[bcab] Re: how does this kind of spam work?

Firstly, when the spammers spell the word "pills" as "p1lls" they are doing so 
to try and ensure 
that their messages get past keyword blocking message filters.  The number 1 in 
print looks so much 
like the letter I,
so this means they get to communicate the same word, to the sighted.  A message 
rule set up to block 
the word "viagra" will not block the word "v1agra" meaning spelling it this way 
increases it's 
chances of getting to one's inbox.   It's a get-through tactic.  The letter O 
gets replaced with the 
number 0, they'll also make slight spelling variations, all with the aim of 
getting past any 
word-based message filtering people may have.

Secondly, even if a spammer's message does not try to sell anything & contains 
no links or graphics 
whatsoever, the fact that it got through to you, is a confirmation to the 
sender that your email 
address is indeed active, & to spammers that confirmation is all important.

Thirdly, in theory if their message was to get bounced - i e no such address 
exists - they probably 
wouldn't keep sending messages to it, as in theory their own inboxes would get 
clogged with "bounced 
message" returns.   However because "they" are often robots and the spamming is 
done on an automated 
basis, even addresses which DO bounce may still get spam sent to them for a 
long time afterwards. 
If a mailbox is totally closed down, a message sent to it will only get as far 
as the I S P who used 
to host it.   I S P e-mail servers are some of the busiest working machines on 
the internet, and in 
some cases the senders may keep sending messages even though they know they are 
bouncing, to harass 
the company by overloading them and perhaps even causing loss of service.   
This is similar to a 
DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack made by hackers.  In the case of 
some DDOS attacks on 
retail websites, the spammers even demanded a ransom to stop.  They can be and 
usually are, 
ruthless.

Fourthly, eventually in some cases like the above, the ISP will block an entire 
domain, and (to 
those that didn't know this) any end user can do this too.   The circumstance 
in which this would be 
appropriate are when you are getting lots of different spam messages from 
different aliases on the 
same top-level domain. E g you get a spam from fred1@xxxxxx so you block it as 
normal, however you 
then get another one from fred2@xxxxxx , and so forth.   The thing to do then, 
is to block the 
entire "aol.de" domain (especially if you're sure you haven't got any friends 
on AOL Germany).  To 
do this in outlook express, simply go into your "blocked senders" list,

(Shortcut ALT T then R then S.)

Then select a blocked sender from the list whose domain you want to block, 
using the up/down arrow 
keys.

Then choose to modify the blocked senders entry.

(Shortcut ALT M.)

Then modify the entry by deleting off the entire Alias from the start of the 
address.  This means 
deleting everything from the beginning of the address to and including the "@" 
sign, leaving just 
the text that remains after the "@" sign remaining.

Lastly press Enter then tab to the OK button & press enter again.  You now will 
have blocked that 
entire domain.

A word of caution on domain blocking though, be careful not to block the wrong 
one.   E g if you 
blocked the entire "yahoo.com" domain, this would also block messages from 
anyone you knew with a 
valid  "@yahoo.com" email address as well.  Luckily the "blocked senders" 
action means that messages 
are sent straight to the bin, which gives you a second chance to check, just in 
case.

Fifth. it is always checking out your ISP's spam-blocking capabilities.  For 
example with 
blueyonder, a large UK cable provider, you can turn the spam filtering up to 
high by logging into 
your webmail account.  This will then be effective on  your POP3 email account 
also, and will go 
some way towards further effective spam blocking.

Sixth,  The garbled nonsense that a lot of spam messages contain is generated 
using email "guerrilla 
marketing" software.  The senders don't really give a hoot what it says, it's 
produced in bulk  for 
the purpose of sending out to bulk recipients, it's pure babble and reminds me 
of those awful poems 
that they once tried to get artificial intelligence programs to create.  
Reading it is probably bad 
for your health!

Last bit.  I've been on the net for about 9 years and to this day I have so far 
never used third 
party spam blocking software.   Spam has definitely been an increasing problem 
in recent years, 
however I've found that by (a) using message rules to divert emails from lists 
and everyone I know 
to custom folders, (b) using message rules to block messages by keywords in the 
subject line or 
message, (c) blocking dodgy domains and turning my ISP spam filtering up to 
high, and (d) being 
aware of spam, I've been able to reduce the amount of my time that it consumes, 
dramatically.

After reading all this, perhaps I might conclude that 3rd party spam software, 
would have made it 
even easier!?

Leon Gilbert
Volunteer Day Reader, blindnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
RSS News Feed Editor, ACB Radio, www.acbradio.org
Editor & Site Owner, www.vipnews.org.uk (now hosted by the National Library for 
the Blind)
Co-founder & Webmaster, The Accessible Friends Network, www.tafn.org.uk
(Personal email lwg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx )

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John M Hull" <j.m.hull@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 5:19 PM
Subject: [bcab] Re: how does this kind of spam work?, originally Fw: please be 
discreet


Folks,
I get a lot of stuff like this as well, but only on my office address,
not this one.

Funny thing is, as Graham says, it is hard to work out what is in it for
the spammer. The messages are not obviously pornographic nor do they try
to sell things. The texst often seems to be random snatches of
narrative, fairy stories  or other usually incomprehensible  phrases, as
if taken at random from some internet source. Some times I have eight or
ten of these in a row, and they are increasing.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Graham Page
Sent: 27 October 2006 11:17
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] how does this kind of spam work?, originally Fw: please
be discreet

Hi all.

I seem to have had a lot of spam recently like the message below.  but I
don't see how this kind of message can even be of benefit to the
spammer.  If I get messages inviting penis enlargement then if I am
stupid enough to believe the claims made then I can of course click on
the provided linkk.  I know the companies work on the theory that if
they send enough messages out a very few people will respond.  Messages
like the one below just clutter my inbox.  Is there a latest spammers
trick I am unaware of here?

Regards

Graham
----- Original Message ----- 
From: slyvia fields <mailto:libxbmsasadse@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: esteban hayes <mailto:gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 12:09 PM
Subject: please be discreet



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