Hi Jim, Yep, I guess there are really still /some/ spam that use real reply-to addresses, but not a lot.
Just because they don't bounce back to you, doesn't mean they aren't faked. :). In point of fact, many of the ones that don't bounce back to you, are probably going to real inboxes. It's just that they probably didn't send them to you. You need to look at the actual mail header information to see where a mail came from.(in entourage you can do that by doing a view source). It can have a return/reply address of eg. [EMAIL PROTECTED], but actually be sent from a mailer in say Korea. You bounce it to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If fred exists, it gets accepted - and you think you've inconvenienced the spammer. In fact, poor fred is sitting there coping a couple of thousand bounces a day, on mail he didn't send out. Also, I (and many other postmasters) don't bounce bounces to non-existent addresses at my domain. I do let the sending mailer know that the address doesn't exist, but early enough in the conversation that a bounce can be avoided. A long time ago, I offended a fairly major and long lived spammer, by convincing his isp to disconnect him :). He's pretty much been sending out email with a return address of any made-up username at my domain, on an on and off basis for years. :). Occasionally he slips up, and I can get a couple of his relays closed down, more often these days, he's sending out through zombie windows machines. What folk often don't realise, is just how vulnerable the mail protocol is to "dishonesty". I can easily, just by talking directly to a mail server, convince it that I am you (as the sender), send a couple of thousand emails to addresses I know the mail server will not accept, and bury your mailbox in bounces. I'm not in any way proposing to do that, but I know it can be done - It has been done to me :). Ironically, in the trade, this form of mail abuse is known as a "joe job". Regards, Joe On 7/8/05 02:48, "Jim Dynes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > -- > Jim Dynes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Albuquerque, New Mexico > > The land of the wild wild west > > > > On Aug 5, 2005, at 7:06 PM, Joe Armstrong wrote: > >> All (and I do mean all) spam these days fakes the from address > > Actually only about 30% are fake addresses. Which bounce back to me. > 70% don't bounce back to me. -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:G-Books@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
