SpammerScammer

[Tinman57]

  Here's something to get even with the scumbag scammers of the world.  Whenever you get a scam email attempting to part your hard earned money into the hands of a worthless scumbag, go to this website and enter the scammers email address and the subject line of the email.  The scumbag will then be bombarded with fake emails, making it harder for him/her to actually be successful in hooking someone.  Do read the contents of the site, if you abuse it you WILL be banned.....

http://scammerspammer.com/attack.php

[TaoPhoenix]

I put this into one of my test accounts just to see how it works.

[J-Mac]

Isn't this almost totally ineffective with many (if not most) of the "From:" addresses on spam being either spoofed or free throwaway accounts?

Jim

[Renegade]

Isn't this almost totally ineffective with many (if not most) of the "From:" addresses on spam being either spoofed or free throwaway accounts?

Pretty much. I can't see it being remotely effective against any kind of real spam. Not even worth enumerating the ways that spammers get around these kinds of issues.

Then for legitimate emailers that get caught in the crossfire, this is just a DOS attack.

[TaoPhoenix]

I don't even see any emails from that service yet.

It's like the operator needs to manually turn it on.

[Renegade]

^^ Maybe a spammer found the site and entered the sites email address...

[SeraphimLabs]

Or the service already got itself blacklisted as a spam generating source.

If it's blasting out tons of emails from a limited range of IPs, it is certain to get itself in hot water with most email providers.

Especially since a lot of spam these days is originating from the Live network, although Microsoft's spam filter is junky it will catch any obvious attempts.

Also a lot of spam and junk mail comes from compromised web hosting accounts. Even if you successfully pick out the real return address, the account is not monitored at all.

[TaoPhoenix]

Also a lot of spam and junk mail comes from compromised web hosting accounts. Even if you successfully pick out the real return address, the account is not monitored at all.

I could (anecdotally) attest to this. I hover over the links in the mails and they come from "Katarina" (wobbiezays @fnord.ewedstri.cn) and phish back to "Click here to correct your account settings" (sdappy.redirector.com/ opoiiuygfdwdfwr/wefghkjh/bhgfdrjgfrhgf)

or some such thing.

[Renegade]

Speaking of spam, I got an interesting subject line:

We are going to file a charge against you. #id2354

Probably enough to get some people to notice. I did. Anyways, here are some of the reasons my server flagged it as spam:

• X-Spam: YES
• X-Reason-1: Sender domain does not have any MX records. - (Score: 2)
• X-Reason-2: The host name specified in HELO does not match IP address. - (Score: 2)
• X-Reason-3: Rejected by Spamhaus. - (Score: 3)
• X-Reason-Score: 7

So, no MX record and host not matching IP... The solution above does nothing to fix these kinds of problems.

[Renegade]

And... This thread has prompted me to tighten up my anti-spam parameters. Hopefully I'll get a lot less now. If not, then tighten again...

Thanks for bringing it to my attention more~!  

[J-Mac]

My email service uses Sieve scripts to fine tune the spam filters. So I got a copy of how to compose the Sieve scripts and - Wow, am I ever confused!! Gonna take me some time to get any of this through my thick skull! 

Jim

[Tinman57]

  I can't remember the last time I got a spam or scam email.  I turn over my spam mails to 3 different anti-spam organizations, including one government site.  My scams/phishing emails I turn over to two anti-spam sites and one anti-phishing site.  If I'm able to ascertain the ISP, I also send a nasty-gram to them as well.  Yeah, I hate spammers and scammers, they are the scum of the world.  I'm all for them being lined up, shot and mass buried with one marker saying "Here lies a bunch of scum, feel free to walk and whiz on their grave"....

[kyrathaba]

Speaking of spam, anyone had trouble with spam text-messages being sent to your cell #? If so, were you able to make it stop and how?

[Renegade]

Speaking of spam, anyone had trouble with spam text-messages being sent to your cell #? If so, were you able to make it stop and how?

Pretty much all of the spam I have ever had has been from the carrier.

[TaoPhoenix]

Speaking of spam, anyone had trouble with spam text-messages being sent to your cell #? If so, were you able to make it stop and how?

Pretty much all of the spam I have ever had has been from the carrier.

I got a phishing text, but the guy quit after two of them.

[J-Mac]

Speaking of spam, anyone had trouble with spam text-messages being sent to your cell #? If so, were you able to make it stop and how?

Assign it to a contact and then block that contact. I do it through Google Contacts on my Android Razr.

Jim

[Renegade]

Assign it to a contact and then block that contact. I do it through Google Contacts on my Android Razr.

Isn't that kind of time consuming?

[Stoic Joker]

And... This thread has prompted me to tighten up my anti-spam parameters. Hopefully I'll get a lot less now. If not, then tighten again...

Be careful with that if it's a server side filter. Never tune a spam filter past 90-95% anything in that range is gold. Attempting to go past that is just going to (cost you ham) FP/break it.

[Stoic Joker]

Assign it to a contact and then block that contact. I do it through Google Contacts on my Android Razr.

Isn't that kind of time consuming?

Nope, depending on the phone you can add like 10-15 numbers to a given blocked contact entry. I used to use a complete silence ringtone for a group of 30 numbers (debt collector types) that fit nicely into only 2 contact entries. and it's a breeze to add a alternate # to any contact.

[J-Mac]

Assign it to a contact and then block that contact. I do it through Google Contacts on my Android Razr.

Isn't that kind of time consuming?

Not at all. My Droid Razr uses Google Contacts; whenever I add or edit a contact it is also added/edited in Google Contacts. I also have a Google Voice account (which is tied to my Google Contacts automatically) and my voice mail on the Razr is forwarded to my G-Voice mailbox. Now the G-Voice account has a very easy call block feature so whenever I receive a spam call or SMS text on the Razr I simply add the contact to an existing contact named "Spam-001", which is configured to be blocked. That contact's ring tone is set to "Silent". So when a call (or SMS) comes in to any of the numbers contained in that contact the phone doesn’t ring and/or the SMS notification stays silent and the call/SMS is redirected to a recording stating that my number is no longer in service.

So now when a new spam number either calls or texts me I just wait for it to stop ringing, click that number and then "Add to Contacts", add it to the Spam-001 contact and it'll never be heard from again.  

Jim

[J-Mac]

Ahh, the Joker and I posted simultaneously - almost! 

Jim

[Renegade]

And... This thread has prompted me to tighten up my anti-spam parameters. Hopefully I'll get a lot less now. If not, then tighten again...

Be careful with that if it's a server side filter. Never tune a spam filter past 90-95% anything in that range is gold. Attempting to go past that is just going to (cost you ham) FP/break it.

They are server side. But the numbers are all absolute and score based. Things are still getting through though, so it seems ok.

What was pissing me off was the 2 different client-side filters weren't taking out the spam that I'd flagged server-side with "[SPAM]" in the subject line. Like how much of a hint do they need?

Email is just completely broken thanks to spammers.

[40hz]

Email is just completely broken thanks to spammers.

Got that right.

[mahesh2k]

Anti spam stuff is so broken, even genuine mails these days get into spam folder.

[Tinman57]

Speaking of spam, anyone had trouble with spam text-messages being sent to your cell #? If so, were you able to make it stop and how?

  It's illegal for marketers to contact mobile phones.   You can file a complaint here: 
http://www.fcc.gov/complaints