---- Begin included message ----
vision2020-digest Digest Volume 00 : Issue 266
Today's Topics:
Re: Junk mail: printed and otherwise [ Bob Hoffmann <escape@alt-escape.com ]
RE: Junk mail: printed and otherwise [ "LuJane Nisse" <lujane@lataheagle.c ]
Re: Junk mail: printed and otherwise [ Laura Griner Hill <laurahill@moscow ]
Re: Junk mail: printed and otherwise [ jason mcmunn <mcmunn@mmdt.com> ]
RE: Junk mail: printed and otherwise [ "Bill Strand" <strand@pacsim.com> ]
Re: Junk mail: printed and otherwise [ "J. Sullivan" <jsullivan@moscow.com ]
Re: Junk mail: printed and otherwise [ "John Danahy" <JDANAHY@turbonet.com ]
RE: Junk mail: printed and otherwise [ "Shahab Mesbah" <meteor2@moscow.com ]
---- End included message ----
---- Begin included message ----
At 03:30 PM 12/04/2000 -0800, Kenton Bird wrote:
>Visionaries:
>1. In the past two months, I've received more than two dozen
>solicitations from credit card companies, offering my
>gold/platinum/plutonium Visas and MasterCards. I regularly write to the
>Direct Mail Associations asking to be removed from mailing lists, but
>still the junk keeps coming. Are others having this problem? Any
>suggestions on how to stem the paper flow?
I once called a credit card company and complained that I had received two
mailings within two days. They offered to take me off their mailing list
(as I think they are required to on request). I took them up on it. Those
solicitations often come with toll-free numbers, so take advantage of
them. Or you can use their post-paid envelope to request removal.
>2. Today, I have received four unsolicited "get rich quick" spam
>messages -- including one from Pakistan and one from Yugoslavia? I've
>replied to the message demanding to be removed from the
>mailing list, but two replies came back as undeliverable. What other
>recourse do we have to fend off this electronic onslaught?
They often use false return addresses. Unsolicited email is not ethical,
so don't expect such people to be ethical. They are unlikely to oblige
your requests to remove your address from their database. The best thing
to do is to ignore them.
Bob Hoffmann
846 Mabelle St.
Moscow, ID 83843 USA
Phone: (208) 883-0642
Fax: (877) 495-2279
---- End included message ----
---- Begin included message ----
I get these spam solicitations all the time and it really is annoying but I
have yet to find out how they get my e-mail address or have I yet to figure
out how to stop them. If I ask to be removed it usually comes back with
"unknown" recipient. If you figure this one out, I'd sure like to know as
well.
LuJane Nisse, Publisher
LatahEagle (www.lataheagle.com)
The Boomerang! (www.the-boomerang.com)
-----Original Message-----
From: Kenton Bird [mailto:kbird@uidaho.edu]
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 3:30 PM
To: vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Junk mail: printed and otherwise
Visionaries:
1. In the past two months, I've received more than two dozen
solicitations from credit card companies, offering my
gold/platinum/plutonium Visas and MasterCards. I regularly write to the
Direct Mail Associations asking to be removed from mailing lists, but
still the junk keeps coming. Are others having this problem? Any
suggestions on how to stem the paper flow?
2. Today, I have received four unsolicited "get rich quick" spam
messages -- including one from Pakistan and one from Yugoslavia? Has
some address-retrieving software scanned the 2020 subscriber list on the
web and condemned me to receive endless notices of chain letters?
Help! I've replied to the message demanding to be removed from the
mailing list, but two replies came back as undeliverable. What other
recourse do we have to fend off this electronic onslaught?
thanks,
Kenton
---- End included message ----
---- Begin included message ----
Kenton,
I have not received these spams, so I don't think it's through the
2020 list.
I have cited below the 6th Annual SPAM tutorial from tourbus.com.
It's very very useful. Above all, don't reply to SPAM directly; that
just confirms your address for them. (I found out the hard way.)
Good luck--
Laura
Here's what tourbus.com has to say:
********************************************************************
The Internet Tourbus - U.S. Library of Congress ISSN #1094-2238
Copyright 1995-2000, Crispen & Rankin - All rights reserved
And now, on with one of TOURBUS' yearly traditions: the completely
revised sixth "First Annual TOURBUS Thanksgiving Spam" post. :)
-----------------------
SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM ...
-----------------------
<snip>
Anyway, since today is "turkey day," I think it would be appropriate
to take a few moments to talk about the _REAL_ turkeys of the
Internet: the "spammers." On the Internet, the word "spam" has two
meanings:
1. A canned luncheon meat with the shelf life of gravel; and
2. Inappropriate email letters, oftentimes advertisements, that
are sent to hundreds of thousands of people on the Internet.
Sadly, there is no way for you to prevent the former. But there are a
few tips that will help you at least slow the flow of the latter.
---------------
Spam "Wounding"
---------------
How on earth do spammers get your email address in the first place?
Well, according to the Email Abuse FAQ, they get your address by
1. Running programs that collect email addresses out of Usenet
[network news] posting headers
2. Culling them from subscriber lists (such as AOL's Member
Profile list)
3. Using web-crawling programs that look for mailto: codes in
HTML documents
4. Ripping them out of online "white pages" directories
5. Buying a list [of email addresses] from someone who already
has one
6. Taking them from you without your knowledge when you visit
their web site.
7. Using finger on a host computer to find online users
addresses
8. Collecting member names from online "chat rooms."
Obviously, anything you can do to hide your email address from
spammers will greatly diminish the amount of new spam you will receive
in the future. One of the easiest ways for you to do this is to
"mung" your email address. While it sounds like a character from
Flash Gordon, "Mung" is actually an acronym that means "mash until no
good." You can find step-by-step instructions on how to mung your
email address at
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/emailfaq/mungfaq.html">
http://members.aol.com/emailfaq/mungfaq.html </A>.
Last year, the folks at CNET wrote a wonderful guide on how to hide
your email address from spammers. I'll give you the address for
CNET's complete guide in a moment, but there are three sections of
CNET's guide I'd like to mention first.
"Hide your address: newsgroups" is a page that tells you how to hide
your email address in your Usenet postings. CNET recommends munging
your address, using a free email account from Hotmail or Rocketmail,
or even using a fake email address in your posts.
If truth be told, I don't do any of these. BUT, when I visit a Web
site that asks me to key in my email address, I almost always key in a
fake address. I used to key in something like foo@bar.com, but a few
alert TOURBUS riders recently informed me that there are three better
addresses I could use:
anyword@example.com
anyword@example.org
anyword@example.net
You can replace the word "anyword" with any word at all. The folks
at the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) recently reserved
these second level domain names for experimentation and testing.
There are two benefits to this:
1. Web programmers and technical writers can use example domain
addresses in their work without the fear of pointing their
audience to a real, working address; and
2. People like you and me can use the example domain addresses
when nosy Web sites ask us to key in our email addresses or
Web page addresses.
Ain't technology grand? :)
To read CNET's "Hide your address: newsgroups" page, point your Web
browser to
<A HREF="http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/ss01b.html">
http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/ss01b.html </A>.
Another way spammers farm email addresses is from the subscription
lists of popular email distributions lists. You don't have to worry
about that happening on TOURBUS -- Bob and I set up TOURBUS in such
a way that NO ONE can access our subscription list (I don't even think
that *WE* can access it), and we both hate spam so much we would never
think of violating your trust by sharing your email address with
anyone else -- but not all email lists are as honorable. To find out
how to hide your email address on L-Soft LISTSERV, Listproc, and
Majordomo lists, visit CNET's "Hide your address: mailing lists" page
at
<A HREF="http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/ss01d.html">
http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/ss01d.html </A>.
Finally, to find out how to hide your email address from online white
pages sites like Bigfoot and Four11, visit CNET's "Hide your address:
directories" page at
<A HREF="http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/ss01c.html">
http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/ss01c.html </A>.
That should slow the flow of new spam into your email inbox. Now,
let's try to get your current flow of spam under control.
--------------
Filtering Spam
--------------
The BEST way to deal with spam is to have your email program detect it
and send it to your trash can before you even see it. This is called
"filtering," and most good email programs will automatically do this
for you. CNET has a list of four wonderful filters you can add to
your email program at
<A HREF="http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/ss01.html">
http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/ss01.html </A>
Unfortunately, CNET doesn't really tell you HOW to add these filters
to your 1email program. That's where junk-mail.com comes in. If you
point your Web browser to
<A HREF="http://junk-mail.com/">
http://junk-mail.com/ </A>
you'll find instructions on how to add filters to Eudora, Netscape
Mail, Outlook Express, Pegasus Mail, and ProcMail.
Can you add these filters to AOL mail? Unfortunately, probably not.
Until very recently (AOL 6), AOL's mail program has been rather weak,
and it only allowed you to filter out specific email addresses. I
think AOL 6's email program solves this problem, but I'm not sure.
--------------
What NOT to Do
--------------
The worst thing you can do with a spam is respond to it. If you
respond, one of two things will happen:
1. The message will bounce because the spammer used a fake
return address; or
2. The spammer will know that not only do you read your email,
you also take the time to respond. This information is GOLD
to a spammer. Spammers will actually use your "remove me"
message as a way to harvest your email address and then they
will sell your address to other spammers.
I can't emphasize this enough: DON'T REPLY TO A SPAM! You open
yourself to a world of hurt if you do. The same is true with those
"removal sites" that promise to remove your email address from the
spammers' lists. Think about it -- in order for you to be removed
from the lists, the removal site has to SEND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO A
BUNCH OF SPAMMERS! Do you REALLY want to do this?
--------------
The Spam Bible
--------------
There is a point where you will stop wanting to just delete spam and
start wanting to combat the spammers themselves. If ever get to that
point, I strongly recommend that you read the alt.spam FAQ at
<A HREF="http://digital.net/~gandalf/spamfaq.html">
http://digital.net/~gandalf/spamfaq.html </A>.
The alt.spam FAQ is a highly technical, spam-killing bible, telling
you how to decipher where a spam came from and how to find and
complain to the appropriate network administrators.
[By the way, I think you can find a monospace version of the FAQ at
ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.answers/net-abuse-faq/spam-faq ]
---------------------
Finally, the CNET URL
---------------------
Oh, and before I forget, you can find CNET's "Can Anyone Stop Spam?"
guide on the Web at
<A HREF="http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/index.html">
http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Howto/Stop/index.html </A>.
Words cannot describe how highly I recommend this guide. It should be
a must-read for anyone even thinking about venturing into the world of
email.
Another good, albeit technical, resource is the Email Abuse FAQ at
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/emailfaq/emailfaq.html">
http://members.aol.com/emailfaq/emailfaq.html </A>.
That list of the 8 ways spammers collect email addresses I used a
little while ago came from the Email Abuse FAQ.
That's it for today! Have a safe and happy Turkey Day, and we'll talk
again next week. :)
=====================[ Tourbus Rider Information ]===================
The Internet Tourbus - U.S. Library of Congress ISSN #1094-2238
Copyright 1995-2000, Crispen & Rankin - All rights reserved
Like Tourbus? Recommend It! You could Win $10K or a Sony DVD Player
<a href="http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=194773"> CLICK HERE </a>
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=====================================================================
KB> 2. Today, I have received four unsolicited "get rich quick" spam
KB> messages -- including one from Pakistan and one from Yugoslavia? Has
KB> some address-retrieving software scanned the 2020 subscriber list on the
KB> web and condemned me to receive endless notices of chain letters?
KB> Help! I've replied to the message demanding to be removed from the
KB> mailing list, but two replies came back as undeliverable. What other
KB> recourse do we have to fend off this electronic onslaught?
KB> thanks,
KB> Kenton
---- End included message ----
---- Begin included message ----
As far as online spam goes...
1) If you think it's an honest reputable place sending you a legitimate
offer, and you send them a response following the instructions in the
email for removal, you will probably be removed.
2) If you don't think it's legitimate/reputable/etc. Then don't respond at
all, because you are just confirming the fact that someone reads that
email account. If you don't respond either way, they will assume it's a
dead/unused account and stop sending you email.
3) Many ISPs will subscribe to a Real Time Spam Block (RTSB) service that
will blacklist anyone that sends out massive spam like that and you will
never see the message in the first place. If you run your own mail
server, it's not to hard to tie in to one of these services.
As far as the snail mail spam, I feel for you. Because of my job title
(or maybe salary?) I get several requests for cards that are of such high
limit that I have no where near the credit to back them up. So I get 3-5
a week, and no hope of getting them (not that I care, I live my whole life
with no credit cards).
jason
On Mon, 4 Dec 2000, Kenton Bird wrote:
> Visionaries:
> 1. In the past two months, I've received more than two dozen
> solicitations from credit card companies, offering my
> gold/platinum/plutonium Visas and MasterCards. I regularly write to the
> Direct Mail Associations asking to be removed from mailing lists, but
> still the junk keeps coming. Are others having this problem? Any
> suggestions on how to stem the paper flow?
>
> 2. Today, I have received four unsolicited "get rich quick" spam
> messages -- including one from Pakistan and one from Yugoslavia? Has
> some address-retrieving software scanned the 2020 subscriber list on the
> web and condemned me to receive endless notices of chain letters?
> Help! I've replied to the message demanding to be removed from the
> mailing list, but two replies came back as undeliverable. What other
> recourse do we have to fend off this electronic onslaught?
>
> thanks,
> Kenton
>
>
---- End included message ----
---- Begin included message ----
Kenton,
If you are using Microsoft Outlook, you can use the "Junk mail" function to
build a list of email addresses from which junk mail historically has come
from. They are then automatically removed from the email queue. As I
subscribe to a wide range of on-line services, I use this quite often.
Over time I have found that junk mail comes in "spurts" after I subscribe to
a new on-line service. Since subscribing to Vision 2020 about six weeks ago,
I found that I needed to add over 80 new junk mail addresses. It seems
fairly obvious to me that you are correct - someone has figured out how to
procure this list without our permission.
Sincerely,
Bill Strand
-----Original Message-----
From: Kenton Bird [mailto:kbird@uidaho.edu]
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 3:30 PM
To: vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Junk mail: printed and otherwise
Visionaries:
1. In the past two months, I've received more than two dozen
solicitations from credit card companies, offering my
gold/platinum/plutonium Visas and MasterCards. I regularly write to the
Direct Mail Associations asking to be removed from mailing lists, but
still the junk keeps coming. Are others having this problem? Any
suggestions on how to stem the paper flow?
2. Today, I have received four unsolicited "get rich quick" spam
messages -- including one from Pakistan and one from Yugoslavia? Has
some address-retrieving software scanned the 2020 subscriber list on the
web and condemned me to receive endless notices of chain letters?
Help! I've replied to the message demanding to be removed from the
mailing list, but two replies came back as undeliverable. What other
recourse do we have to fend off this electronic onslaught?
thanks,
Kenton
---- End included message ----
---- Begin included message ----
If you have a hotmail acount you can block the sender. Then you won't get
anymore mail from that particular sender. I can't seem to find that option with
First Step Internet address.
Janesta Sullivan
LuJane Nisse wrote:
> I get these spam solicitations all the time and it really is annoying but I
> have yet to find out how they get my e-mail address or have I yet to figure
> out how to stop them. If I ask to be removed it usually comes back with
> "unknown" recipient. If you figure this one out, I'd sure like to know as
> well.
>
> LuJane Nisse, Publisher
> LatahEagle (www.lataheagle.com)
> The Boomerang! (www.the-boomerang.com)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kenton Bird [mailto:kbird@uidaho.edu]
> Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 3:30 PM
> To: vision2020@moscow.com
> Subject: Junk mail: printed and otherwise
>
> Visionaries:
> 1. In the past two months, I've received more than two dozen
> solicitations from credit card companies, offering my
> gold/platinum/plutonium Visas and MasterCards. I regularly write to the
> Direct Mail Associations asking to be removed from mailing lists, but
> still the junk keeps coming. Are others having this problem? Any
> suggestions on how to stem the paper flow?
>
> 2. Today, I have received four unsolicited "get rich quick" spam
> messages -- including one from Pakistan and one from Yugoslavia? Has
> some address-retrieving software scanned the 2020 subscriber list on the
> web and condemned me to receive endless notices of chain letters?
> Help! I've replied to the message demanding to be removed from the
> mailing list, but two replies came back as undeliverable. What other
> recourse do we have to fend off this electronic onslaught?
>
> thanks,
> Kenton
---- End included message ----
---- Begin included message ----
First, I do not open e-mails from unknown addresses. even opening such
e-mails, and especially asking for removal, simply tells the sender that
there is a live body at the other end. It is best to delete all unknown
e-mails.
Second, it is time for programmers to add a button that returns e-mails back
down the path that comes to you. A "return to sender" button. This would
allow all of us unhappy spammed people a chance to flood the sender with the
e-mails they sent.
Third, printed "junk mail" comes to you from various address lists,
including those complied be e-mail responses. While there are various
national clearing houses that will, for a fee, notify majors compilers of
address lists that you and your address are to be removed, this rarely works
for very long. If you place a notice of removal in the business reply
envelope you get with the junk mail, they have to pay for the envelope and
generally will at least open it and read what is inside. Again, the people
reading your notice are not those compiling the address list.
Finally, there is in some software an ability to block out "junk e-mail" I
suspect it has dubious results and is quickly overcome by the e-mailers.
However, one way I have found to help is to not pass on those "pyramid"
e-mails that tell you to pass on to ten of your friends this letter so some
school children somewhere will see how far it goes. The idea is neat,
assuming there are school children who have sent it out, and not some e-mail
list compiler trying to find out who your ten formally best friends are.
John
John and Laurie Danahy
jdanahy@turbonet.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Hoffmann" <escape@alt-escape.com>
To: "Kenton Bird" <kbird@uidaho.edu>; <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: Junk mail: printed and otherwise
> At 03:30 PM 12/04/2000 -0800, Kenton Bird wrote:
> >Visionaries:
> >1. In the past two months, I've received more than two dozen
> >solicitations from credit card companies, offering my
> >gold/platinum/plutonium Visas and MasterCards. I regularly write to the
> >Direct Mail Associations asking to be removed from mailing lists, but
> >still the junk keeps coming. Are others having this problem? Any
> >suggestions on how to stem the paper flow?
>
> I once called a credit card company and complained that I had received two
> mailings within two days. They offered to take me off their mailing list
> (as I think they are required to on request). I took them up on it.
Those
> solicitations often come with toll-free numbers, so take advantage of
> them. Or you can use their post-paid envelope to request removal.
>
> >2. Today, I have received four unsolicited "get rich quick" spam
> >messages -- including one from Pakistan and one from Yugoslavia? I've
> >replied to the message demanding to be removed from the
> >mailing list, but two replies came back as undeliverable. What other
> >recourse do we have to fend off this electronic onslaught?
>
> They often use false return addresses. Unsolicited email is not ethical,
> so don't expect such people to be ethical. They are unlikely to oblige
> your requests to remove your address from their database. The best thing
> to do is to ignore them.
>
>
> Bob Hoffmann
> 846 Mabelle St.
> Moscow, ID 83843 USA
> Phone: (208) 883-0642
> Fax: (877) 495-2279
>
---- End included message ----
---- Begin included message ----
Dearest friends,
For those of you who are using OUTLOOK 2000, you can automatically move the
offending emails into the deleted items directory... you will never see it.
This does not solve the problem for you getting the mail but it will
eliminate the annoying task of deleting the offending repeat offender.
Your brother in arms,
Shahab...
-----Original Message-----
From: Kenton Bird [mailto:kbird@uidaho.edu]
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 3:30 PM
To: vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Junk mail: printed and otherwise
Visionaries:
1. In the past two months, I've received more than two dozen
solicitations from credit card companies, offering my
gold/platinum/plutonium Visas and MasterCards. I regularly write to the
Direct Mail Associations asking to be removed from mailing lists, but
still the junk keeps coming. Are others having this problem? Any
suggestions on how to stem the paper flow?
2. Today, I have received four unsolicited "get rich quick" spam
messages -- including one from Pakistan and one from Yugoslavia? Has
some address-retrieving software scanned the 2020 subscriber list on the
web and condemned me to receive endless notices of chain letters?
Help! I've replied to the message demanding to be removed from the
mailing list, but two replies came back as undeliverable. What other
recourse do we have to fend off this electronic onslaught?
thanks,
Kenton
---- End included message ----