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The Life of a Spammer

Posted by timothy on from the neighbor-v-neighbor dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran an interesting article today about the life of a "small time" spammer. It is interesting to note that even a religiously zealous grandmother can mire our inboxes with junk." That's Flo Fox, of Slidell, LA.

5 of 539 comments (clear)

  1. Re:How bothersome is spam for most slashdotters? by YetAnotherDave · · Score: 5, Informative

    tip - if you have a scoring system like spamassassin, set two thresholds. One which sends mail to the spam box, and a second, higher one which sends to /dev/null

    On my system, (spapassassin + spamass-milter) I file at 6, and reject mail at 14

    I waited a while to ensure that the bayes was tuned properly before adding the reject rule, but if I didn't have it my mail'd be totally unusable...

    If you don't have a scoring system, get one :)

  2. So what? by cluge · · Score: 5, Informative

    So now we have an AARP member spamming. Does it make any difference to me? It doesn't matter if the theif is a grandma wearing a WWJD T-shirt or a young fella with a ski mask. Theft is theft, and a thief is a thief.

    Whats she say to defend her theft - things like "....This (spam) lets the little guy compete". What does she think about the time, energy and costs small providers have to dish out to defend their network against SPAM? How many small guys have had their machines shut down because of false return addresses, or an onslaught of spam that makes mail services crawl? What about those small guys BUZZZZ Wrong answer grandma!

    She doesn't stop there, she goes on to say the even more bizzare "When I defend what we do, I talk about free speech". I looked at the constitution to be sure and nowhere did it say "You may steal from others, and then force them to accept your speech into their homes". I believe the consitution protects speech, but doesn't force others to have to accept/listen to ones speech. The amendment is about government cesorship, NOT about theft of services to promote a get rich schemes. BUZZZZ Wrong answer grandma!

    So she makes 2000 - 4000 / week. After several years of college I don't make 4k a week, but then again, even if I could improve my economic situation, my personal moral compass wouldn't allow me to what she does. Perhaps she needs to read the bible more. What was it again?? Thou shall not steal?? Thou shall not bear false witness?? - Stuff like that.

    With 80% or more of all e-mail being spam, the signal to noise ratio is heading south fast. To stop spam you have to stop spammers.

    Here is the towns website
    http://www.slidell.la.us

    Now can any one let me know which provider provides this type of person with access? I have some IP blocks to add to my blacklist.

    According to information -
    Flo Fox - Slidell LA
    985 646 2225

    I don't know if that number is correct - but it's publically listed.

    AngryPeopleRule

    --
    "Science is about ego as much as it is about discovery and truth " - I said it, so sue me.
  3. Re:This Flo Fox? by bigberk · · Score: 5, Informative
    Somebody should make a website listing all those numbers
    Somebody has. And their lists are very reliable. These sites don't just list your average granny spammer, but rather the people who are behind the spam business. The sources are investigated and records are compiled over time with community feedback. These sites cause so much trouble to spammers that several Internet worms have been released specifically to DDoS these sites. No joke:
  4. Re:This Flo Fox? by pocketlint · · Score: 5, Informative

    Whoops, let me elaborate. That's the wrong Florence Fox. My fiance went to the same church (St. Genevive) as her and knew her as the bandana lady. Apparently she needed the bandana to help with her migraines.

    She is listed at the following address:

    Fox, Florence F
    1711 W Hall Ave
    Slidell, LA 70460-2536
    (985) 781-2542
    (985) 643-9417

  5. FLORENCE F. FOX aka Mrs. Bruce Connelly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    A1 E Services is Bruce Connelly and Flo Fox aka Mrs. Bruce Connelly.

    A1E_Services (NETBLK-BRW-5021-A1ESERVICES)
    1711 West Hall Ave
    Slidell, LA 70460
    US

    Netname: BRW-5021-A1ESERVICES
    Netblock: 67.96.78.0 - 67.96.79.255

    Coordinator:
    Hostmaster (ZB13-ARIN) hostmaster@broadwing.com
    512-427-3700

    Domain System inverse mapping provided by:

    NS3.BROADWING.NET 216.140.16.252
    NS4.BROADWING.NET 216.140.17.252

    Connelly, Bruce (BC891-ARIN) a1esupport@aol.com
    A1E SERVICES
    1711 W Hall Avenue
    Slidell, LA 70460
    (504) 649 - 6248

    http://www.sec.state.la.us/cgibin?rqstyp=crpdtl& rq sdta=34331685D

    34331685D
    Name: FOXC, INC.
    Type Entity: Business Corporation
    Status: Active
    Domicile Address: 1711 WEST HALL AVENUE, SLIDELL, LA 70460
    Incorporated: 05/19/1989 | Effective: 05/17/1989
    Registered Agent (Appointed 5/19/1989): FLORENCE F. FOX, 1711 WEST
    HALL AVENUE, SLIDELL, LA 70460
    Officer(s)/Director(s): FLORENCE F. FOX | CAROLYN J. FREDERICK |
    BRUCE
    D. CONNELLY
    Incorporator(s): FLORENCE F. FOX