Tanguy Ortolo: Fun with spammers
Email spam is a plague, but sometimes there is at least on category of
spammers it is easy to have fun with: naive manual spammers. People that try to
do more or less legal business, using Internet in an illegitimate way, for
instance (this is a real example, including the spammer's address: spamming
bots, please use it ;-) !):
From: Emma Perroni <emmaperroni@gmail.com> Subject: Hello Hello, Do you have a Facebook page? If you do, I can offer you to add fans by hunders/thouthands in a single day using an original (and confidential) technique. We can also add subscribers to Twitter, Youtube or Google+1. Prices: 10 for 100 fans, -20% for more than 1000 fans ordered. RegardsReporting Well, in that case it may or may not be a scam, but even if it is not a criminal activity such as selling fake drugs, it is not a very honest business. Anyway, that lady is using her Google account to send her crap, so neutralizing her is quite easy:
- checking that it really comes from Google Mail, using DKIM or SPF;
- writing to Google, reporting that spam (and, in that specific case, the abuse they are offering to commit on Google +1);
- optional, do not do that with scammers: replying to the spammer explaining that this is spamming, that you reported it and that she can expect to loose her Google account and everything on it.
- Ha ha ha, why not calling the FBI? That's it, laugh while you can, do you think your provider does not care? Too bad, he does, so you may change of mood when you see the effects loosing one's online account.
- We are doing legal business, you will stop your harrassment or we will file a complain. Yes, please do so if you dare, but may I remember you that you are the one at fault here? (in fact, such a reaction is a very good sign, since it shows that the spammer is actually afraid, probably for his business)
- Why did you do that? I promise, I shall not do it again, please Too late, lamer, you should have thought of that before sending your crap