Need some help...

[craigt]

I don't obfuscate my email address in my spam reports via SpamCop in the possibly misguided belief that maybe if a spammer gets the reports forwarded on to him that he'll listwash my address and reduce my spam load.

That being said I wasn't in town last weekend and upon returning had an interesting message recorded on the answering machine -- some guy started in stating that I was damaging his business and breaking the law by using a spam trap on my system and reporting through SpamCop. He actually stated that he had 500 reports that I had submitted against his systems (but he's not spamming??!?!) and he was going to pursue legal action against me if I didn't cease reports against ANY business via SpamCop.

He placed this call after 10:00 p.m. last Saturday night and may have been a little careless because of the hour or some chemical courage because he forgot to block his calling phone number. A quick lookup in the freebie online reverse numbers didn't give me a name or address but does show that it's a cell phone.

I'm in California and this guy's area code from caller ID shows he's in Nevada -- any ideas who would have jurisdiction and be the best contact?

[Farelf]

Is there anything legally/officially actionable in him making that call? I'm not aware of any regulation or law but there might be I suppose (invasion of privacy?)¹ - but a single call doesn't seem much to go by, not one (fantastically) 'threatening' to employ 'law' against you. "The dogs may bark but the caravan moves on," sort of thing. A single call might be some sort of 'misdirection' or a competitor being set up or anything.

The SC deputies might be interested though, and Don. Spammers aren't supposed to see reports and the deputies would probably consider devnulling the address(es) he has (somehow) been a party to. But again, a single, 'soft-ish' piece of evidence might affect those possible deliberations. You don't want devnulling but there are other reporters to think of - though no other individual would be likely to have sent as many relating to this individual's 'enterprise' from the sound of it. Don has said he doesn't read in the 'Lounge' but you might consider contacting him.

I'm sure there are various anti-spam groups that would be happy to take the indicated 'phone number-spammer connection under advisement. If he's ROKSO-listed (or even if not), Spamhaus might be one.

Yes, it's an unusual occurrence and you should certainly consider your options. Others reading 'here' might have a better idea about any legal/regulatory remedies to include ¹or whether the FTC (or other regulators) would receive such a tip-off relating to identifying a CAN-SPΑM offender (assuming he's that).

[agsteele]

I don't obfuscate my email address in my spam reports via SpamCop in the possibly misguided belief that maybe if a spammer gets the reports forwarded on to him that he'll listwash my address and reduce my spam load.

That being said I wasn't in town last weekend and upon returning had an interesting message recorded on the answering machine -- some guy started in stating that I was damaging his business and breaking the law by using a spam trap on my system and reporting through SpamCop.

Well, I'm not sure how this person would get your phone number unless you have it listed alongside your Email address in some public directory.

Since reporting only involves sending the original spam to the parser, your own phone number wouldn't be available to anyone.

As to munging... I think you're hoping for a miracle if you expect revealing your Email address will result in a reduction in spam due to a considerate spammer listwashing... So why not just munge then said spammer won't know if it is you reporting.

As to the law... No doubt each jurisdiction will have its own approach. Here in the UK the Harassment Act makes it a criminal act to engage in behaviour likely cause the recipient to suffer harassment, alarm or distress. The normal proof would be for a course actions to have taken place normally deemed to be three occurrences. There are also various telecommunications offences that might apply but as Farelf notes your description of the incident doesn't indicate any criminal actions in the content and nature of what was said.

Andrew

[craigt]

Since my reports weren't munged I would guess the guy went to my company website and located the phone number posted there.

I didn't think that the act of phoning me would cause anything actionable against this guy, just wondering if anyplace would be interested in a contact phone number for a spammer -- I'll take the suggestion and contact SpamHaus and see if anybody cares.

[craigt]

Just did some digging through the ROKSO list to find out if anybody there was listed as North Las Vegas -- happy, happy, joy, joy, I've received a personal call from a listed member!

Bill Waggoner is listed as residing in North Las Vegas (got that much from the caller ID) and has posted a diatribe online about why his activities aren't spam and SpamCop, SpamHaus, and others are the scourge of the internet; listening to the voice in this garbage has me convinced that this guy is my caller -- same inflections, pauses in speech, etc.

[Farelf]

Well, if you're actually causing Waggoner enough distress for him to bother calling you then you have him on a string and a lot of spamsufferers will be worshiping the ground whereon you tread. Just don't make any admissions to him if he calls again. Buggers like him have been known to misuse the courts and, abuse of process or not, you won't be wanting that on your onesome.

[ufo-joe]

If you want a good laugh, take a look at the garish, pointless, money begging web site at:

http://crushspamhaus.com/

Whoever set it up sounds just like the idiot who wants to burn the Koran! Not the best advertisement for American morality. (Having said that, I think if the material attributed to Spamhaus is genuine, it displays a disrespect to the USA generally).

Joe

[craigt]

That's the hardest reading site I think I've run into -- black background and many changes of text coloring! Looked up the registration for the flog of it; the site is registered to somebody in PT.

[rconner]

Sigh, another one of the Lumber Cartel folks who has confused "I have the right to send you e-mail" with "I have the right to make you accept it." He also displays a grievous ignorance of how Spamhaus or Spamcop work, and how spam works in general.

Presumably as an American I have a right to consult Spamhaus (or "spamcops" or whomever else) to help me decide whether or not to accept messages. My ISP has the same right -- if I don't like it, I can avail myself of the "market solution" and go elsewhere with my money. I also have a perfect right to report to these same folks the factual information that I have received certain messages of particular interest routed through certain networks.

Frankly, I didn't find anything particularly disrespectful in what Linford said about the U.S. (if indeed he actually said it, which is far from certain particularly given the very elliptical nature of the quoting on that page); you can read far worse in the comments section of the average Yahoo news story, and all those posters are presumably U.S. citizens.

As far as our sacred pyromaniac Rev. Jones is concerned -- "Terry Jones" -- wasn't he the bishop of the church of the Divine Loony, who believed in the power of prayer to turn the hair purple?

-- rick