Is my reporting doing anything?

[aculver]

I've been receiving spam regularly from convio.net and I've reported it at least 25 times over the past several months. Nothing seems to happen though. I still keep receiving the spam and our spam filter keeps giving it a score of 0.00. A listing on spamcop would give it a score of 3.5 which I have never seen for mail from this domain. The reports get sent to /dev/null instead of notifying the abuse contacts. I'm just wondering if my reporting the spam is actually doing anything?

[agsteele]

I've been receiving spam regularly from convio.net and I've reported it at least 25 times over the past several months. Nothing seems to happen though. I still keep receiving the spam and our spam filter keeps giving it a score of 0.00. A listing on spamcop would give it a score of 3.5 which I have never seen for mail from this domain. The reports get sent to /dev/null instead of notifying the abuse contacts. I'm just wondering if my reporting the spam is actually doing anything?

From your description I'm assuming that your spam filters are blocking based on the SCBL.

But, of course, the actual algorithm in use by SpamCop for listing a particular mail server is more complex. For example, a report from one individual would not get the mail server listed.

Also, if the senders are truly spammers then they are more than likely to be using a range of different IP addresses to send their junk and, of course, the SCBL lists IP addresses rather than domains - so convio.net is meaningless to the SCBL.

There are many innocent reasons why reports might be sent to /dev/null/ so this may not be indicative of anything or it could mean that the admins for the IP address ignore all messages or have asked not to receive reports.

You may find reading the FAQ entries on how the reporting system works helpful. But if you are tyhe only person reporting these items as spam then they will not get the sending IP listed.

Perhaps, next time you report one of these items you could capture a tracking url. Then others could take a look and see if there's anything else to report.

Andrew

[Farelf]

As a message source convio.net has a good SenderBase reputation - http://www.senderbase.org/senderbase_queri...ring=convio.net

As Andrew says, a tracking URL will be helpful in showing us what you are seeing.

[aculver]

From your description I'm assuming that your spam filters are blocking based on the SCBL.

Correct, messages are assigned a score of 3.5 if the sending host is listed on bl.spamcop.net.

But, of course, the actual algorithm in use by SpamCop for listing a particular mail server is more complex. For example, a report from one individual would not get the mail server listed.

Also, if the senders are truly spammers then they are more than likely to be using a range of different IP addresses to send their junk and, of course, the SCBL lists IP addresses rather than domains - so convio.net is meaningless to the SCBL.

I think this may be why it's not showing up. The spam is targetted marketing campaigns directed specifically to us, so the number of spamcop reports is likely quite low. They are also sending from about half a dozen different IPs, further reducing the reports per IP. I guess unless more of us here start reporting them, they won't get listed.

Thanks for your help

Andrew

[rconner]

A single report (or even a few isolated reports) is not going to put a mail host on the SpamCop blocking list. It's going to take a lot of reports received in a very short time. And then, the spamming has to continue in order for that address to stay on the list for more than 24 hours. So, perhaps there simply isn't enough volume of complaints to push Convio's mail hosts onto the SCBL.

I do admit to being a bit puzzled, however -- as a public radio junkie, I myself receive mail a few times a year from Convio, they help public broadcasting stations with their "outreach" (fundraising, contributor services, etc.). I do not consider this to be spam, because although it can sometimes be annoying, I gave my permission for this mail to be sent -- and it is sent an a transparent and above-board fashion (no forgeries, no botnetting, etc.). I also know that I can trust them to stop the mailings if I ask them to do so. Farelf's check at SenderBase tends to reinforce my own favorable impression of Convio.

Is it your contention that Convio (or, more precisely perhaps, one of its customers) is sending mail to people with whom it had no previous dealings? A tracking URL would be helpful.

-- rick

[Miss Betsy]

One possible scenario not touched on is that the 'spam' is not really from convio, but just that the forged from makes it look like it is.

Also, if it really is from convio, considering its reputation, you may have signed up inadvertently, or there was an error somewhere (the best of us make mistakes occasionally). It will probably do no good to report it via spamcop since most recipients either unsubscribe or delete or read email from them.

I have found that when I do not think that I have subscribed to a mailing list and it looks legitimate, that it is much more effective to find an address (on their contact page) and write an email explaining that you think that there is a mistake, that you never, on principle and on the advice of the FTC, unsubscribe from anything you haven't subscribed to, but that you really are not interested in this mailing list. If you want to add information about responsible list management, etc., you can. Usually, that gets you off the list. Sometimes it takes more than one email until you find someone who knows who to send it to for unsubscription.

Miss Betsy