Did you get his latest home address?  He had a P.O. Box at one time, or
some address on Truchas Ave in ABQ.  I was going to have a little fun
with some bingo cards :-)
 
> Well, as I said the other day, I'd traded voice mail msgs with Jeff Slaton.
> Today we finally talked on the phone for about fifteen minutes.  He is very
> charming, personable, and professional on the phone.
>
> I acted like a newbie who has used the nets for a couple of emails and
> had looked at Netscape a couple times.
>
> Following is a close to a transcription as I could get with scribbly notes.
> All is his claims, comments, answers to questions.  My comments in response
> are in [  ].
>
> He said that he sends the email to 6-8 million people.
> He sends to 3 million addresses that he has in his own database, which
> he continually updates, and are over 90 percent good addresses.  [that
> explains the 'extra' personal copies of spams that I've seen]
>
> He sends to "all professional mailing lists", which means he sends a message
> to "an electronic postmaster" and that sends it out to 1.5 million members
> of the mailing lists.  Some have as few as 50 members and some have over
> 50,000 members.  He also sends to 95,000 newsgroups or "electronic bulletin
> boards for specific subjects", and they cover all kinds of professional
> and hobby and recreational subjects.
>
> He charges $425 (U.S.) and will take personal checks (waits ten days to
> clear) or money orders or certified checks.  I asked about credit cards.
> He said no credit cards because "even though I'm sure you're an honest
> gentleman" that some folks aren't honest and try to cancel the charge
> after he's already done the work for them.  [What a surprise!  Wonder why
> they would do THAT?  o-)   ]
>
> I said that it sounded like $425 was pretty high for just sending a message
> out.  He said that he had developed "a vast amount of programming" and that
> it takes him 8 hours to do it for you.
>
> I asked if he does it from his own computer.  He answered that I have to
> get a shell account with a local ISP and send him the money, the logon and
> password to my Unix shell account, and an email telling him what he is to
> send out.  Then he does it "late at night when things aren't so busy,
> usually between ten pm and 8 in the morning".
>
> He emphasized that I WOULD get responses, and that even 0.1 percent would
> be 6,000 messages.  He said he wasn't accountable for the response, but
> that I WOULD get one, and that if I weren't satisfied with the response
> he'd repost it to all the groups for me.  [that would take someone REALLY
> stupid]   He also said that if I knew of any groups that he missed, that
> he'd send the message to them personally.
>
> I asked about sending it to just groups that might be more interested
> in my product [which I didn't disclose to him "because my lawyer said I
> shouldn't yet" (and also because I didn't think one up that quickly)].
> He said he could do that, but since it would take "lots more programming"
> that he'd have to charge me for, and since I wouldn't get "as much
> coverage to as many potential buyers" that he wouldn't recommend it and
> no one had yet chosen that option.
>
> He says that my post, if he were to do one for me, would be his "108th
> advertising message on the internet" and that "all of the other customers
> have been very satisfied".  He claims to have had repeat orders already.
>
> I asked how he got into this business.  He said that he was in his 40's and
> semi-retired from the corporate rat race.  Now that he does this it is his
> only job.
>
> On the phone he sounded like a VERY smooth used car salesman....very polished
> and professional.  Actually more like a junk bond salesman.  Knew all the
> right words, was able to explain things less technically when I sounded
> particularly dumb.
>
> Please feel free to forward this to NetNews or whatever.
>
> And, since the "advertiser" has to get his/her own account, it looks
> like figuring out the "pattern" to Slaton's obtaining accounts is no longer
> relevant.  At least theoretically, ALL internet users are now potential
> spammers with Slaton's help.  AND, it seems that he keeps his nose clean
> with this new method...since _I_ would be the one in deep stuff with my
> ISP for spamming, giving someone else access to my account, etc, and NOT
> Slaton.  In fact, I can't think of a thing anyone can get HIM for....which
> is just what he wants.
>
> cyclops
>
>   Dan Lester, Network Information Coordinator
>   Albertsons Library, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho 83725 USA
>   [log in to unmask]             http://cyclops.idbsu.edu/
>   How can one fool make another wise?  Kansas, "No One Together," 1979
>