Automate Spamcop Submissions

hausmasta writes "Spamcop is pretty much dependent on user input. If no one submits and verifies spam, then they will have no blacklist. However that whole submission and verification process is a bit annoying. Why should I bother to actually submit spam to Spamcop and have it verified? If I just delete it, that will take less time.. This tutorial shows how to automate the Spam Cop submission and verification process. All I do is just put the spam into certain folders and our good old friend cron does the rest."

Comments

NO NO NO

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently you've missed the point of SpamCop. YOU are still supposed to VERIFY that EVERYTHING you submit is ACTUALLY SPAM. False reports hurt SpamCop and all SpamCop users.

If you want to cut down on Spam, then tighten you filters and reject it at SMTP level. Then anything that still makes it through, submit it to SpamCop. Automating your initial submission is okay, but DO NOT AUTOMATE THE VERIFICATION PROCESS.

Ummm, they just TOLD you what happened.

[khasim]

Do you think anybody at spamcop cares about false positives?

Yes, I think they care a lot.

My server was blocked by spamcop this past week.

No, your IP address may have been included on one of the blacklists, but your server was not "blocked".

The person controlling the server that your server was trying to send a message to was using a SpamCop blacklist as a rejection list.

If you want to complain, complain to that person.

Why? I have no idea, and no way to correct the problem, because when they block you, all they say is "You sent email to one of our secret addresses."

The reason to keep those addresses secret is because if the spammers found them, they would not be useful anymore.

If you have a static IP address, the problem is you. Someone with access to your out-bound email is sending spam.

If you have a dynamic IP address, you need to get a static address.

If you cannot get a static address, do not expect your email to always be delivered. You must monitor your logs for the rejection notices and then take whatever actions are necessary to get that site to whitelist your messages.

Don't blame SpamCop for the situation that results in your IP address being reported to them. No one is forced to used SpamCop's blacklists. They choose to use them because they believe they are useful in reducing spam.

Re:I believe Spamcop sold my "private" address

[mmclean]

Amen to the don't trust them at all bit. They are more than happy to provide customer service when you are spending money to establish and account, but once they have your money forget it.

I had an account over a year ago, the real email account with storage and was having a problem with it. I emailed support, no answer. I posted in the Spamcop form and the moderator (the great and powerful Wazoo) decided that I was full of shit and my problem didn't exist. A few days later, I posted different symptoms of the problem in a new thread and the great and powerful Wazoo decided that I was reiterating the same problem (didn't even take time to read and realize that I was posting different symptoms). He then merged the threads -- essentially burying my problem report at the end of a long thread so that no one could read it without clicking through 3-4 pages of the previous post. I posted in the forum actually begging for support -- and was constantly squashed by Wazoo.

When I finally did get an answer from my email to support, the content of that email was essentially "we saw the thread in the forum and Wazoo says it's not a problem."

This was one of the worst, most pathetic customer experiences that I have ever had -- and I had previously thought Spamcop were the "good guys" and directed many different friends, relative, and clients to them -- needless to say I cancelled, a number of my friends cancelled, and they've gotten zero new business from my recommendations.