i admit that i sometimes enjoy the dada poetry aspect of the sorta-random words in the subject line...which of course are their to evade spam filters (all of them end up in my spam trap though)

Yeah, but it's not just the subjects that bother me, it's the sender name too. You won't believe the amount of emails that have been sent to me from "Mom" with subjects about hot, horny college girls.

I was thinking about writing a post on this, but for several reasons, I didn't. But I'd like to share with you guys a story of how I brought some spammers down, personally.

Yes, people: it is possible to catch a spammer sometimes, with a little social engineering.

All of this happened over the last two weeks:

I was getting spammail from the same source repeatedly, sometimes 3 times a day. Here is one of their spammails (copy and pasted, misspellings are theirs, phone number deleted):

How have you been,
Would a degree produce a prosperous future,
m ore earning oppertunities,
more money and the respect of all...
Dial 1 209 396 XXXX (7 days a week)
Earn Accredited & Verifiable Degree from home. No study, no exams.
See you later,
Hancock Summer

The headers were spoofed, you can't reply to it.


After getting about 20 of these, I finally had enough. So, I posed as a customer, and called the number on 11/05/2005, leaving my cellphone #.

On 11/07/2005 I was called by a "rep" named "Paula". After giving me her speil (to make a long story short, they'll give you a diploma for 'life experience'. You have to write a few reports -paying tuition of course- and then they'll send you your PhD. or whatevr you're looking for.)

She said the name of the "school" was Anderson University.

I then asked if I could speak to one of her supervisors. She immediately started getting snotty, and said her supervisor "Dr. McKenzie" was in a meeting. I noted she was calling me from a 415 number.

Are you in "San Francisco?" I asked her.

"We are in Northern California" she told me.

"Where?" I asked.

"Why does that matter?" she asked ratcheting up the sass in her voice.

"Well, if I'm going to send you money, I need to know where to send it" I told her.

She gave me an address in Sacramento that sounded like a mailbox-drop place.

After I got off the phone, I called information. No Anderson University or College in Sacramento, or California. I checked the internet, ditto.

So I called her back. Again I asked for her supervisor. This time, she said her supervisor was "Dr. Gray" and he was in a meeting.

I told her I'd just keep calling back until he came to the phone, even if I had to call her a hundred times.

On my third call, she made it clear she didn't like my questions. I told her "Listen; you've got a rough job, dealing with these calls. It's not fair I complain to you. Isn't there another number I can call?"

She finally gave me a number with a 916 area code.

I called that and a british woman answered "Registration Office"

I asked her if this was "Anderson University" She said it was. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and she refused.

So I asked her what her name was, and she hung up abruptly. (At this point, it was obvious she knew she was up to no good)

I called back immediately, she hung up immediately.

An hour later I called her again. This time, a man answered. I asked his name.

"Dr. Roberts" he told me gruffly.

"Are you the boss?" I asked.

"I'm the boss" he told me.

So I asked him why he was spamming me. He said it wasn't him, it was the "advertising department". So I asked him for the name of the advertising department head.

The guy became irate and went into a tirade "You call up here with a chip on your shoulder, well f*** you buddy. F*** you! F*** you! F*** you!"

When I tried to reply, he held the phone up to the radio and blared loud music into it, and hung up.

I called back. He again played loud music into the phone.


So: first, I phoned the FTC (website is www.ftc.gov), where I filed a report for their violation of the CAN-SPAM act.

The woman was very helpful. She told me spoofed headers, misleading subject boxes, and no "opt-out" link are all violations, with each case of spam having a fine of $11000 per email attached to it. She asked me to forward the mail.

I then told her that I had identifying info: 2 phione numbers, an address, and the names they used. She said that this was a real boon; it would help law enforcement track them down quickly.

Still, I wasn't satisfied. On the internet, I found there is a real Anderson University, a small Christian college, in Ohio.

I emailed the president with the above story, telling him these guys were xeroxing Anderson University diplomas for money, and passed on the phone numbers.

The real Anderson University replied the next day with a thank you and blessing, telling me that they never hear of these scams unless a Good Samaratin (like me) contacts them. They were furious the spammers were using their name, and promised "swift legal action". That was last week.

I don't know what has happened to the spammers, but they had the FTC and AU's lawyers calling them last week.

What I do know is this: after 3 spammails a day, all spam from this spammer ceased on 11/07/2005, the day I contacted them.

I'll do it again to the next spammer in a heartbeat. It didn't really take much effort, just a little.

So, good honest people of the world, you CAN fight back. Try it next time. And if anyone else got the same spammail above, email me, and I'll give you their phone numbers.

Oh, don''t worry, cockfighting is still legal in the great states of Louisiana and New Mexico.

Dave