So you want to know more about UCE (unsolicited commercial email) and spam and what you can do to fight it? Below is an incomplete listing of some of the resources and places you can go to. So click on a link and help out! Each link will launch a new browser window. By no mean is this a complete listing of everything there is to know about fighting this problem, but there is more than enough here to help YOU help US fight back!

In case you were wondering how bad the problem is, the Federal Trade Commission received an average of 10,000 reported spams in 2001. In 2002 that number increased to 47,000 reports per day and as of May 2003, the FTC receives on average over 130,000 complaints per day.

• Spam accounts for more than 25 percent of companies’ incoming e-mail. (SurfControl survey)
• Conservative estimates indicate the spam industry is generating more than $200 million in gross revenue each year, according to the Internet Law Group of Arlington, Virginia.
• By 2005, the number of e-mails exchanged every day will exceed 36 billion worldwide. An estimated 40 percent of these e-mail messages will be spam, according to the research firm of IDC.
• The costs of spam to American corporations will exceed $10 billion in 2003, mainly as a result of lost productivity, consumption of IT resources and helpdesk support, according to Ferris Research.
• Conservative estimates suggest that within the next two years, Internet users will be sending and receiving more than 10 billion spam messages each day. (SurfControl research)

 

REPORT IT:

 

The best thing you can do about spam is to is report spam to the Federal Trade Commission in the United States. Just forward a copy of the UCE or spam to them at: uce@ftc.gov

Want to learn more about what the FTC is doing? You can visit their website here: http://www.ftc.gov/spam/

 

 

You can also pay for or get a free reporting service for spam from SPAMCOP.net. Go to: http://www.spamcop.net/  or http://www.spamcop.net/anonsignup.shtml  then put in your email address where it says ‘verify address’ and you get a url to report your spam to.

SPAMCOP also offers an email filtering service and has lots of information about spam including discussion groups.

ORGANIZATIONS AND INFORMATION:

 

http://www.cauce.ca/

The Canadian Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) is an ad hoc, all volunteer organization, created by Canadian Netizens to advocate for a legislative solution to the problem of UCE (a.k.a "spam") on the Internet.

http://www.cauce.org/

This is the U.S. website.

 

 

http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/nospam.html

Death to spam: A GUIDE TO DEALING WITH UNWANTED E-MAIL

Death to Spam is an objective overview of unsolicited e-mail and the techniques available to defend your IN box. Learn about tracing email, message filters, legal issues and more.

 

 

http://spam.abuse.net/

This is an in-depth website with the most up-to-date articles and information about spam, and how to fight it.

 

 

 http://gregsearle.tripod.com/spam.html

This website has many good links and information about fighting spam.

 

 

http://scambusters.com/

This is a good site that provides information on internet scams, credit card fraud, Nigerian emails, and urban legends. It also has a subscription service to receive up-to-date information if you wish to sign up.

 

 

http://www.emailabuse.org/

EmailAbuse.org is dedicated to informing users of this potential abuse and providing them with the tools to avoid becoming a victim and to fight back against Email Abuser. This website has prevention tips, anti-spam resources and lots more.

 

 

http://www.junkbusters.com/

Information on: Telemarketing · Spam · Junk Mail · Junk Faxes · Data About You · Web Ads Block Banner Ads and Cookies with Guidescope · Or the Internet Junkbuster Proxy (TM)

 

 

http://trac.org/banspam/

The Telecommunications Research & Action Center (TRAC) was founded in 1983 to promote and advocate for the interests of U.S. residential telecommunications customers. TRAC recently joined with the National Consumers League and Consumer Action to petition the Federal Trade Commission to fight unsolicited commercial email. Their national "Ban the Spam" campaign aims to combat the junk email epidemic. To 2003, the campaign web site, www.banthespam.com, has received over 3600 horror stories from consumers.

 

 

http://www.azillionmonkeys.com/qed/ANTISPAM.HTML

Paul Hseih's web page that is filled with information on spam, how to fight it, who is responsible for it and how to avoid it.

 

 

http://www.spamhaus.org/

Spamhaus tracks the Internet's worst Spammers, known Spam Gangs and Spam Support Services, and works with ISPs and Law Enforcement Agencies to identify and remove persistent spammers from the Internet.

 

 

http://www.cexx.org/

A website called: Counterexploitation which has information and links to:

Advertising in our Homes

 

http://www.moensted.dk/spam/links/

This website has information about reporting spam and how to fight it.

 
TOOLS TO DISCOVER SPAMMERS:

 

http://openrbl.org/

One of the best websites that allows you to do WHOIS  look-up, sender-base, ISP detection and other tools to track spammers, their offending websites and ISP's who aid them.

 

 

http://combat.uxn.com/

Offers free WHOIS  look-up and lots of other tools to track spam and offending websites and ISP's.

 

 

http://samspade.org/t/refer?i=on 

Offers free WHOIS  look-up and lots of other tools to track spam and offending websites and ISP's.

 

 
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq/spam-faq/   
          
OR http://digital.net/~gandalf/spamfaq.html

This FAQ web page will help in deciphering which machine a fake e-Mail or post came from, and who (generally or specifically) you should contact.

 

http://help.mindspring.com/docs/006/emailheaders/emailheaders.php3

A web page from Earthlink with information on how to interpret email headers. Remember to IGNORE THE SIGN IN pop up window and just click cancel until the page loads. (You have to click cancel about 8 times!)

 
TOOLS TO FIGHT SPAMMERS:

 

http://pages.hostedscripts.com/index.html  or http://members.hostedscripts.com/antispam.html

The website offers different scripts to use on your webpages including a link to their page which generates random false email addresses that are then picked up by roaming robot email harvesters thus causing problems for bulk emailers.

 

 

http://www.monkeys.com/wpoison/

This website offers a way in which a script can be put onto your webpage that fools email harvesters.

 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT SPAM
AND SOME FUN READING!

 

http://www.rahul.net/falk/

This website has a complete listing of spam statistics as well as news reports about spam going back to 1997.

 

 

http://www.postini.com/stats/

This webpage from Postini™, an industry leading in the provision of email security can provide you with current statistics on the amount of spam, Directory Harvest Attacks and virus activities.

 

 

http://j-walk.com/other/conf/index.htm

The webpage for the 3rd annual Nigerian Email Conference. Could it be true?

 

 

http://sweetchillisauce.com/nigeria.html

A great website detailing funny accounting of various correspondences with Nigerian scam.

 

 

http://ebolamonkeyman.com

Another great website detailing various Nigerian scammers. (Includes photos!)

 

 

http://www.scamorama.com/threebucks.html

A funny correspondence of “An Exchange With the Dumbest Criminal On the Planet.” A must read!

 

 

 http://www.studio42.com/kill-the-spam/index2.html

The official "Deadbeats' Hall of Lame", website where spammers who chose to spam this person are listed and publicly BLASTED for their stupidity. This website also has loads of links and information about spam.

 

 

A website that has a listing of many well-known scams out there on the internet, a hall of shame, and the worldwide scam network newsletter.

 

 

http://www.j-walk.com/other/spamu/index.htm

Ever wonder where spammers go to school? Well Spam University of course. As their moto proclaims, "It is not just an education...it is a career!"

 
SOME OF THE LEGAL ISSUES AND REPORTS ABOUT SPAM:

 

http://www.spamlaws.com/state/summary.html

A summary of all the spam laws in the United States.

 

 

http://law.spamcon.org/

The SpamCon Foundation Law Center contains:

  • Information about cases (including some court documents)
  • Texts of relevant laws
  • Legislative news
  • Commentary and discussion

 

In May, 2003, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission held a three-day conference in Washington D.C.

Chris Lewis ( Cauce Canada) spoke to the several hundred attendees on behalf of Nortel, for whom he works; a transcript of his fascinating perspective of spam as it affects companies is available at:

http://cauce.ca/FTC/FTCSpamPanelDay1.pdf and http://cauce.ca/FTC/FTCSpamPanelDay2.pdf

 

 

http://t3-v-mcnicol.ilaw.com.au/

The public record of the T3 Direct versus Joseph McNicol case where this 37-year-old South Lake man is doing something about spam, fighting a David-and-Goliath battle against an East Perth direct marketing company, T-3.

 

 

http://www.nexx.ca/newsroom.shtml

A webpage from Nexx Online Inc. webhost company. Articles details 1999 court ruling against spammer. Has links to a few other spam related articles.

 

 

http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/english/strat/spam.html

Government of Canada discussion paper: Internet and Bulk Unsolicited Electronic Mail (SPAM)
(July, 1999)

 

 

http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/english/strat/email_marketing.html

Discussion Paper - E-mail marketing: Consumer choices and business opportunities January, 2003.

 
OTHER RELATED ORGANIZATIONS:

 

The ePrivacy Group is promoting the Trusted Email Open Standard (TEOS). Many organization like CAUCE U.S. and the SpamCon Foundation have lent their name to their initiative to help combat the spam problem. You can read about the TEOS initiative here:

http://eprivacygroup.net/teos/

 

 

http://www.the-cma.org/

The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) is the largest marketing association in Canada representing the integration and convergence of all marketing disciplines, channels and technologies.

One of CMA's key objectives is to increase consumer confidence in the marketing by industry by taking a leadership role in responding to consumer concerns. The Association's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice is compulsory for members. It includes the use of CMA's Do Not Contact Service, whereby consumers register to have their names removed from marketing lists. The Association also offers a customer complaint resolution program known as Operation Integrity.

 

 

http://www.cacbc.com/

Consumers' Association of Canada
 Association des consommateurs du Canada

Our mission is to represent and articulate the best interests of Canadian consumers to all levels of government and to all sectors of society by continually earning recognition as the trusted voice of the consumer on a national basis.