>>> And do you see approval requests for the spam messages, before the
>>> "ghost" approves them and they are distributed to your list?
>
> No. We're supposed to, but we don't.

Curiouser and curiouser! The "Approved-By" header lines indicate the message
WAS on the moderation queue, but you don't see a notice that should be
generated in the process of getting it off.

I see you're in a .edu environment. It's been my experience that
spam-checking arrangements in such environments are often wildly rapacious,
possibly because they're maintained and improved by particularly imaginative
staff. Is it possible those approval requests are being eaten by the spam
checker before they reach you?

The other alternative, it seems to me, is that whoever is managing your
moderation queue on behalf of the spammers is also blocking the approval
notices from getting out--which would imply a VERY inside job in the list
server.

Section 4 of the LISTSERV Advanced Topics Manual, on List Exits, might be
relevant. Do you use any? If not, another way to interfere with email to
list editors would probably be to hack the email system itself.

> (By the way, we've all changed our passwords to the web interface.)

Wise move! But it adds to my suspicions about an inside job: someone who's
obtained access to your moderation queue outside of normal vetting
procedures.

I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but are the spammer
addresses the usual random-seeming collection of non-functioning fakes? Or
is there a narrower set of spammer addresses that get access? And are there
others that do get handled correctly?

Hal Keen


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