Don't Get Mad

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Get Even! In a 24 hour period starting at 10: A.M.
this ... and ending at the same time on ...
I ... pieces of spam email.
Now these were all unique ... some had 4 Get Even! In a 24 hour period starting at 10: A.M.
this pastTuesday, and ending at the same time on Wednesday, I received1,734 pieces of spam email. Now these were all unique addresses,and some had 4 or 5 copies.I have had it with this nonsense.
Looking at the email addresses, it was obvious that mine were being harvested from theweb.There is software, similar to the protocol used by the searchengines, that allows someone to enter keywords, and it will search the web for any web site that matches the keywords entered. It will then capture any email addresses it finds.
An example of such software is "Atomic Harvester".I downloaded this software, which is fully functional in itssearch capabilities, and is free if that is all you want. Youcannot however, save the addresses it finds unless you pay forit.
Not wishing to harvest any addresses from the web, I chosethe free version, as step one of my devious plan, so I could seewhat the spamsters would find when they harvest my site.Step two was a bit more work. Instead of simply deleting thespam, I created a filter with my email reader that automaticallysends all spam identified to my trash bin.
I use Eudora, whichmakes this a rather easy task, but was still time consuming.While this won't provide a "spam free" inbox, it will cut down onthe junk one has to wade through. The rest I simply delete, whichalso goes to the trash bin.Now, I have all this spam in once place - my trash bin.
But wait,I said get even. A good friend of mine is proficient in the"Perl" programming language.
He wrote a program that goes into mytrash bin, and extracts all of the "From" email addresses itfinds. Now I have a file of all the return addresses of anyonewho sends me spam.The majority of the professional spammers use a forged address,which if you respond to it, is returned as undeliverable.
Someof the naïve newbies use a legitimate address.I then put all of the addresses in a file on a web page with aninvisible link to it - let's call it the "Trash Page". If youvisit my site, you will never see it.
But, a spammer usingharvesting software will hit that page. They will harvest eachand every address that I loaded onto that page.Thinking they hit a bonanza, all those unduplicated addresseswill be captured by them.
Now, two things will happen. First,all the forged addresses on the list that they send to, will bereturned to them as undeliverable, causing them extra work toclean their lists.Second, all the spam received from a legitimate address, will beon the lists of all the spamsters, and they will get their "justdeserts".Eventually, the pros will figure out what I have done, and willblock the web page that houses them.
But that is not my goal. Istarted putting those invisible links to that "Trash Page", on anumber of my web pages.
Now, they can't just block a particularpage, but will have to block my entire domain. Great - now Iwon't have all the addresses on my site being harvested by thesemiscreants.If this idea snowballs, and I hope it does, a major percentage ofall the email addresses being sold by "email list providers" willbe worthless.
You might think about this if you are ever temptedto purchase their "thousands of email addresses" for $49.95.The spam problem is not going to go away in the foreseeablefuture. If webmasters took the steps I have taken, it just mightgo away sooner.
Anyone who sends me an unsolicited email,advertising their "latest and greatest, will wind up on thislist.If you want to participate in this project, send an email tomailto:[email protected] - please include the URL foryour web site. (I want to make sure you are legitimate, and nota spamster on a "fishing expedition") Note - to participate, you must be able to upload web pages to your site.
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