OT: why is unwanted e-mail so hard to trace

Fake originating addresses and domains, out of country originations, mail redirection, mail anonymizers, hacked mail systems, etc, etc, etc. There is an entire "network" of people who are paid to spam you on behalf of loser websites.

The spam does not originate from the website domains and websites just plead innocent. Everyone KNOWS what is happening but proving it is difficult.

Use a good mail program, not a browser, for mail and you can filter 90% of the spam. Or, soon, our government buddies will regulate this, too.

For the most part... #1 it isn't. Use spamcop

) it will help you track down where the message came from, and the ISP's of those who send it, and the ISP's of those who have links in it. (Of course there are always details...)

#2: They are continually changing. Kind of like the weasel game, except it is the same weasel. (Ok, there are more than one of them....)

#3: Legal issues: Depends on your state. WA has the best anti-spam laws, be we still get it. (ISP's can also be taken to task if they don't do anything) This has been one of the best tools to shut down spam... "Mr. ISP, would you lake to pay for damages???" -- frequently spam from that one source will disappear by the end of the next business day. Other states do have anti-spam laws to, (CA for example, but it is only good in CA against CA), but for those who don't have a state legislature (or until or federal legislature gets off it high horse) that will do anything..

Spamcop will help. My daughter had a "hotmail" account. She had about 30% of the space filled, and every day her allocated space was taken by SPAM. As a test I took her account and reported every spam. After 3 months, the spam was reduced to the point where she could go for about 3-5 days before the spam would blow out her account. There are several reasons that spamcop will work, but it requires more people to report their spam to be most effective.

Good luck with your fight....

Dan

And it has to be proved, otherwise anyone with a grudge could get XYZ Co. busted by sending out spam in their name.

that is where you are incorrect.

70% of spamm is selling NOTHING

IE those links are bogus or faked or NOT from the website owner.

the goal of 70% of spamm is for one purpose. to collect your e-mail address

For some reason, the ones that really piss me off are the one that say "I am from (insert favorite 3rd world country here). They killed my family. I want to deposit $20,000,000 into your bank account." Is anyone *really* that stupid as to give out their bank account #?

Doc

-- Drake "Doc" Damerau

NEPRA President NAR Section 614 NAR 79986 L3 Remove "My Shorts" to reply

You mean they really can't increase it beyond it's already staggering size?

This "Nigerian Letter" scam goes back before Al Gore invented the internet, before email, etc. when it was done with good old fashioned snail mail. The internet just makes it easier, like with everything else. And every sucker is on the net...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Something like 18 million dollars a year, or was that 18 billion ? I can't remember, but's it's one of those numbers. It's listed as the most costly scam to date.

And before email, they were sending it in the US mail. in 1995, a saleman at my work received a letter in the mail from Nigeria, saying the exact same thing.

This particular fraud is, if you can believe the website below, the third to fifth largest industry in Nigeria.