Spam FAQs
What is SPAM?
According to Internet communities, SPAM is generally
defined as Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) which
usually reaches thousands in one distribution. There are
many aspects of this unethical solicitation and many
organizations and individuals alike are involved in the
fight against such acts.
To begin, there are two rules to the never-ending cycle
of the spam assaults. As an Internet user, the goal is
to determine which emails and sites are legitimate and
which ones are due to unethical spamming. The spammer’s
goal is to figure out ways around the user’s filtering
methods. Due to this ongoing battle, the Internet is
gradually dividing into two classes: those that welcome
spammers, and those that are aggressively fighting to
stop spam to protect the legitimate users. Without the
assistance of spam victims, the digital divide will
deepen as spammers continue to assault innocent Internet
users.
Before attempting to fight against the universal
problems of spam, it is crucial to have the knowledge to
identify such emails. The types of messages and
advertisements that can easily be identified as spam, or
UCE, are:
| Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE)
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- Chain Letters
- Pyramid Schemes (also known as Multilevel Marketing,
or MLM)
- Offers for "Get Rich Quick," or "Make Money Fast"
schemes
- Offers for phone sex lines and advertisements for
pornographic web sites
- Offers for software to collect email addresses and
sending UCE
- Offers for bulk UCE services
- Offers for stock options for start-up corporations
- Offers for health products and remedies
- Offers for illegal, pirated software
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It has been suggested that there has been an estimated 10% increase in Internet costs across the board due to undesirable spam. The reason for this is because there has been an increase in bandwidth that must be dedicated in order to receive UCE, in addition to storage space, time and attention. All of which are at the expense of innocent users, while the sender, or spammer, pays nothing. Due to the fact that more and more Internet users are faced with the fight against UCE, more and more anti-spam organizations and web sites are being developed to resolve this uneconomical solicitation.
Why is UCE bad?
The actual act of sending bulk emails is relatively cheap. It is possible for a spammer to send hundreds of thousands of messages per hour with a low resource PC and connection. Keep in mind that the faster the connection and the more resources the PC has, there will be an exponential possibility of even more UCE being sent around the world. This may sound like a good way to advertise, and it is, for the spammer. However, as for the recipients, they are left to pay the costs of dealing with spam.
The scope of the UCE battle goes beyond that of one individual deleting each junk email upon receipt. There are many places along the transmission and delivery of email where potential costs may be accrued. But first, the definition of time, according to online communities, does not only stand for the hourly rate at which users are charged, but it also includes the load on the Central Processor Unit (CPU), or the brains of the computer where most power calculations take place. The reason that this is an important aspect to consider is because when CPUs become overwhelmed by processing spam, all mail (wanted and unwanted) in a particular queue begins to lag behind optimal levels, effecting access, speed and reliability. This is also the case when dealing with filters. Programs that filter emails tend to consume vast amounts of CPU time. Therefore, it is not a reasonable strategy to eliminate unwanted email. And yet, the problem is still compounded even further with bandwidth resources. Typically, ISPs purchase bandwidth based on the projected usage of the customer base. Theoretically, additional bandwidth is purchased as new customers are obtained. However, with spam now added to the equation, ISPs are faced with having to compensate bandwidth lost to UCE without the increase in users. There are three available options that may be considered:
- Do nothing at all and expect paying customers to cope with slower internet access
- Increase bandwidth and eat the costs of doing so
- Increase access rates to compensate for money lost to upgrade bandwidth.
As a result, everyone, with the exception of the spammers themselves, is forced to pay for UCE. In essence, it is a free ride. No other means of advertisement costs the advertiser so little, in time and in money.
In the United States, we hold a long tradition of holding commercial enterprises responsible for the costs of what they do to make money. Ronald Coase, a Nobel Prize winning economist, emphasized this very issue. He stressed the danger that a free market faces when an inefficient business (one that does not bear own costs) distributes those costs across a large population. He suggested that the danger lies in the small amounts of damage across a large amount of people. It is often more costly to fight in cyber-law cases than that which was actually lost to spammers. This is exactly what spammers are counting on. They believe and hope that if they steal a little bit from a lot of people, very few will fight back. And that is exactly what has been happening.
Coase also believes that this has potential for disaster. According to the theories of Economics, when inefficiencies are present in a free market, it no longer functions at optimal efficiency. It is the forces of the marketplace, also known as the "invisible hands," which balance and maintain efficiency. However, when inefficiencies, such as spam, are presented, everything falls out of balance. In regards to the Internet and spam, these invisible forces aren't invisible anymore. Such inefficiencies are noticeable every time a connection is established to the Internet and a user experiences:
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trouble accessing a web site
- extended email download times
- ISP server crashed by a spam flood
In addition, due to the means by which addresses are obtained
and UCE is spread, spamming can be classified as a fraudulent
act. Let’s consider the facts.
There are two sources of spam; Usenet spam and Email spam.
Usenet spam typically targets 20 or more Usenet newsgroups
with a single message. This method is aimed at those who
read newsgroups, rarely post, and freely give email addresses
away. Email spam usually targets individuals with a direct
message. Email spam is often created by scanning Usenet
postings, stealing Internet mailing lists or simply searching
the web for addresses.
One way that spammers obtain email addresses is by subscribing
to (public or private) mailing lists and email discussion
forums. This is often the case because activities are
limited to those who are members. By becoming a member,
they have immediate access and the capabilities to obtain
a list of addresses, or even use the mailing list as the
direct target for attacks.
Spammers have also been known to lie to customers just
to obtain an email list of target victims. The only outcome
of such a scheme is that a customer base decreases after
an attack of UCE, if not eliminated completely.
Spam software is another means by which addresses are
acquired. The software includes a list of names that falsely
claim agreement to receive solicitation email, when in
actuality they are unwilling victims whose addresses have
been acquired elsewhere. The software is designed to make
it difficult for an ISP to identify the spammer and associated
acts.
Another example of the low ethical level of spammers is
the use of a pseudo email address which is obtained through
a trial-period account from an ISP. A Trial-period account
typically lasts a few days. In that time the spammer distributes
thousands of spam emails and then abandons the account
(if not cancelled first by the ISP). Again this leaves
the ISP to clean up the mess of undeliverable messages
and also dealing with upset subscribers. In addition they
waste valuable employee time monitoring trial accounts
for such abuse.
Spammers realize that methods to avoid UCE are in place
as more mail is blocked or filtered. Because of this they
use tricks that help disguise the origin of their messages.
One of the most common tricks is to use a third party,
or intermediate systems to send most, if not all, ECU.
This overloads the network and disks with spam messages
and once again, the manager of the intermediate system
waste valuable time cleaning up unwanted and undeliverable
messages. In addition, these managers are left to deal
with customers claiming them to be the spammers since
the UCE was delivered by their system. This is another
example of how others bear the burden of carrying the
unsolicited advertisements, shifting the costs away from
the originator.
Another common trick of spammers is to establish fake
anti-spam sites, or by forging emails from anti-spam organizations.
Organizations and individuals battling the fight against
spam do not solicit and take donations of any kind. Emails
and web sites that ask for such donations are considered
to be false and should be reported to the nearest anti-spam
organization and to the National
Fraud Information Center.
In addition, certain types of Internet spam are illegal
in some countries, especially in regards to pornography,
mere possession can warrant jail time. In the US, child
pornography is highly illegal and yet we still see such
pornographic offers issued through spam.
| When dealing
with (UCE) AVOID!
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- Never provide an email address.
- Never reply to UCE for removal.
- Never threaten violence or vandalism.
- Never hack into a spamming site or try to bring it down illegally.
- Never mail-bomb the spamming site or suspected spammer (it may be an innocent third party).
- Never sign up with a site that states that they will remove you from spam lists. Typically, such sites are owned by spammers and the minute a request is sent, the email address is recorded as being recieved by a human.
- Never respond toa spam email. There are two reasons why responding could worsen the problem. First, a spammer only needs one response among thousands of emails to justify the cause. Instead of replying visit a website that also carries the product and inform them that you will not patronize a company that uses UCE. The second reason not to reply is because once a reply has been made, the spammer has been alerted that a human is at the address. Immediately, the live email address is placed on more lists, more spam is sent and the cycle continues
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The first thing that must be done is to hold the higher
ground. Lowering oneself to the level of spammers will
not resolve the problem of UCE. It is the responsibility
of the legitimate Internet users to maintain the higher
ethics and join together in the fight.
Above all, remember that fighting spam with spam simply
does not work. Take meaningful action. Use filters for
messages and sites, contact hosts of spam sites and any
sites used as relays, and write congressional representatives.
Download SPAM Punisher, an anti-spam tool
to assist in stopping unwanted UCE.
Learn more about the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC), the expected leaders in spam
regulations. And if you would like to join in the fight
against spam, please visit CAUCE,
the official website of Coalition Against Unsolicited
Commercial Email.
To
find out more about spam and how legislation is fighting
back, please visit SpamCon. For more information on frauds
and scams, please visit National Fraud Information Center,
Internet ScamBusters and/or the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission.
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