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In Pursuit Of A Spammer
Posted by
timothy
on Sun Jul 13, 2003 08:04 PM
from the come-the-revolution dept.
from the come-the-revolution dept.
Kyle writes "Over at DSL Reports, We are currently pursuing a spammer from the West Palm Beach, Florida area. This wouldn't normally be news, but we think Slashdot readers may be interested in just how successful we have been. What's more interesting is that the spammer appears to be posting in the thread."
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How much in it for me... (Score:5, Funny)
Did you know... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Did you know... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Did you know... (Score:5, Funny)
That is why whenever you see a spammer you need to shout (so you can be heard clearly)
"He's Coming Right For Us!"
I recommend a bazooka. More bang for the buck.
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Re:Spammers Fight Back (Score:5, Insightful)
And spam, like junk mail, is protected by the constitution. So although it may be a great inconvenience, the First Amendment will never fall to inconvenience.
I don't think so. Only because unsolicited faxes, soliciting in public and business areas and other solicitation laws are in effect.
Also, anti-spam laws tend to hurt small businesses far more than established companies.
Yeah, usually Spammer businesses. It's like saying, "But banning small and cute rodent killing will hurt small rabbit killing businesses!"
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Re:Spammers Fight Back (Score:5, Insightful)
Hey, two out of three ain't that bad, for a spam apologist.
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Worlds worst spammers busted! (Score:5, Funny)
Will be see this on Fox?
Re:Worlds worst spammers busted! (Score:5, Interesting)
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Hanging chad spammer (Score:5, Funny)
Pursuit of fleeing vehicles is much more common in LA, but the West Palm Beach folks are very fond of pursuing rental trucks full of votes to be recounted. So now they are just chasing a truck load of canned pork, doesn't really surprise me much.
Re:Hanging chad spammer (Score:5, Funny)
A West Palm Beach county resident - annoyed that his vote for Gore in the presidential election wasn't counted - decided to get back at the world by being the most notorious, infamous spammer in West Palm Beach county....... pursued by people all over the world.....
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A spammer a spammer! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A spammer a spammer! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:A spammer a spammer! (Score:5, Funny)
Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! There are ways of telling whether he is a spammer.
SLASHDOTTER #1: Are there?
SLASHDOTTER #2: Ah?
SLASHDOTTER #1: What are they?
CROWD: Tell us! Tell us!...
DSL REPORTS: Tell me. What do you do with spammers?
SLASHDOTTER #2: Burn!
SLASHDOTTER #1: Burn!
CROWD: Burn! Burn them up! Burn!...
DSL REPORTS : And what do you burn apart from spammers?
SLASHDOTTER #1: More spammers!
SLASHDOTTER #3: Shh!
SLASHDOTTER #2: Wood!
DSL REPORTS : So, why are spammers caught?
[pause]
SLASHDOTTER #3: B--... 'cause they send... unwanted email?
DSL REPORTS : Good! Heh heh.
CROWD: Oh, yeah. Oh.
DSL REPORTS : So, how do we tell whether he sends unwanted email?
SLASHDOTTER #1:
Run him thorugh a Bayesian filter.
DSL REPORTS : Ah, but can you not also catch valid email in a Bayesian filter?
SLASHDOTTER #1: Oh, yeah.
TROLL:
Oh, yeah. True. Uhh...
DSL REPORTS
Does spam sink in water?
SLASHDOTTER #1: No. No.
SLASHDOTTER #2: No, it floats! It floats!
SLASHDOTTER #1:
Throw the email into the pond!
CROWD:
The pond! Throw it into the pond!
DSL REPORTS : What also floats in water?
SLASHDOTTER #1: Bread!
SLASHDOTTER #2: Apples!
SLASHDOTTER #3: Uh, very small rocks!
SLASHDOTTER #1:
Cider!
SLASHDOTTER #2: Uh, gra-- gravy!
SLASHDOTTER #1: Cherries!
SLASHDOTTER #2: Mud!
SLASHDOTTER #3: Uh, churches! Churches!
SLASHDOTTER #2: Lead! Lead!
CMDR TACO: A duck!
CROWD: Oooh.
DSL REPORTS : Exactly. So, logically...
SLASHDOTTER #1:
If... it... weighs... the same as a duck,... it's made of spam.
DSL REPORTS : And therefore?
SLASHDOTTER #2: A spammer!
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Re:A spammer a spammer! (Score:5, Funny)
Spam... Spam... Spam... Spam...
Nope, doesn't ring a bell.
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Re:A spammer a spammer! (Score:5, Funny)
He made my penis 6 feet long! (god, was my girlfriend pissed!) I might have been OK, if I'd only bought one.
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Re:A spammer a spammer! (Score:5, Funny)
Ok, you had me going until the "girlfriend" bit.
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cool (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:cool (Score:5, Funny)
Chad is also a business savant who has studied and solved every kind of business question, problem, and challenge that has encroached him over his business career.
It will be interesting to see how well he copes with this problem.
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Re:cool (Score:5, Funny)
Root@127.0.0.1
Admin@127.0.0.1
Chad@127.0.0.1
Etc..etc..etc.....
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Am I the only one ... (Score:5, Funny)
... who's got a mental picture involving a Benny Hill style chase sequence?
What do they expect to happen? (Score:4, Insightful)
Besides... (Score:5, Interesting)
Awesome!! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Awesome!! (Score:5, Funny)
It could be fun to share his private life with the world.
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How is this successful? (Score:5, Interesting)
The Spammer is in big trouble (Score:5, Interesting)
so if the spammer (Score:5, Funny)
then he's made of wood?
and therefore?
A WITCH!
BURN HIM! BURN HIM!
the best revenge (Score:5, Funny)
I should know I killed a spammer called Bruce Cullen(a movie extra-Outbreak one of the invefected victims that died in the movie) with this technique..
It was so bad that he stopped spamming altogether..:)
Effective Anti-Spam Tactics? (Score:5, Funny)
Is this about TWO messages? (Score:5, Interesting)
Or is it just enough that someone labeled him a "Spammer" that we have to "dump garbage on his lawn"?
Was it just an AD? IF this really was only about 2 posts in a FORUM, not emails, not anything else, something that the forum moderator could delete if requested, then this actually makes me sick.
I don't get it... (Score:5, Insightful)
Aside from it being a bit uncooth, why is this suddenly The Hunt for Red October? Sure, it was kind of a stupid thing, but what's the big wreck that I should be rubbernecking over?
Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Spam costs me money. Every time I open an email I don't want, every time I have to update my anti-spam software (well, that's free but that's besides the point) it costs me time and money and I object. It's fine if I've signed up for a newsletter or advertising (yes, I've done that - Think Geek sends me notification of stuff even though I'm a dirty foreigner and can't buy any of it) but when I haven't it's costing me. Where can I send the invoice? To you?
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Interesting)
It's not just spam, it's any unsolicited use of my bandwidth - and yes, viruses should be included too.
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Informative)
That will get rid of the majority of your postal problem.
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, that theory fails when fraud comes into the equation. Rule #1: Spammers LIE.
Lying, in this context (trying to steal your service), is fraud.
-jcr
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Funny)
On behalf of my good friend Kaj Faiojiu, webmaster of iouem.com, I'd like to ask you not to post his email address in public.
Thanks.
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Interesting)
It's unfortunate that your comments were modded down to -1. Given the opportunity, I would have modded your statements Interesting even though I disagree with you.
This really drills down to the core issue of spam: money. Based upon what I've read on the subject, I (via my subscription fee) am subsidizing the cost of a spammer's business. I welcome any evidence that contradicts this, but until that time I would analogize your statement as follows: "It is their right to barge into your home and shove an ad in your face and it's your right to stop them....and by the way, this process will cost you $$."
That kind of thinking doesn't work because I can't legally put a bullet into a spammer's head. One's right to free speech ends at my doorstep. Any alternative interpretation of the First Amendment opens up a number of conflicts with the Fourth Amendment.
--K.
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Informative)
How do you feel about the hundreds of internet worms and script kiddies and failed spam relay attempts that are interfering with the bandwidth you pay for? Is that OK too? Mind if I run an extension cord to the outlet on your patio so I don't have to pay for my own electricity? Of course, you have to right to unplug it, but I'll just come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. And I'll tunnel under your house and tap into the wiring in your basement where you don't see. But you have the right to spend every waking hour trying to stop me from leeching off the stuff you pay for. I hope you don't waste too much time fighting me, though... I need you to go to work and earn money to pay for the stuff that I'm stealing from you, so that I don't have to go to work myself and earn an honest living. Wow, I love your attitude! Maybe I can hook myself up to your water and gas lines, too.
There's cyber-libertarianism, and then there's advocating total lawlessness. When everybody has a "right" to do whatever they want to anybody, that's the same as nobody having any rights at all.
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Re:I have said it before and I will say it again.. (Score:5, Informative)
Most big time spammers go right around the "TOS" by becoming an ISP themselves. All you have to do is buy a block of IP's from someone who has them up for sale. Believe me there are plenty of people who will sell you a
Next all you need to do is find a bandwidth provider and you're in business. Most bandwidth providers don't care what you do with your bandwidth as long as it's not illegal. And there isn't a lot of solid case law that spam is illegal. (I know we're all hoping for legislation to come through, but not yet...)
And there you go, no "Terms of Service" to break.
I hate spammers as much as the rest of you, but I really hate zeolots who have no idea how the business even works. The more you know about spammers the easier it will be to combat them.
Maybe I'm just jaded because most of my day is spent blocking this low-lifes.
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Re:Good job! (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:What??? (Score:5, Interesting)
That and freedom of speech is not something that is regulated by the gov't in someone elses home. It is limited to public properties. On private properties, you still have what ever limits of the freedom of speech that apply as well as those of the folks that regulate the private area.
By these two limits, email can and should be regulated. Much the same way one can place a
Again, freedom of speech is not an unlimited freedom. I'm sick of folks that think if it. If Taco wanted to edit my posts here on his site, its NOT infringing against my freedom of speech to do so...at least from a constitutional stand point.
blah
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Re:What??? (Score:5, Insightful)
While the text of an email can be considered "speech", it's irrelevant - it can still (and should) be regulated, as the first amendment only guarantees that you have the right to speech, it doesn't guarantee that you have the right to any and every method of expressing that speech - especially when it's the receiver, or some other third party, which is paying for it.
Think about it - should you be able to walk into a TV station and demand to be given airtime to talk about your "100% natural penis enhancment" product? Of course not! Why should email be any different?
The first amendment gives you the right to say what you want. It does NOT guarantee you the right to force people to listen, nor the right to force someone else to pay for your speech.
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Re:Whats worse than constantly reading about SPAM (Score:5, Insightful)
Duh. Receiving spam. You chose to go to Slashdot, read the article and post in its forum.
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Re:9 pages? (Score:5, Informative)
Using google, who-is databases, other directories, some luck and some pluck they have unearthed all details of that guy (Name, address, phone number, company he works for, color of his underwear and so on).
Being a rather slow day on Slashdot, it makes it as one of the stories of the day.
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Re:9 pages? (Score:5, Informative)
Dslreports maintains an anti-spam forum, which discusses spam-fighting techniques. A recently registered user, AntiSpamCard, posts to the forum advertising its spam-fighting product, AntiSpamCard. This violates the rules of the forum, so another user, AmeritechTech, looks up the domain registration information (registration service: RegistryFly.com). It is full of false information (mostly na, na, na filled in everywhere). AntiSpamCard claims that false info is RegistryFly's fault. Further investigation leads AmeritechTech to believe AntiSpamCard are, in fact, spammers. The evidence:
- Privacy statement on antispamcard.com states that they have an opt-out policy on receiving info
- Domain listed as unwelcome here [rhyolite.com] and here [dolphinwave.org]
From these sites, AmeritechTech discovers that antispamcard.com and putamericatowork.com are both owned by Brad Heckman in Palm Beach, FL. IP address for antispamcard.com seems to be within a block assigned to Crescive, Inc. (not to be confused with some car company), which is also mentioned on antispamcard.com. The host for this block of IPs is traci.net. Traci.net has a strict anti-spam policy. Name servers also appear to be owned by Brad, and hosted by traci.net. Registration of the domain names of the name servers also has na, na, na filled into most fields. Putamericatowork.com turns out to be hosted by aitcom.net, which has a very strict anti-spam policy. AmeritechTech also claims Brad owns spaminsurance.com, but I'm not sure why. IP in the same block (which it is) and identical layouts (can't check, antispamcard.com
After various emails to the various hosting companies, antispamcard.com and spaminsurance.com magically have valid registration information. AmeritechTech also gets an email from Brad from igpbrad@hotmail.com (remember that email) saying the registration info is updated. Antispamcard.com registered to Brad, spaminsurance.com registered to Chad Deckard. Same guy? Associates? Who knows, but there seems to be a link (in later posts, this is contested by "mystery poster" Ry2k, but the link seems pretty strong). Hunting around for Chad Deckard stuff turns up claims on this [zeropaid.com] board that he's associated with a scam to sell Kazaa "Gold", which is really just Kazaa Lite, but with a 9.95 price tag, plus it harvests your email. The site's still up, but I couldn't repeat the behaviour claimed by the message poster (posted back on Sept. 11, 2002) that takes you to infogeneratorpro.com, which seems to be the site registered to Chad. Also conspicuous is that Chad's name shows up on putamericatowork.com, a site owned by Brad (link [putamericatowork.com]). Also VERY conspicuous is that Brad emailed from igpbrad@hotmail.com, i.e. InfoGeneratorPro? Maybe a coincidence...
Some more looking uncovers other domains in Chad's name: infogenerator.com, usub.net, and finder-network.com. This is along with spaminsurance.com and infogeneratorpro.com. About this time Ry2k shows up to claim that Kazaa Gold was just a client of Chad's, and when Chad found out what they were doing, the account was eliminated. Ry2k claims to be a former employee of Chad's, and warns the forum of tarnishing the good name of legitimate businesses in their persuit of spammers. I go to bullet mode, as it's getting late, and I'm tired:
- Reverse look-ups on contact info for antispamcard.com produce a fax number registered to infogenerator.com.
- Domain name servers (safeidentity.net) for antispamcard.com has contact info updated to Crescive, Inc.
- Someone points out that RegisarFly.com may be shady, something about "using CNAME for their MX records". Maybe someone can fill me in...
- google groups turns up complaints about spam from
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Re:Am I missing something? (Score:5, Insightful)
2: It's an unrepentant spammer. That is grounds for permanent disconnection. Find out as much as possible about them and do what is necessary to insure that they are never able to connect to any ISP ever again. Unrepentant repeat criminals are removed from society, and unrepentant repeat spammers should be removed from the Internet.
3: It's an unrepentant spammer sending spam about some kind of service to fight spam... I don't even know where to begin on that one.
4: It's a story about how a slimeball spammer is being tracked down and is obviously nervous about it. It's a how-to. It's a recipe. It's inspirational. It is very much Stuff That Matters.
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Re:Big Deal (Score:5, Insightful)
It only takes one snowflake to start an avalanche.
Visualize this:
One man decides he has had enough, and pursues this spammer with all the tools at his disposal, including posting an article on Slashdot. Now, consider that the vast majority of
At this point, the grassroot movement starts, and the spammers start scrambling for other rocks. As momentum grows, the word about this methodology reaches more and more people, who likewise have had enough. Eventually, by starting with this one snowflake, spam can become an abberation, instead of the norm.
So why should anybody care?
Because there is hope, and apathy/acceptance gives them the victory. I'd rather take them out of the game, myself.
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