al information to add, such as different From: or Received: lines, paths, etc. Posts with different headers can be useful in better analysis of the origin of a spam, but a bare "I got one, too!" adds nothing of value. - Be sure to include _all_ headers. Without full headers, it is usually impossible to tell for certain where a spam really came from, and little can be done about it. Make Money Fast! Chain Letters: - Do not report first-time MMFers to nana*. Most administrators will reeducate their users when they're notified. The URL above (in the sample MMF complaint letter) will reform 99.9% of the remainder. - If you see more MMFs from the same person more than a day or two later, _then_ report it to nanas. And, when reporting it to nanas, include no more than the headers, the first paragraph,and the list of suckers. There are only a few basic variants of the letter, and the despammers have seen them all, more times than they would like. Posting the full letter is just a further waste of bandwidth. Junk Email Spams: - Always check nanas/nanae _first_. If the spam has already been reported, don't bother reporting it again unless you have something new and important to add. - If you've complained to the site from where the spam was sent, and received a useful response (saying, for example, that the sender is being dealt with), then consider not reporting the spam to nana*. Any site can have an occasional junk emailer, and if the administrators deal with the problem, it isn't really necessary to publicize the junk mail. And this leaves nana* free to concentrate on the problem sites and dedicated spammers. - Always include full headers, especially the Received: lines. Usenet Spams: - Always check nanas/nanau _first_. If the spam has already been reported, don't bother reporting it again unless you have something important to add. - Don't report any potential spams to nanam unless you are pretty darn sure that it really is spam. If you don't see at least two separately posted copies in at least 4 groups total, then you can't be sure. - If it doesn't appear to be "it's everywhere it's everywhere!", consider reporting only to the user and their ISP. In such cases, the article is probably not something that the despammers can do anything about, and reporting it on usenet is just a waste of your time and a further waste of bandwidth. - Always include full headers. ------------------------ 5.1: When to send a "REMOVE" request. There are at least three cases in which you may, despite what is said above (under "Some things _not_ to do"), wish to send in a REMOVE request to a junk emailer. - Some people are attempting to _bill_ junk emailers for the use of their equipment to receive and store junk email. I don't put much faith in the success of such efforts (see 3.2b above), but if you choose to attempt this route, you _must_ let the junk emailer know that you plan to charge them. If there is to be any chance of collecting, you will need something that at least _could_ be a contract: if the junk emailer isn't even _aware_ of your charges, it will be nigh on impossible to convince a court that the junk emailer has agreed to them. Technically, such a message would not need to be a REMOVE request -- it could be a notification of the archiving charges and a notice that further mail will constitute acceptance of the terms -- but the terms must be communicated to the junk emailer. - Some people are arguing that the continuing sending of junk email messages constitutes "harrassment". It is possible that continuing to send junk email after a request to cease _could_ be considered harrassment, but such a charge would require at the very least that the one being harrassed tell the harrasser to cease. If you haven't told the junk emailer to stop sending mail, then you won't have much to stand on in a harrassment complaint. - Some junk emailers are attempting to (and, in some cases, succeeding at) snowing providers by claiming to be "responsible" junk emailers. One supposed hallmark of being a "responsible" junk emailer is that one actually _honor_ REMOVE requests. If you wish to convince such a junk emailer's provider that the junk emailer is _not_ "responsible", then demonstrating that they do _not_ honor REMOVE requests (by showing that they continue to send junk email after receiving a REMOVE request) may succeed. Of course, in some cases, the provider doesn't really care, and even such a demonstration of lack of responsibility will accomplish nothing: anyone who buys the "responsible junk emailer" defense probably won't take action even when the defense is shown to be a sham. In addition, acceding to the demands that you should send a REMOVE request also serves to legitimize sending the junk email in the first place, something that many people find completely unacceptable: if everyone wanting to sell something were to send you just _one_ junk email, you would spend all of your time sending REMOVE requests. ------------------------ 6.1: Further info. - If you wish to start tracking spam, there are lots of sources of information. Some of them are: The Net-Abuse FAQ, at URL: the Internet Spam Boycott, at URL: The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, at URL: the Network Abuse Clearinghouse, at URL: Fight Spam on the Internet, at URL: the SpamFAQ, at URL: Stop Junk Email, at URL: the Stop Spam FAQ, at URL: - In addition, I have quite a few links to information, tools, and suggestions at URL: -- gregory byshenk "Help! I've been Spammed! What do I do?" at chicago, illinois usa gbyshenk@tezcat.com gbyshenk@prairienet.org Take a bite out of SPAM!