit of the Internet by matrix0040 · · Score: 3, Funny

    by the same logic

    if u dont want obscene phone calls disconnect your phone or dont have a phone line.

    so start calling ;-)

  10. Oh great... by taped2thedesk · · Score: 3, Funny
    "I'll just stick to search engines and web sites - that's still plenty of fun and money."
    Does that mean when I screw up and type www.gogole.com, instead of just a search engine, I'll get a penis enlargement ad?
  11. Calling up spammers by billstewart · · Score: 4, Funny
    If one person called up a spammer's toll-free number and sang them the Monty Python Spam Song or Weird Al Yankovic's Spam song, they might think it was a bit odd, but if a whole bunch of people started calling up, singing them a spam song, and hanging up, they might start to think it was a _movement_.

    And if one person called up their toll-free number and left them a phone number they didn't want to talk to, like their ISP's phone number, or Interpol's, or the FBI's anonymous tip line, or their local police office, or their country's government's people-selling-bad-medicine bureaucracy's complaint line, or other spammers' toll-free numbers, or other spammers' ISP contact numbers, they might also start to think they were getting slashdotted.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  12. Re:Booo-hooo by TheOtherChimeraTwin · · Score: 3, Funny
    spammers get to have sex while UNIX using geeks don't?
    Why do you assume that spammers aren't also unix using geeks?

    You missed the part about spammers having sex, didn't you?

  13. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lamest. Sig. Ever.

  14. Interesting by dtfinch · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's been 20 days since I've received a penile enlargement ad, though I've received nearly 700 spams on different subjects over that period.

    Could it be that one guy was responsible for most of those ads?

    Ack! I almost clicked submit having left the word "ad" out of the first paragraph. Glad I caught it.