THis is a copy of a spam I received recently. The poster -- whose account has now been cancelled -- describes quite exactly what are his tricks. Does anybody know if it is possible for listowners to cancel such spams by automatically rejecting mail with multiple BCC addresses? Georg Fertig ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- ATTENTION ALL BUSINESS OWNERS, ADVERTISING AND MARKETING PROFESSIONALS! MASS E-MAIL To Over 1,500,000 Internet Subscribers With Your Advertising Message. YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO OWN A COMPUTER! Save Thousands of $$ Compared to US POSTAL MAIL EXCITING "FREE OFFER" AT THE END OF THIS GUIDE TO INTERNET MARKETING The following is a FREE GUIDE to "Effective Marketing" through the use of Mass Posting. I have a lot of experience and have done much research on this subject. The following information is a VERY entertaining and worthwhile read! THIS IS MY STORY I've been bumped off a number of other Servers for Mass Posting (spamming) activity. This is considered a breach of Netiquette. It's no big deal, I simply change Service Providers as needed. There are 1000's of Service Providers out there, so the possibilities are endless! However, at the same time, I have made a lot of$$ dollars E-mailing to over 1,500,000 (yes, I did say MILLION) Mailing List subscribers. HOW I DID THE DEED ... AND YOU CAN TOO! I pulled ALL possible MAILING LISTS that I could find on the Internet. I sent out "just one E-mail" with bcc, blind carbon copy, to all lists. Don't send a separate E-mail to each Mailing List, that takes to much time! Just copy and paste the"send to the group" E-mail address for each List and THEN send. You want to post ALL lists at one time. Encourage your recipients to call your business number or write to an address to order or obtain more information. Some Servers can react quickly (after the fact) and shut you down before you get even one reply returned to you. NEWS GROUPS NEWS GROUPS are used in a similar fashion. I simply PULL the E-mail addresses off the News Groups and then blind carbon copy, post everyone, with just one E-mail. You can also "post your message" to the News Groups. This also works, but is not as effective as the personal appeal of a direct E-mail campaign. Be prepared for Flames and Mail Bombs to both you and your Service Provider. I have found that the so called "Voices from the Net" is much overrated. Most people pay no attention if they have no interest. However, your SERVICE PROVIDER WILL react due to even the smallest amount of mail bombs it receives. WHY you ask? Service Providers get real UPSET due to the fact that mail bombs can overload and shut down their Server. This temporarily deprives ALL their customer's access. This tends to make them a LITTLE TESTY! However, this is not as bad as it seems. You already have received many "connection refused by Host" error messages from your Server. This happens when traffic becomes too heavy for your Server to handle and the Server Temporarily shuts down. For General Announcements like this one, an "Anonymous Server" is great! However, you can't count on getting your important replies back. Many of the replies will get lost on the way back to you due to the security features of the Anonymous Server! (A good anonymous provider is "anon.penet.fi." Just send E-mail requesting information to "[log in to unmask]".) WHEN TO SEND YOUR MASS POSTING A suggested time to send out your huge mass posting is on a Monday morning at 2:00 am. The Server is not very busy. Furthermore, the Syops (system operators serve as monitors) are usually not very awake on Monday morning. They are more likely to let your E-mail slip by due to dealing with 100's of posting to their Mailing List from the weekend. It really pays to make your Subj. Header something that is "very generic." Many Syops just look at the Subj. header and NOT the content before posting. When that happens ... You're in business! Examples of a good header would be: FYI, Good Information, Reply to message, Coffee anyone? You get the idea I am sure. Just be creative and stay away from headers that sound commercial. The subscribers also tend to forward your message to others if you request they do so in your posting. BTW, ... MOST of the Lists are NOT REALLY MONITORED. MAJOR BULLETIN BOARDS AOL, Compuserve, Prodigy and Delphi, ETC., don't have the problem of shutting down because of their large size capacity. They are also much slower to respond to NEW BEES who don't "know any better." Generally speaking it takes about 3 warnings about Mass Posting (spamming) from a Service Provider to finally shut you down. You can, in many cases, PLEAD ignorance ... Oh REALLY, SOB ... SOB ... I am very sorry! I am new and I didn't know I couldn't do that ... SOB ... please don't shut me off ... sort of dribble. Be creative! This tactic will sometimes keep your Server off your back one week to ten days to collect your responses from 2 or 3 separate mass posts. If you are currently a subscriber to one of the Big services and you get bumped off, ... a letter of apology to TOS with a promise not to Spam again will always get you turned back on. I had one Server here in Albuquerque going for several weeks until they wised up to what I was doing. Please, don't count on that happening! You have a high probability of being immediately BUMPED OFF! USE OF AN AUTOMATED ANSWERING SERVICE & MARKET EXPANSION LINE One technique that I use with a great deal of success is an AUTOMATED ANSWERING SERVICE. US WEST COMMUNICATIONS (phone company) provides a service called VOICE MESSAGING. You will never miss a message or have a busy line again! This service adds $6.95 a month to your phone bill. The great thing about it is that it can handle ALL your incoming calls at one time. I have my Voice Mail Service set up as an information and ordering HOT LINE. If you expect MORE calls than what this service can handle, then you may want to invest about $20.00 a month for a full Voice Mail Service or a receptionist who can actually answer the phone to take orders. Make sure your receptionist brings Asbestos clothing to work. The receptionist will get flames or crank calls. The use of a MARKET EXPANSION LINE can also be very useful. This is simply a phone number that automatically call forwards to the number of your choosing. The advantage of this service is that you can use this number in your advertising and then disconnect it at anytime in the future without ever compromising your true phone number. Contact your local telephone service provider for complete details. IMPORTANT TIP: REALLY PAY ATTENTION TO THIS! This Tip is MOST important! Make sure that you have an address and telephone number in your message for prospects to call or write. Yes, you will get an occasional nut case/radical who will call to complain. HOWEVER, you will receive LOT$ of legitimate orders for your valuable product or service! Make sure that you use a MAIL BOX ETC address as your business address. This company will give you what will appear to be a real street address as opposed to a P O BOX. You never can tell if a REAL nut case will drop by your home or business location and cause problems. HELPFUL HINTS You can make your mass posting program last much longer with your Service Provider if you take the time to post a question to the Mailing List that fit their subject matter and then add a PS, ... BTW, Do you want to buy something ... information. This tip was offered to me by one of the big List Syops. However, I found this very time consuming to post individually to 1000's of lists and far EASIER to just change Service Providers. Again, if you're going to Mass post (spam) ... do it BIG!!! Little or BIG mass posting, the result is the same. Your Service Provider will tire of receiving Mail Bombs and eventually give you the Old Heave Ho! Keep in mind that you ARE going to be eventually bumped off anyway ... so what's the difference? Don't be afraid to mass post to your Mailing Lists again and again. There is a constant turn over of subscribers to any Mailing List providing you new prospects for your marketing efforts. THE INTERNET gods HAVE SPOKEN! Your Mailing-List SYOP will say to you "The Internet gods have spoken. You are FOREVER BANNED from ever using our Mailing-List again"! They will put a block on your current net address preventing you access. HOWEVER, each time you change Service Providers ... guess what? You have a NEW E-Mail Address! The Mailing-List computer site is kind of stupid and doesn't recognize that you're the same person. This also works if you change Mail programs to the "same" Service Provider. Just a slight change in your mail program will do the trick! Example: Just change from Eudora to Pine and AWAY YOU GO AGAIN! Spamming away to your hearts content to Fame and $$ FORTUNE! NETIQUETTE? WHAT THE @#^%* IS THAT!? "I do know one thing about Nettiquette, not very many users practice it!" The Net is totally unregulated and governed by something called "Netiquette." However, you can within reason, disregard Netiquette because of the constantly changing self imposed rules and hypocrisy of most of the users. If you don't believe this, just monitor some News Groups and you will soon agree! Keep in mind that the Internet community strongly supports First Amendment Rights, including the right to distribute and promote explicit pornography, text and all sorts of weird ideas and Weirdo's. However, at the same time, a small vocal minority will object, oppose and seek to censor an innocent commercial message. ... GO FIGURE!! LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS I have consulted with everyone from the Internet Society to my states Attorney General Office and private Attorneys who specialize in the field of Postal, Wire and the newly emerging Internet. There are no civil or criminal laws being violated as a result of MASS POSTING! NONE AT ALL!! DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION The Direct Marketing Association says that you should average about 1.5 or 2 % response from a U S POSTAL mailing program. (The average household receives about 60 lb. of junk mail each year.) I have found that percentage is right on the money with E-mailing! In fact, readership is almost 100% compared to half of U S POSTAL junk mail being thrown away unopened. However, even if your response is only a tiny 1/10 of 1% from 1,500,000 E-mails, that still is 733 prospective customers for your product or service! NOW HERE IS MY OFFER TO YOU! I will set up your mass posting program for a total of $425.00 and YOU will receive a second mass posting program FREE. You will receive a total distribution of 3,000,000 (MILLION) INTERNET SUBSRIBERS! THIS OFFER IS LIMITED TO THE FIRST 10 WHO CALL THE NUMBER LISTED BELOW. No need to sit in front of your computer downloading E-Mail addresses for literally months at a time! There are thousands of lists! You DO NOT even have to own a computer! I can also attach a GIF or JPEG file to your message at no additional charge! This file appears as a separate attachment to your E-Mail. The file appears on your prospects screen as a quality color advertisement with images of you, your product or service!. (You will have to provide the Art work. Lay out must be no larger than an 8 1/2 x 11.) Cost includes consultation, set-up and running of your advertising program on a server of your choosing. To begin your Internet Advertising Campaign, please call or write to: Jeff Slaton 5901 J Wyoming Bld N E Suite #284 Albq., NM 87109 CALL (505) 821-1945 International Inquires Welcome! If you're are calling long distance, you may deduct $5.00 from your order to pay for the cost of the call. The following must be signed and dated with your payment. DISCLAIMER: Advertising on the Internet is new and controversial. You may receive protesting phone calls or be the object of electronic attacks if you engage in it, particularly on a mass basis. The use of mass posting programs is highly controversial. Mr. Jeff Slaton acts only as a programmer and consultant for such services and has no control over what may occur in such cases. The purchaser agrees to hold Mr. Jeff Slaton, his employees, and representatives harmless from any and all repercussions resulting from the use of mass posting programs or services purchased from Mr. Jeff Slaton including but not limited to electronic attacks and suspension of purchasers Internet account. Please accept my order for the above. I have agreed to the terms and conditions as stated above. Representative________________________________________________ Name: Jeff Slaton Title: President Customer Signature X______________________, Date X______________ Please Print Name ______________________________________ Title:_________________________________ Phone Number___________________ Address________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Sincerely, Jeff Slaton copyright@1995 All Rights Reserved