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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
- Oscar Wilde
I get a ton of spam, and actively employ spam filters, spam reporting, and other means of controlling the disgusting stuff. I hate spam, and sometimes, I even write about spam... (And yes, the title of this category is from the Monty Python sketch, and yes, spam is called spam because of that sketch, and no, I have nothing against Hormel Spam™)
"Spam king" pleads guilty to felony fraud
Sun, 16 Mar 08 Prolific spammer's felony conviction upheld
Tue, 04 Mar 08 What Goes Around Comes Around for Notorious Spammer Alan Ralsky
Fri, 04 Jan 08 And a line farther down in the article which I feel is rather an understatement: News of the indictment brought cheers from anti-spammers. It's Not About the Spam
Fri, 02 Nov 07 I laughed out loud a couple times watching this. Could be because I'm a geek. Or maybe it's because I use Gmail. Or maybe because I hate spam. Or all three! Are YOU talking to ME?!
Thu, 01 Nov 07 Got this today in my spamtrap: when to stop blogging I think the spambastards are on to me... They're trying to SILENCE me! That's it! Well, if anything happens to this blog, I have a packet of information that's going to be sent to a certain individual and then the truth will be known! So don't you try anything, Random J. Spammer! I'm on to you! Well, it's about time!
Fri, 13 Jul 07 I keep getting phishing emails claiming that I've received an ecard. Mind you, they never tell me who its from, or rather, they do, but it's always ridiculous. So far I've "received an ecard" from: a schoolmate and a few others that I can't recall. Today, though, I got this: You've received an ecard from a Worshipper! My inner goddess must be showing.... Spammers really ARE the scum of the earth
Wed, 07 Mar 07 Okay. The spammer has gone to a distributed attack. From the looks of the IP addresses involved, he/they have a bunch of zombie machines, that is, computers infected with trojans that run the script. This pisses me off because there are apparently so many COMPLETE MORONS out there who manage to get this crap on their computer to begin with. Hello, ever hear of, oh, I don't know, VIRUS PROTECTION? How about maybe not clicking on everything any random person sends you, think that could help?! Okay, that vent over, now to the f#%king bastard who keeps doing this: YOU'RE AN IDIOT, MATE! Crashing my server with your poorly written bot will NOT cause your website to have better rankings in the search engines!!! For now, we've disabled comments, because we've completely removed mt-comments.cgi and we're setting up various means of preventing the spam attacks. They're hitting the script from the outside, that is, they're totally by-passing any pages or blogs, and just going directly. Now that there IS NO SCRIPT there, they can't call it. We're also doing several other things, including rebuilding the kernal so that traffic has a better connection throttle and we'll be looking at upgrading Movable Type (I haven't done it in too long, I admit it) and a few other tricks we've found. This kind of comment spamming is, apparently, all too common. On a really big server, it just slows it down. On a small server like ours, it kills it completely. So, well, no comments for an indefinite period. If you want to talk to me, feel free to email, though. Firm 'ordered to pay spam costs'
Wed, 07 Mar 07 SYN Flooding
Tue, 06 Mar 07 Okay. Yes, our server's been off and on for a few days. It's the same problem as we had before, probably the same idiot comment spammer, running a script that effectively creates a SYN flood, which is a kind of Denial of Service Attack. This time we've recompiled the kernal and added a few things to throttle traffic and shut down inappropriate multiple responses, plus we've set the firewall up with an extensive block of IPs (I mean a really BIG block, too). The IP block will keep him out for a while, but as this happened a month ago, I'd reckon it won't be long before he's back on yet another ISP and we'll have to block that, as well (we may end up blocking most of Russia, and for that I do apologise, but I doubt there's a great deal on our servers of particular interest to most Russians, anyway, so I don't think they're missing much). You can see some more of this idiot's work in this guestbook, which has been autospammed just about to death. Fortunately for them, it didn't kill their server (it kills ours for a couple of technical hypergeeky reasons I won't go into). So that's the deal. Wish us luck that with the new throttling and IP blocks and other precautions, we'll be able to keep this f#$%ing b@st@rd away from our server. I can tell you I'm sending the worst vibes I can manage! Server is ACTUALLY back
Tue, 06 Feb 07 The message Andrew sent to users on the server: G'day caffeine-users. As you may be aware, our favourite server has been on and off for a couple What you may not be aware of is it's thanks to a spammer trying to spam We're not sure which blog it was they were trying, but whatever it was, We have taken steps to ensure that this particular attack vector will not Apologies for the downtime, and thanks for your patience. Cheers, I have long said that spammers are the absolute scum of the earth, haven't I? Well, this is the sort of crap these pathetic losers do! Spammers as scammers
Sun, 03 Dec 06 Why stock scammers are losing the game
Tue, 21 Nov 06 (I've always wondered who is stupid enough to buy stocks recommended to them by random anonymous spammers...) British ISP fires back at spammers
Mon, 16 Oct 06 CAPTCHAs (yes, again)
Fri, 06 Oct 06 Just got spam through one of the mailforms I hadn't fixed yet (on a different domain). Fixed it immediately. And you know what? Every time I put a CAPTCHA on a mailform, I just feel like raising up my middle finger to the sky and shouting "F**K YOU, YOU SPAMMING BASTARDS!" Only without the asterisks. Virginia Spammers Go To Jail, And Pay For It
Sat, 09 Sep 06 HAHAHAHA!!!! Spammers getting scammed!
Fri, 26 May 06 F#$&ing SPAMMERS
Wed, 26 Apr 06 I'm going to have to put a CAPCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart) on my mailforms. I keep getting automated spam for all kinds of complete crap. I've started banning IP addresses (because my mailform tells me the precise IP address the mail came from, making it easy to do), but I can't keep doing that indefinitely. It's ticking me off, it really is. And it's not even that my mail isn't filtered, because it certainly is. It's that when I see the header from a mailform I instantly recognize it and, previously, I was able to know what it was about AND that it wasn't spam. Now I can tell it's spam (because they're idiots and make it obvious even before I've opened the message), but it's caught in my spam trap or something and I have to retrieve it. These idiot moron sleaze bastards are robbing me of my most precious commodity, time. They're also stealing something I can't really afford to lose, and that's patience (I've got precious little of that and I need it, dammit). So, I hereby put a curse on anyone and everyone who sends spam through any of my mailforms. May the annoyance and irritation that you willfully inflict on others return to you threefold. So be it. Jailed spam king caught conspiring to kill witness
Sun, 26 Mar 06 Spammer lands $11 billion fine
Sat, 07 Jan 06 FBI raid shuts down world's most prolific spammer
Thu, 03 Nov 05 But it's not spam, right?
Mon, 26 Sep 05 I keep getting emails advertising a particular php type site (that is, they have scripts and other php-related materials on the site). And when I say I keep getting them, I mean sometimes to the tune of several a day, but at least once a week. When I first started getting them I checked the email to see what it was about, but I don't recognize the site and I certainly never asked to be spammed with email telling me to visit it. The thing that ticks me off the most is that every email from these idiots insists that it's not spam. Is it unsolicited? Is it commercial? Is it in my spamtrap? Well, hey, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... They say, in the body of the message, that they obtained my email address "from legitimate sources" whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. Not that I joined an opt-in list, not that I signed up for their site, nothing of that sort, but that they got it from "legitimate sources". Well, I won't say what site it is because there's no way I'm going to give them any traffic, but they really need to stop sending me this crap if they want me to stop reporting it for what it is: SPAM. ATTENTION: If you're using Andrew's (Alicorna) mailform script
Mon, 12 Sep 05 There is yet ANOTHER new exploit out there that the idiot spammers have figured out to use. This is pretty obscure and fairly recent. For nine years (since Andrew first wrote that script for me in 1996) that mailform and things based on it (such as the graphic set registration which isn't online any more and the other download registration one) was very secure. Leave it to the spammers to figure out how to screw with people's servers to spew forth their garbage.... It is mostly unlikely that people have worked out how to hack that script, BUT it's possible, so if you're using it or any variation of it, please go to Alicorna and get the new one and install that one instead. He hasn't (yet) updated the Graphics Download script, but I'll let you know when he does. It's not online at the moment, but I'll put it online when it's updated so people can get it easily. For now, if you're using the mailform go here and download the updated version just to be on the safe side. No registration required, just download and off you go. I swear, spammers really are the absolute scum of the earth. Russian Media Hails Spammer’s Murder
Thu, 28 Jul 05 (Let this be a lesson to you: "Spam kills!" or, as my amusing husband put it, "For God's sake, don't spam!") And another article that might be of interest:
Talk about nerve!
Tue, 21 Jun 05 We've been working on getting Spamassassin working on our server. So far, we're still busy seeding the database, and as a result, I've got a couple of my addresses going to my shell account on the server (so I can save the mail and easily add it to the database, although we now have another means of doing that and I'll probably redirect it back to spamcop.net now). So anyway, I went just now to find that there was an email waiting for me. Since I use a text-only reader on the server (well, DUH, what else are you going to use in that situation), any HTML or attached images or other junk isn't visible. Here's the message I just got as it appeared in my mail reader (the address they sent it to has been obscured; the address it's from is obviously fake): Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 01:13:29 -0600 Get a capable html e-mailer
Don't you love that? I should get a capable HTML e-mailer so that I can read their f*%#ing UNSOLICITED CRAP?! Normally, I don't pay any attention to spam, don't even open it, but this time I did because of the spamtrap filter thingy, and I'm sorry I bothered. From here on, that address is going to be redirected to spamcop and filtered there and every message that comes in will be REPORTED. And NO, I will NOT use an HTML capable mail program just to read SPAM. maybe, but maybe not....
Thu, 05 May 05 Spam title: Can you afford to ignore SmallCaps? well, i dunno, can i? LOL!
Sat, 16 Apr 05 It's pretty rare that I actually find spam funny, but just now in my spam filter I saw this: Makes you great in bed. Now all you have to do is get laid. Alleged email spammer raided in Perth
Mon, 11 Apr 05 First Convicted Spammer Gets 9 Years
Sat, 09 Apr 05 Interview with a link spammer
Fri, 04 Feb 05 (Personal note, this is a good part of why I don't have comments enabled here or anywhere else. You're welcome to email me, though.) Spamusement!
Tue, 25 Jan 05 Poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines! (Too funny, go have a look, I swear I was actually having to wipe my eyes I was laughing so much!) Spammed man sued by alleged spammer wants cash
Thu, 20 Jan 05 Texas Seeks Millions from Major 'Spam' Operation
Tue, 18 Jan 05 Court Stops Spammers from Circulating Unwanted Sexually-Explicit E-mails
Sat, 15 Jan 05 'Spam King' To Stop Invading Computers
Thu, 06 Jan 05 Spam-fighting FAQ
Fri, 10 Dec 04 Just thought I'd pass on this link, in case anyone might be interested: spamfaq.net. Won't that give me a stomach ache?
Tue, 07 Dec 04 Just got this spam caught in my spamtrap: Get supper Sized bonni! What a question
Tue, 30 Nov 04 I keep getting spam messages with this title: Are You Lonely or Horney? Uhhhh, are these my only options? D'oh!
Sat, 06 Nov 04 Just got this spam: Homer asked me to forward this to you
D'oh! Gee, it doesn't sound too professional to me...
Sat, 06 Nov 04 Just got this spam title (unedited; hope you're not too offended by the profanity): special offer on Microshit Project 2003 Professional $60
Oh, okay then!
Thu, 14 Oct 04 Just got this in my spam trap: (NOT A SPAM) TURN $6 INTO $600000 IN 15 WEEKS But it's not spam.... Warspammer guilty under new federal law
Thu, 14 Oct 04 Subject: SPAM: The spam to end all spam.
Tue, 05 Oct 04 DEAR SIR/MADAM, THIS IS A PERSONAL EMAIL T0 YOU ONLY. I AM THE SON OF SPAM SPADE, THE I AM USING THIS MEDIUM T0 REACH YOU. HOWEVER I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE AND THIS IS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL, YOUR CO-OPERATION IS NECESSARY. YOUR RESUME WAS SELECTED AS BEING HIGHLY QUALIFIED, BUT THIS IS NOT SPAM! THIS IS FREEDOM FROM DEBT - CUT YOUR MORTGAGE IN HALF WITH OUR AMAZING REMOTE-CONTROL PASTA POT. THIS OFFER IS FREE. YOU HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO DELETE IT AT ANY TIME. Y0UR PILLS ARE BEING HELD IN AN INEXPENSIVE DIGITAL CABLE DESCRAMBLER BOX GUARDED BY TEENY TITS CARRYING EXPLOSIVE LOADS. THE LOWEST RATES ARE LOCKED IN, ALONG WITH YOUR FREE GIFT. THESE PILLS MUST BE TRANSFERED TO YOUR ACCOUNT USING A HAND-HELD ORGANIZER WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED FROM A FREE GOVERNMENT-AUCTION WEB SITE. BY VIEWING PHOTOS OF SINGLES IN YOUR AREA, INCLUDING HORNY WIVES, YOU CAN LOOK YOUNGER, LOSE WEIGHT, AND INCREASE YOUR STAMINA WHILE DRIVING PRE-QUALIFIED CUSTOMERS TO YOUR MULTILEVEL PROGRAM AND MAKE OVER $4000 PER MONTH GUARANTEED. THESE PILLS WILL NOT ONLY MAKE YOU LOOK 3" LONGER, THEY WILL GET RID OF YOUR FLEAS AND TICKS FOR GOOD! SIMPLY COPY ANY DVD TO YOUR FREE INTERNET DOMAIN AND BEGIN YOUR ANTI-AGING PROGRAM TODAY. THE PLAN IS SIMPLE. Y0U WILL USE NORTON SYSTEMWORKS (A $300 VALUE FOR ONLY $38.95) TO PURCHASE 37 MILLION SHARES OF TONER CORP STOCK. THEN YOU WILL MEET ME AT THE WORLD'S SMALLEST DIGITAL CAMERA WITH $30,000 IN CORAL CALCIUM. WARNING: DO NOT TAKE ANY HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE OR YOU WILL NOT QUALIFY FOR YOUR FREE GIFT. ONCE YOU RECONNECT WITH YOUR HIGH-SCHOOL FRIENDS, YOUR FREE CREDIT REPORT WILL BE SENT. WITH THIS REPORT, YOU CAN BUILD YOUR OWN ONLINE CASINO. ONCE INSIDE THE CASINO, YOU WILL SUBSCRIBE TO KARA'S FREE FAN CLUB, WHERE YOU WILL BE ENTERED IN A DRAWING TO PROTECT YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. DO NOT FAIL TO DO THIS, OR I WILL REDUCE THE SIZE OF YOUR PENIS BY THREE INCHES! KARA'S WEB SITE WILL POP UP 6,000 PAGES, ALL OF WHICH YOU WILL HAVE TO CLOSE BY CLICKING THEM. FOR EACH ONE YOU CLICK, TWO MORE WILL APPEAR. AFTER YOU COMPLETE YOUR ONLINE DEGREE (IN 8 MONTHS OR LESS), I WILL SEND YOU A HOT AMATEUR MP3 THAT WILL CONSOLIDATE YOUR DEBT USING ONLINE AUCTIONS. NOT EVEN CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, OR OPRAH WILL KNOW OUR SECRET! N0W Y0U WILL BE READY TO RECEIVE THE PILLS. YOU WILL USE THE AUCTION SITE TO FIRE YOUR BOSS AND CLAIM YOUR PORTABLE DVD PLAYER FROM THE SECRET ANTI-WRINKLE AGENT. NEXT, BOOST YOUR CELLULAR RECEPTION AND DRIVE OUR TEENY LOLITAS WILD WITH HUMAN PHEROMONES MADE FROM PRE-OWNED INKJET CARTRIDGES. YOU WILL TRADE THE PHEROMONES FOR A SINGLE GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL FILLED WITH A FREE THIRTY-DAY SUPPLY, WHICH WILL ENLARGE YOUR PACKAGE EVEN FURTHER. THE HERBAL INGREDIENTS IN THIS PACKAGE WILL INCREASE YOUR REVENUE PROJECTIONS BY 3" AND CLEAN THE INNER WALLS OF YOUR INTESTINES. REMEMBER, THIS IS NOT A SLEEP REMEDY, THIS AMAZING PRODUCT TARGETS THE BACTERIA THAT ACTUALLY CAUSE SNORING! 0UR PSYCHICS ARE STANDING BY TO TAKE YOUR ORDER. GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER AND WAIT FOR THE BEEP. YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE ULTIMATE SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH AND A FREE CREDIT CHECK. DEPOSIT THIS CHECK IN A PRE-APPROVED ACCOUNT, AND YOU WILL TAKE HOME 40% OF THE PILLS. THIS IS A VERY SIMPLE TRANSACTION. THE RESULTS ARE GUARANTEED. THIS IS A COMPLETELY SECURE INVESTMENT. I HOPE YOU WILL HELP ME AND MY FAMILY AS WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED. PLEASE REPLY ASAP. SINCERELY, P.S., IF YOU WANT TO BE REMOVED FROM THIS MAILING LIST, SIMPLY GO TO Note: There's an entry on this one at Snopes, the Urban Legends Site. And their comment that it scores 31.1 on SpamAssassin is funny, but I once had a spam that scored 45, believe it or not (I didn't look to see why it scored so high, but I did take note of the score at the time). ADD 3 INCHES TO YOUR PENIS WITH CHEAP PRINTER CARTRIDGES MADE FROM 50% VIAGRA - HAND CRAFTED BY SEX-CRAZED HIGH SCHOOL LESBIAN SLUTS SOAKED IN PHEROMONES
Thu, 30 Sep 04 Microsoft Sues Web Hoster, Others Over Spam
Sun, 26 Sep 04 Bloody stupid Microsoft
Tue, 14 Sep 04 Microsoft seem to have taken on the job of educating people about spam. To that effect, they've put up a page about spam and what to do about it. Most of the advice is fine, except for this little ignorant gem:
Uhm, yeah, do you suppose ANYONE at Microsoft has ever actually gotten any spam or do they live in a spam-proof bubble or something? I couldn't let it go unchallenged. I sent them a message via their feedback form. Here's what I wrote (slightly edited to remove unnecessary redundancy):
History of Spamming
Tue, 14 Sep 04 Although spamming has existed on the Internet since as early as 1978, the first major spamming incidents didn't take place until the early 1990s. Spamming began becoming a major problem at the same time that the Internet began its exponential mainstream expansion in 1993 (also known as Eternal September). (Hmmm, that's right when I was getting on the net, actually...) Going price for network of zombie PCs: $2,000-$3,000
Fri, 10 Sep 04 How's this for a spam subject?
Tue, 24 Aug 04 glorify Bonni Normally, I think spammers are full of crap, but in this case, I think they have a point... OUCH!
Tue, 20 Jul 04 Spam subject: Like an afterburner for your penis. How did this spammer know...
Sat, 10 Jul 04 Okay, how did this spammer find out that I have a thing for weddings? Bonni fetishist 826 brides Yeah, this will fool me...
Sat, 10 Jul 04 Spam subject: Remove all your computer traces lobotomyUhm, I think I would have to have actually had a lobotomy to fall for that... How's this for a subject line?
Sat, 26 Jun 04 *ahem* crankshaft my circulant commercial column bodied infirm lodge bodleian temple sandpiper flush jubilate childbear motivate removal carburetor set churchgoer dadaist junk senate basel claudio canopy bandpass dinnertime outrageous netherlands conqueror bound peridotite brendan carven kidnapped Yeah, I'm really going to fall for that and open it... Russia and China 'behind current spam deluge'
Thu, 10 Jun 04 I've always believed that spammers are scum. This pretty much confirms it: Spammer Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison
Fri, 28 May 04 Atlanta-based Internet service provider Earthlink Inc. said it hoped the sentence and an earlier $16.4 million civil judgment against Howard Carmack will deter other spammers. Annoying? Absolutely. But mildly amusing...
Wed, 26 May 04 The spam was entitiled, "Stop these annoyying messages here". Naturally, it was in my spam filter (and NOT in my inbox). But I was so intrigued I had a look at the contents:
First of all, I'm not Candy (although if you are what you eat, I might feasably be chcoolate, but I'm more likely to be Diet Coke). Secondly, my spam filter was working perfectly, thanks. Thirdly, although generally speaking I think spammers are the absolute scum of the internet, at least this one (or whomever came up with this spam campaign) was somewhat clever and a little bit funny. It's better than asking me if my penis is big enough, anyway. Okay, but why?
Tue, 25 May 04 Just got this spam message in my spam can: Uhm.... Does Wicheta actually need dialation? If so, why? Bloody bastard spammers
Thu, 13 May 04 I've noticed an anomoly on our server. Andrew hasn't seen it firsthand because it always seems to take place late at night, and normally I'm the only one using the server that time of day. Huge amounts of system resources were being gobbled up, to the point of visibly slowing down a lot of stuff (like, say, the web server). I kept reporting it, but I couldn't pin it down (I'm more or less competent in a Unix system in a limited way, but really, the workings of the mail server and a lot of other processes are beyond me). I did get some basic information on what was going on, though, and it seems that there were mail spools backed up in the system. Several spools of "outgoing" mail, several of them over a hundred megabytes in size. YOUCH! Well, Andrew investigated today (with the information I gathered last night) and it seems it was due to -- don't look shocked now -- spam. No, we weren't being used as a spam relay or anything (which was what I feared), but it seems that our system receives around 300 spam messages a day that are addressed to addresses that the spammers just "guess" at. You know, webmaster, dns, info, contact, etc., and then a lot of common names and so on. Three HUNDRED of these a day, every day (now tell me that spam isn't a problem, how much bandwidth is that wasting?). So the thing that was happening was all these non-deliverable messages were being collected and our server was trying to figure out where to send the bounce message. Since 99.9999% of spam has forged headers, obviously the poor mail program couldn't work it out. So it was just going a little loopy, and gobbling up system resources while doing it. Nice, huh? Andrew's reconfigured the system now so that it just plain rejects mail for non-existent users, which means it's the problem of the mail system that sent the mail out. Since that system is the one spewing out the spam (presumably; there's only so far a spammer can go to forge the headers), they're the ones who ought to be dealing with it, anyway. Of course, this means that people who send mail to our system but use a poorly formatted address (typo or whatever) will get a bounce message that isn't very helpful, but unfortunately, that's just the way things are and have to be. Spammers are the absolute scum of the earth. They use up everyone else's time and resources, they abuse other people's servers and exploit open services and ports, they deliberately do stuff to bypass spam filters (Hello! If I have a spam filter it means that I DON'T WANT SPAM!), and they're basically just disgusting and sleazy as hell. As far as I can see, no matter what other redeeming quality a spammer might have, their deliberate abuse of the system earns them a LOT of bad karma. I hope they're all reincarnated as slugs or some other creature that crawls on its belly and eats decomposing organic matter. SpamCop Fights Back
Thu, 13 May 04 And on a related note, this quote is from Spamcop's own discussion boards:
Wow, isn't spam informative?
Tue, 04 May 04 Just had this in my spam trap: codiene will ease pain Really? It WILL?! Who knew?! BAR, I DEFY YOU!!!!
Mon, 03 May 04 Found this spam title rather amusing: only you can defy bar And so I do! Bar, consider yourself defied! Uhm, yeah, that'll fool me...
Wed, 14 Apr 04 Just got this stuck in my spam filter: GET YOUR UNIVERSITY DIPLOMA.. chose piece feature parley beebread architect carborundum adhere mckinley curdle preferring dick faraday forgiven paradigm crosswalk accommodate stayed persian elizabeth caspian bottommost dakar infelicity donate astarte meant administer tiny women cloud Uhm, yeah. I'm convinced. I'll do business with these people RIGHT AWAY! Oh, well, At least it's more interesting than another spam I got, which was entitled: Message subject Presidential candidates send millions of e-mails
Tue, 17 Feb 04 In other words, it's an unsolicited, bulk-emailed message with a link inside. Yeah. That's just what the average voter needs to make up their mind. SPAM. More on our server issues
Thu, 05 Feb 04 Okay, first of all, it seems that the full internet service has FINALLY been resolved. We are now on a much faster connection, both incoming and outgoing. Whew. No word on what the service provider actually intends to do about it, as far as the billing. And now, it appears, upon detailed inspection, that the goal of the hacking attempt was our mail server. Spammers (or scammers) deliberately hacked into our machine (and did it very poorly, I should add) and managed to crash it because they were trying to send a HUGE amount of mail. We're still repairing the damage to the mail server. This, by the way, is known as "server rape" and if you could see the damage done, you'd see why. Now try to tell me that spam is "harmless" and that all you have to do is "hit delete". Spammers are absolutely the scum of the internet, in my opinion. Evil, scheming bastards, that's about the size of it. Mr. Spam Man
Wed, 04 Feb 04 Well, when you see her...
Wed, 21 Jan 04 Got this caught in my spam filter: I NEED YOUR ASSISTANT!!! Yeah, me, too! Whenever you see her, will you send her in here? Sheesh! Random Acts of Spamness
Wed, 14 Jan 04 Well, I'm not surprised
Tue, 13 Jan 04 Got this subject line in my spam filter: i don't understand darupcmxfu oeabb What a coincidence! I don't understand darupcmxfu oeabb either! I guess I'll have to immediately read that completely and do business with the company/person who sent it! Not. Legal bid to break through the spam jam
Sun, 11 Jan 04 10,000 messages and counting
Wed, 17 Dec 03 I've had my spamcop address for a couple of years. I've just noticed that 10,000 messages have gotten caught in my spam filter in that time. Mind you, some of them were legitimate emails (because I use a very high level of filtering just out of preference; if I set it lower, I'd get far fewer false positives, but more spam would hit my inbox). I'd say that maybe 5%-10% of the mail that gets stuck in my spam filter is legitimate mail. The rest really is spam, pure and simple. So, let's say that 90% of the recorded items in my spam filter have been spam, that's 9,000 spam messages caught, reported, and deleted. Now tell me my paid account isn't worth the US$45 a year for two accounts (Andrew's and mine). From the Spam Can
Fri, 12 Dec 03 Subject lines found in my spam can today (no, I didn't read ANY of the messages or open them in any way; I just skim the titles): FORGET Viagra Good idea. Discount enlar-gem`ent p.i-ll_s Which discount will these pill enlarge? Billroberts Completely safe and doctor endorsed Is he, now? Because of You........ ragntph c blbqt Hey, don't go blaming ragntph c blbqt on me. I had nothing to do with it! At least it's honest
Fri, 05 Dec 03 Caught in my spam filter: Stop emails like this one Uh, dude, I just did. But thanks for thinking of me, eh? Unwanted ads prompt 'spam rage'
Tue, 25 Nov 03 IronPort to acquire SpamCop
Fri, 21 Nov 03 Idiot Spammers
Mon, 17 Nov 03 Just got this "suggested site" for the web design resource index I maintain on the Alicorna domain:
Obviously, I'm not including the URL. Also obviously, I'm not adding it to the list. Yes, I blocked their IP address. Bloody morons. Wow, a useful spam!
Sat, 15 Nov 03 Earlier this week I got a spam inviting me to buy the domain elizabyte.com for $89.95. I reported it as spam and deleted it from my filter. Today I got ANOTHER one. I was curious, so I went to my domain registrar and checked, and it was available to register (it hasn't been for some years, but I guess the owner let it expire). So I registered it. Two years, fifteen bucks. The actual spam (with URLs edited to protect the guilty):
Well, no need for that, you moron. But thanks for letting me know it was available, eh? (For those who might be interested, I've got it set up to forward to elizabyte.net at the moment; I may eventually use it for something else, but I did want to have it, so there you go.) Yeah, mate, that's right
Thu, 16 Oct 03 Just got this in my spam filter: Powerful Anti Spam Filter Get some, lose some
Thu, 16 Oct 03 From the title of a spam that got caught in my filter which, while I didn't open it to find out, was almost certainly for some sort of penis enlargement scam: I b:ec*a;me tw.ic*e t`he m^an I use t"o b.e ... and lost my ability to type. Or maybe he's typing with his newly enlarged member? Hmmmm.... Spam senders will face hefty fines
Thu, 18 Sep 03 I'm in agreement that it's not going to have much impact, but I like the idea of it, anyway. Unfortunately, the Australian Parliament has a history of passing laws about the internet that can't possibly be enforced, mostly because the average member of Parliament is about as technically savvy as my cat and they won't listen to the real technical experts. Still, it's an interesting read, if nothing else. I think I already have it, mate
Fri, 12 Sep 03 Got this stuck in my spam filter today: The powerful, effective and intelligent anti-spam tool. Hmmm. Well, you're in my filter and I've just reported you to the originating system. Hey! It works! Unbelievable
Thu, 11 Sep 03 I used to always have a Hotmail account to be my "trashcatcher" account. I'd use that for things like downloads and such that require a working address but where I don't trust the site enough to give my proper one (yes, it's filtered, but I'd still rather not be bothered by more spam than necessary). Anyway, that account expired, so I went and made a new one, with a different login name. I've had this account for less than 24 hours. It's ALREADY got spam in it. Several pieces. My only thought is that the address was previously used by someone else, but it's a really unusual word for the login name, so that seems dubious. I wonder, does Hotmail just hand out your email address instantly? Their privacy policy indicates that they don't, but when you get spam in an account you've had for less than a DAY, you really, REALLY have to wonder what the hell is going on... Cool, a new word
Sun, 07 Sep 03 I expect that most people have gotten those spam messages which, instead of having a subject line, have an odd or unusual word to get your attention. The first time it happened to me I figured it was spam, but checked anyway to be sure. I don't fall for it any more, of course, because no one I know or anyone I woulddo business with sends me emails with a single, obscure word in the subject line. Anyway, that being said, today in the spam filter was a piece of mail with a very interesting word for the subject line. I was so intrigued I looked it up in my handy American Heritage Dictionary (which I have installed on the hard drive, because I'd lose a real book dictionary if I had it in this mess that might have a desk under it). Today's word is: catabolic, found in the dictionary by its noun form, ca·tab·o·lism. It means, The metabolic breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones, often resulting in a release of energy. So there you go. Spam is good for something, anyway. Or at least, this one was. And I still didn't open it to see the contents and I still reported it to the originating network, so there you go. Poor Spammers
Wed, 03 Sep 03 Awwww. Those poor, maligned spammers. People hate them, call them names (like, oh, "sleazy bastards"), sue them, it's just all so distressing. Good thing spammers can join a support group to help them when life is just so, so unfair. After all, what kind of mean, thoughtless person doesn't want their penis enlarged and their mortgage reduced? People are just SO mean... The Pain of Automatic Translators
Mon, 28 Jul 03 I got an email in my spam filter that had the title, "The Magic of Artistic Paper-Cuts". I figured it was spam (it was), but I was intrigued, so I had a peek inside. Amid the JavaScript, image links, and other crap (which is just gibberish since my mail reader and my spam filtering system are both 100% plain text), I found this jewel of a paragraph: We are one of the biggest arts providers based in China. We can supply you with high-quality, artistic, and customized paper-cuts. Our paper-cuts are developed for all kinds of use in both daily life and business. We will also meet any design challenge! I think they don't quite understand what "paper cut" means in English... Still, now I have this image of a new type of body modification, delicate scarification via papercuts... Well, this is actually true... Thu, 03 Jul 03 |