Russian Minister Gets Spammed, Spams Back

elhim writes "According to an article in the Moscow Times: 'Spammers last week got on the wrong side of the wrong man, and quickly found themselves with a taste of their own medicine. The man? Deputy Communications Minister Andrei Korotkov. Tired of the endless spate of unsolicited messages that clog e-mail systems everywhere, [Korotkov and others devised] ...an audio message to be volleyed nonstop to the telephone numbers listed in the... [email] spam messages.' Sometimes Russia reminds me of the Wild West."

Beware the Joe-Job

[The Famous Brett Wat]

Turnabout is fair-play. I used to make a point of phoning one of the local well-known-spammers when feeling particularly irate about him (usually just after getting spammed about the same old same-old again). Haven't heard from him in a while, though. In any case, I want to emphasise that you should be careful when you retaliate. There is such a thing as a Joe-Job (named after joes.com) in which a malicious third party sends out a metric buttload of spam claiming to be from you, and advertising your website, just in an attempt to cause shit for you. This relies, in part, on third parties taking retaliatory action. My own website has been the subject of numerous Joe-Jobs this year, strangely enough. So make sure you aren't hitting back at an innocent bystander.

Oh, and in Soviet Russia, the punchline inserts you. Sorry, but it had to be said.

At last

[fatquack]

a minister who reads his email. If more politicians read their own email (and not a hapless assistant) the problem of spam would be evident to them and antispam legislation would be nearer.
And yes, I know legislation is not the sole solution, but legislation plus technical solutions is the best bet in my opinion.

In Soviet Russia

[Rogerborg]

Just shut the fuck up, already. It wasn't funny six months ago, it's not funny now.

Re:The biggest cost to them is toll free fax

[psavo]

Another fun trick was to use a standard fax machine with a continuous loop of paper. Let that baby run for about 10-15 minutes and you'll create a lot of clutter on the receiver's end.

Like somebody is still using paper faxes.

Re:Phone numbers?

[Anonymous Coward]

What is the point in advertising a language course, putting a phone number in the message for interested people to call, and then put in a fake number?

Misdirection. Underhandedness. Miscrosoft could send out porn spam and put Mozilla's phone number in it.

National Anti-Spam List?

[Anonymous Coward]

You would think that a national anti-spam list could be enacted, with all the penalties and guards that are on mass-market calling. Why is it that telephone communications are more well-guarded than e-mail communications? If you ask a company to put you on their do-not-call list, and they call you, they can be sued by you for substantial amounts of money. Why is this not the same for spam?

Chumley the Happy Walrus, anonymously lazy coward

Re:UK Spam

[hawthorne]

All of the above

First, complain to their ISP. State clearly in the complaint that their customer is sending unsolicited email, and have not had your permission to mail them. If they are advertising a website hosted by a different ISP then complain to that ISP too.

According to the DPA, they need to have obtained your consent in order to process your data - ask the ISP if they can obtain that proof for you.

Second, post a copy to news.admin.net-abuse.sightings so evidence of their spammishness will be archived for all time.

Thirdly, complain to the information commissioner's office (DPA head)

Incidentally, if their ISP (or indeed the spammer) responds with something like 'you have been unsubscribed' then that means that your original complaint has been passed to the spammer - and that is where the information commissioner's office is likely to get very interested as they are passing your details between businesses with no permission to do so - so complain again about that!

Not always

[AndroidCat]

The exception to the rule are pump'n'dump spammers. They push the virtues of some penny stock in hopes that some suckers will buy, pushing up the price. Then when the stock hits a peak, they unload their stock (profit!) and let the suckers take the fall.

For that, they don't need a contact method.

Cowboy Baby

[mr_luc]

The turn of the century SUCKED.

It marked the death of the frontier. (I know, blah blah Indians were there first, but the population density was never that great and there were always massive sections of uninhabited land). The remaining frontiers are largely closed to the ordinary man, and are unlikely to ever be truly opened again to the point where you can just go somewhere, stake off a chunk of land, and just LIVE there, and have it be LEGAL.

I know, I know. Progress. We live 1.6 times as long, that's a good thing. Diseases can be treated better.

But, still . . . the death of the frontier marked the inability for a man to be physically independent. Now our lives are played out within the boundaries of 'The System', while our freedom must exist only in our minds.

cue matrix analogies.

Re:Spam must contain a real contact method

[cookd]

Only if the point is to sell the advertised product. Not all spam need be so direct.

For example: CALL 1-800-SOMEBODY-THE-SPAMMER-HATES AND WE WILL GIVE YOU FREE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!

So people start calling some random business's 1-800 number demanding their free money or complaining about the spam. Phone bill goes through the roof, legit calls get DOS'ed, and the spammer might actually be able to put some small company out of business.

I'm sure the more creative among you could come up with even more fun scenarios than this. But let's not give anybody any ideas, eh?

Re:Turnaround is fair play: SQL injection

[Kalak]

An Insightful goatse - I'm impressed. It didn't really offend me in this context. I even expected it coming in the cotext you set up, and I'd love to add a "funny" on it for the punchline. Nice website defacement idea.

Too bad screwing with their database technically illegal, since the database is an "asset" for the company. The injection you propose would hurt their asset. You might be removing addresses that opted in (yeah, right).

I wouldn't try this at home, kids.

Easy Money

[donutello]

1. Set up 1-900 number.
2. Spam Russian minister.
3. Profit.

Ha!

Choice Quotes

[Bugmaster]

"I want to warn you that if you continue your illegal activity, then the necessary measures will be taken not just by me," the Korotkov voice intoned, after giving his name and ministerial affiliation."

As for how Korotkov's message was received by the language center's staff, Petrova said, "That question is for the management, who are not available." In fact, they were "very far away, too far away to receive phone calls," she said...

Remember folks: this is Russia, where the leaders of the country are also the biggest crime lords. The spammers did the right thing when they suddenly became "very far away". If you're too far away to receive phone calls, you are also too far away to receive "necessary measures", such as a bullet to the head.

This may sound cool and exotic, but it's actually pretty sad... Westerns are only fun to watch, they are not fun to live in. Especially when the robber gangs grow to the size of entire cities.

my revenge stories

[menscher]

Once got an (800) number. Told my computer there was a BBS at the other end. Then left for the day. It probably dialed them a few thousand times.

Also once ordered toner cartriges. Got a shipment worth $400 or so sent out to a university (and told them to bill us for it).

The trick to dealing with spammers is that everyone has to respond to the ads. If everyone responds, they'll never be able to filter the legitimate responses from those of us who are making up fake info because we're pissed.