Boulder Community Network

Internet Spam

This page gives you information about and links to resources to help you deal with Internet spam.

Directory to sections in this page -

• Resources for Handling Internet Spam
• AOL Response about Spam via AOL Facilities
• HotMail Response about Spam

Other Internet-related information available on BCN -

• Resources for Handling Internet Cookies
• Resources for Handling Internet Hoaxes
• Resources for Handling Internet Viruses
• Internet Domains

Resources for Handling Internet Spam

A page with step by step instructions about dealing with spam -

• Spam Discussion; http://www.whew.com/Spammers/reportspam_stepbystep.shtml

A resource to trace out where your spam came from, advice on turning on your email program's display of all the routing information, and some suggestions about where to complain to -

• Spam Cop; http://spamcop.net/

A site that claims to clean up your e-mail spam -

• http://www.spamkiller.com

A resource that claims to keep a database of spammers -

• http://spam.abuse.net/rogues.html

An Internet Network Abuse Clearinghouse for the reporting and control of abusive use and users -

• http://www.abuse.net/

Another resource to deal with spam-

• Regaining Productivity by Filtering Spam; http://www.mmgco.com/nospam/

Another resource to deal with spam -

• Fight Spam on the Internet!; http://www.vix.com/spam/

Another alternate page in the above site with more information about how to deal with spam - http://maps.vix.com/rbl/

Another resource to deal with spam, junk mail and telemarketers -

• Junkmail; http://www.ecofuture.org/ecofuture/jnkmail.html

An opinion on the spam problem -

• "Spam, Spam, Spam," by John C. Dvorak; http://boardwatch.internet.com/mag/99/nov/bwm33.html

AOL Response about Spam via AOL Facilities

The following statement from AOL explains their policies about spam, abuse, security issues, threats or whatever -

To better serve the Internet community, we have transitioned our Abuse response activity to the Member Services arena. We are pleased to announce this change, and look forward to serving the Internet community with increased efficiency and speed.

• ** All unsolicited email complaints ("spam mail") should be sent to "tosemail1@aol.com"
• ** All usenet/newsgroup abuse issues should be sent to "tosusenet@aol.com"
• ** All Internet security issues (hacking reports, mailbombs, denial of service attacks, port scans etc.) should be sent with all log info to TOSGeneral@aol.com /** All incidents of member harassment or threats should be sent to "TOSGeneral@aol.com"
• ** All reports of AOL Web pages which do not comply with AOL's Terms of Service should be forwarded to "TosWeb@aol.com"
• ** All reports of IRC abuse should be forwarded to "tosirc@aol.com"
• ** No IM abuse reports will be accepted via email. IM users (AOL members/account holders) should use the "notify AOL" button found in the bottom right corner of the IM window. AIM (the free AOL Instant Messenger client) users should utilize the "block" and "warning" features found at the bottom of the AIM window to stop abuse.

As always, please be sure to include all pertinent header information; we can not process email abuse/usenet abuse issues without full header information.

Again, thank you for writing with your comments and concerns,

Internet Abuse Team

America Online, Inc.

A past statement from AOL (America OnLine) in response to complaints about spammers using AOL systems for relaying junk mail ---

Dear ...

Hello! My name is Michael and I am writing to you on behalf of America Online in response to your recent e-mail. Thank you very much for writing today!

Please accept my apology for the extremely long delay in responding to your e-mail.

I just received your e-mail forwarded to my personal attention and I want to assure you that I replied as soon as I read your message.

I understand you have questions about or you are reporting a complaint about an Internet e-mail, Web page, or activity that may have originated from an America Online (AOL) member.

I assure you that AOL takes this kind of activity very seriously.

Thanks for your support and for your report. I apologize for the situation.

I am including instructions on how to report this type of activity to the AOL Community Action Team. By reporting this, you give the Community Action Team the necessary evidence to take action against this type of behavior.

To report a complaint about any Internet e-mail, Web page, or activity that may have originated from an AOL member, please send a copy of the original posting to the e-mail address below:

e-mail to TOSINET1@aol.com

To report a complaint about an Internet posting by an individual who is not a member of AOL, send a copy of the posting to postmaster@site.domain, where "site.domain" is the Internet address of the person who posted the message.

Again, I apologize for the situation and thank you for the report.

Thank you for taking the time to write to America Online. Please, feel free to write back anytime with questions or comments that you may have concerning America Online. It has been my pleasure assisting you. Have a great day!

Michael Mc. Senior Customer Care Consultant America Online, Inc.

We are happy to have served you today. Our mission is to provide the highest customer satisfaction in the industry and as a way of fulfilling it, we continuously share information about exclusive offers with our members.

HotMail Response about Spam

In response to your questions, the MSN Hotmail Terms of Service (TOS) forbids e-mail abuse, and we strictly enforce the TOS.

MEASURES TO PREVENT SPAM:

These are our counter-measures against unsolicited bulk e-mail, also known as "spam":

1. We limit the number of individual recipients allowed for each e-mail message, making MSN Hotmail ineffective for sending "spam."
2. We don't allow numeric characters at the beginning of an e-mail address. Any Hotmail Sign-In Name beginning with a numeric character is a forgery.
3. We include the field "X-Originating-IP: [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx]" in the header of each e-mail message that is delivered via our system. If an e-mail message doesn't contain this field in its full headers, it didn't come from Hotmail.
4. We maintain a full sign-in IP history for each Hotmail account.
5. We block our relay hosts so "spammers" can't use them.
6. We have been successful in taking legal action against senders of unsolicited bulk e-mail who forge Hotmail addresses.

Note: We recommend not replying to "Remove me from this list" addresses, as this only confirms that your e-mail address is active and directs more unwanted e-mail to your account. And be wary of clicking a URL embedded in an unsolicited message, as this may reveal your MSN Hotmail address to that Web site.

Keep up with the fight against spam, check out http://www.cauce.org/.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM RECEIVING SPAM:

Avoiding Spam: How to cut down your chances of being spammed.

If you avoid the practices below, you can reduce your chances of receiving spam. List brokers and sometimes individual spammers use a variety of tools and techniques to grab e-mail addresses wherever they may appear online.

Avoid the following practices: