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Ikati
Trooper
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 16
Location: USA
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 Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:08 am Post subject: is there a database of companies that hire spammers? |
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Is there a database of companies that hire spammers?
I would like to check this before buying something to make sure the company I'm buying from does not support spammers by hiring them to spam.
I figure the spammers will always be around if there are companies willing to pay them. And companies will always hire spammers if it helps them sell products. There needs to be a stick as well as a carrot for the companies that pay spammers.
If there was more adverse publicity for the companies hiring these spammers, especially if the publicity hurt their sales... then maybe they would hesitate use spammers in the future.
so.. is there anything like this? a database of companies that hire spammers?
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Ikati
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Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 16
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:13 am Post subject: |
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(reply for email notification)
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PAN_IRISH
Currently banned
Major
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tembow
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Ikati
Trooper
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 16
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:59 am Post subject: |
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thanks.. but after looking at both these links, these are still about the companies that send the spam out - not the companies that own the products that are being sold by the spam.
I've been looking in the meantime, and I guess there isn't anything like this.
looks like Roger Ebert was trying to get something started along these lines. I found this when looking for a database - Roger Ebert started something called the Boulder Pledge:
| Quote: | Boulder Pledge
The Boulder Pledge is a personal promise, first coined by Roger Ebert in 1996,[citation needed] not to purchase anything offered through email spam. The pledge is worded by Ebert as follows:
Under no circumstances will I ever purchase anything offered to me as the result of an unsolicited e-mail message. Nor will I forward chain letters, petitions, mass mailings, or virus warnings to large numbers of others. This is my contribution to the survival of the online community.
During a panel at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Conference on World Affairs in 1996, Ebert coined the Boulder Pledge. He wrote the text which appears above and encouraged everyone to take the pledge. It was subsequently published in the December 1996 issue of Yahoo! Internet Life magazine in Ebert's column titled "Enough! A Modest Proposal to End the Junk Mail Plague."
The Boulder Pledge has become one of the basic principles of the anti-spam community in an attempt to make e-mail spam less profitable. Supporters claimed in 2007 that eleven years is not enough time to tell if it's made a difference yet.[citation needed] |
but.. how in the world are you supposed to know if a company uses spam to advertise, if there is nothing to check?
here is an article by someone that suggests a variation of this:
Boulder Pledge Scoreboard
http://taint.org/2004/08/10/174903a.html
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brewt
SIRT Handler
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Joined: May 29, 2007
Posts: 792
Location: USA
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ahoier
SIRT Handler
Joined: Jan 14, 2006
Posts: 1087
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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I believe there was an instence done by BBC Radio or something, where they bought some drugs from one of these fly by night sites (i dont recall, if they mentioned which branch, or domain name....) and the package actually came from India....in an inconspicuous package or something...
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AlphaCentauri
SIRT Handler
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Joined: Nov 20, 2003
Posts: 2859
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:35 pm Post subject: |
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Most of the spam comes from a few scam affiliate programs: Sancash, Glavmed, Bulker.biz. Their brands have no existence outside these programs, so no point documenting their thousands of different domains, especially given the short half-life of each.
As far as legit companies, there needs to be such a list, though there would be difficulty accepting submissions from other people -- you have to check out each one, as legitimate company's products or gift cards are often used as incentives by programs sponsored by other companies, with the company mentioned in the spam actually having nothing to do with it. But I did see a list of the companies sponsoring that type of program once -- I just can't find it. I have personally followed redirection links and checked the fine print on some of those sites, and found the following companies' products/services listed as ones that one would have to purchase/use in order to claim the reward:
4Seasonswineclub
Advantage Language
Angel Beds
Blockbuster
BMG Music Service
Cheaptrips.com
Clear Revolution
Club Furniture
Columbia House
Cordiaburn
DiscoverDiscover
Discover Miles Card
Disney Movie Club
Experian
Federal Grant Network
Gevalia Coffee
Globe Juvenile Insurance
Great Fun
Green Tea 1000
Hoodia Water
Internet Career Kit
Investor’s Guide
Ivory White
Magazineburst.com
Myomed Pain Reliever
Netflix
NY Times
Onlingo
Overnight Genius
Pimsleur Language Program
Poster Pass
Purity Mineral
Rail Europe
Rising Star
Roadloans
Round Square Hosting
SeattleCoffeeDirect
Trimday
Ultimate Green Tea
VideoProfessor
Vioderm Intensive Anti-Wrinkle Serum
I was surprised to see Netflix the first time I looked one of these up and even wrote to their public relations department about it -- no response. I've since seen them listed by a number of sites.
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Ikati
Trooper
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 16
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:02 pm Post subject: |
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| AlphaCentauri wrote: | | Most of the spam comes from a few scam affiliate programs: Sancash, Glavmed, Bulker.biz. Their brands have no existence outside these programs, so no point documenting their thousands of different domains, especially given the short half-life of each. |
yes, agreed
| AlphaCentauri wrote: |
As far as legit companies, there needs to be such a list, though there would be difficulty accepting submissions from other people -- you have to check out each one, as legitimate company's products or gift cards are often used as incentives by programs sponsored by other companies, with the company mentioned in the spam actually having nothing to do with it. But I did see a list of the companies sponsoring that type of program once -- I just can't find it. I have personally followed redirection links and checked the fine print on some of those sites, and found the following companies' products/services listed as ones that one would have to purchase/use in order to claim the reward:
4Seasonswineclub
Advantage Language
Angel Beds
Blockbuster
BMG Music Service
Cheaptrips.com
Clear Revolution
Club Furniture
Columbia House
Cordiaburn
DiscoverDiscover
Discover Miles Card
Disney Movie Club
Experian
Federal Grant Network
Gevalia Coffee
Globe Juvenile Insurance
Great Fun
Green Tea 1000
Hoodia Water
Internet Career Kit
Investor’s Guide
Ivory White
Magazineburst.com
Myomed Pain Reliever
Netflix
NY Times
Onlingo
Overnight Genius
Pimsleur Language Program
Poster Pass
Purity Mineral
Rail Europe
Rising Star
Roadloans
Round Square Hosting
SeattleCoffeeDirect
Trimday
Ultimate Green Tea
VideoProfessor
Vioderm Intensive Anti-Wrinkle Serum
I was surprised to see Netflix the first time I looked one of these up and even wrote to their public relations department about it -- no response. I've since seen them listed by a number of sites. |
yes.. I agree. and if people started using this criteria as a factor in who they selected to buy from, I bet you would see more attention from these companies. and from companies not bothering to check what their 3rd party advertisers do, because it is of no consequence to them
example, Kraft sent out - by a 3rd party associate - spam for Gevalia coffee for years. but it wasn't until someone decided to sue them that they really did anything about it. and.. it was still with kind of a sneer attitude.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7602542/page/2/#storyContinued
| Quote: | Kraft sued over alleged Gevalia spam
California ISP says firm wouldn't stop coffee e-mail pitches
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
updated 4:54 p.m. ET, Fri., April. 22, 2005
A small California Internet service provider has sued Kraft Foods Inc., alleging the firm is responsible for thousands of illegal spam messages. Hypertouch.com founder Joe Wagner said his company has in the past 12 months received 8,500 copies of an e-mail pitching Kraft's high-end coffee subscription service, Gevalia.
Wagner, who filed the suit in federal court in San Francisco, claims he's entitled to $11.7 million in compensation under federal and state anti-spam laws.
"Like most folks with an e-mail address, we've been getting spam pushing Gevalia coffee for years," Wagner said. "We've finally had enough."
Kraft spokeswoman Pat Riso said the firm "does not comment on pending litigation."
Wagner's lawyer John Fallat said the e-mail pitches violate the federal CAN-SPAM act and California's state anti-spam law because the addressing information in the messages have been faked. The e-mails appear to come from a sender who is not a real person, rather from the marketing firm responsible for sending the e-mail, Fallat said. Such "fraudulent headers" are illegal under both federal and California spam laws.
Fallat said Wagner is entitled to $2.5 million from the CAN-SPAM claim -- $100 per spam e-mail, with triple damages applied for willful disregard of the law. Wagner's also entitled to another $8.5 million, or $1,000 per spam, under California law, he said.
In 2003, during a special report on spam, MSNBC.com reported receiving multiple Gevalia-related spam messages. At the time, the company said it didn't tolerate spam, but that occasionally third-party marketing firms erroneously sent out unsolicited e-mails to consumers.
Abbe Serphos said in a July 25, 2003, e-mail to MSNBC that Kraft had "strict policies in place that govern our e-mail communications to consumers." She said then that the firm had canceled contracts with marketers that sent out spam.
"We are very clear about our criteria for opt-in/opt-out controls and our partners have to agree to meet them. While we cannot share specific numbers, we have pulled offers from and stopped working with vendors and networks altogether that cannot meet those criteria," she wrote.
Examples of coffee spam
But Wagner said Hypertouch has continued to receive Gevalia spam, even after the lawsuit was filed on Monday.
"Try Gevalia coffee and get a free stainless steel coffeemaker," says one message, which appears to come from a sender named Sarah Miller at a Web site named BreedingCoverage.com. But the IP address in the e-mail doesn't resolve to BreedingCoverage servers, the lawsuit claims, indicating the e-mail header information had been faked. It was sent to Hypertouch last Nov. 5, according to the lawsuit.
Another spam in the lawsuit contains a chunk of text copied from ABCNews.com, apparently in an effort to evade spam filters. And on March 26, 2005, the lawsuit claims, representatives of Gevalia sent 761 similar spam e-mails claiming to be from 761 different people — indicating marketing companies were hiding behind fake names, the lawsuit says.
Most of the e-mails are sent by third-party marketing firms, Fallat said. Kraft still benefits from the messages, however, and is funding illegal spam efforts, he charged.
"These kinds of e-mails should not be coming from the Fortune 500," Fallat said. "This is an important lawsuit because we want to send a message to big corporate America that ... they are under an obligation to monitor and supervise third-party marketers to ensure they do not send out fraudulent e-mail."
Wagner said he approached Kraft last November with evidence of spamming efforts, and offered to settle the case without a lawsuit if Kraft agreed to stop sending the messages. In February, he called a Kraft attorney and said that potential lawsuit damages were mounting, and now totaled $5 million.
"Wow, $5 million," he said the Kraft lawyer responded, sarcastically. The lawyer didn't respond to MSNBC.com's requests to verify the conversation. Kraft's Riso said she couldn't verify it.
Both Wagner and Fallat have filed spam-related lawsuits before. In March, the two sued BobVila.com for allegedly sending out spam. Wagner said they are now in settlement conversations.
© 2008 MSNBC Interactive
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7602542/page/2/ |
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Ikati
Trooper
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 16
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:39 am Post subject: |
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also, there is a lot of spamming of forums.. it has really been getting heavy now as forums become more and more popular.
and a lot of this spam seems to go to regular websites. One example of a website that regularly spams some of the alternative health forums: homeherb.com
http://www.google.com/search?q=micheel+homeherb
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spamislame
SIRT Handler
Joined: Apr 19, 2006
Posts: 202
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Ikati wrote: | | thanks.. but after looking at both these links, these are still about the companies that send the spam out - not the companies that own the products that are being sold by the spam. |
Forgive me for saying so but: That is an incorrect assessment.
Spamit (Located in Russia, but featuring mailers from around the world) is responsible for the whole supply chain and infrastructure related to Canadian Pharmacy. They profit from these spam messages the most because they are in charge of everything from manufacturing to shipping to credit card processing to you name it. There are numerous documented links between Spamit and the "Russian Business Network" and the Storm Worm. They are a known criminal organization. They used to post much more blatantly on a variety of forums that they were responsible for Canadian Pharmacy but in recent months have greatly toned it down, probably because they've exposed themselves too much.
Likewise with SanCash, who are aparently related to Tulip Lab, all of which will get you sued by Tulip Lab (in India) if you say so.  SanCash are responsible for marketing products which Tulip Lab manufacture and ship. (Including Canadian Healthcare, VPXL, PowerEnlarge, WonderCum, King Replica, and Prestige Replica.)
The problem isn't in identifying who profits from or supports spam, the problem is in getting law enforcement to go after them.
I didn't just pull all of this information out of my ass. I've been researching these organizations for close to five years now. I could post a lot more detailed information about who they are and who their key operators are, but I cannot legally do so. (Law Enforcement agencies are investigating SanCash and Tulip Lab, and they have my information regarding Bulker.biz [responsible for My Canadian Pharmacy and Canadian Health and Care Mall] and Spamit.)
The aggravated responses my blog has received since posting this information leads me (and Law Enforcement reps) to believe that I am most definitely on the right track.
| Ikati wrote: | | I've been looking in the meantime, and I guess there isn't anything like this. |
The Spamwiki is the most comprehensive listing of these "companies". There aren't very many of them. No need for a full on "database."
SiL
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Ikati
Trooper
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 16
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:48 am Post subject: |
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Spamislame,
I am talking with some other forum owners as to options of dealing with spam. Most forum owners bounce/delete it. but.. is there any way to report this forum spam? a place to forward it to? Do you think that would help identify some of these spammers?
I figure with your background of research, you would be able to tell me if this is possible.
thanks.
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AlphaCentauri
SIRT Handler
Premium Member
Joined: Nov 20, 2003
Posts: 2859
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:25 am Post subject: |
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People do submit forum spam to SIRT here. You can paste it into the entry box with an explanation of where it came from. Be sure any good links (like the URL of the forum it was posted on) are changed to prevent the tool from parsing them. The tool creates an entry for every URL in the box.
Also, only use one of the two boxes -- if both have data, one will get ignored.
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pwillener
SRT Trainee
Premium Member
Joined: Apr 17, 2006
Posts: 1813
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:59 am Post subject: |
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| AlphaCentauri wrote: | | Also, only use one of the two boxes -- if both have data, one will get ignored. |
Is that true for MIRT/PIRT as well? I always use both boxes; one with the full spam message, the other for the extracted URL and possible redirects. If one is always ignored, then I did a lot of unnecessary work in the past.
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Ikati
Trooper
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 16
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:25 am Post subject: |
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thanks, this is good to know.
I always have had the feeling that in a way, just deleting the stuff is helping the spammers.
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