Hi.. thanks again... humeniuk...
.. what do you mean by: "Their website and DNS are a mess, so anything is possible." -
and how do view the spam blacklists...?
Thanks again....
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SPAM MAIL _ PROBLEM
Hi experts, I dreally do not now exactly where to post this message. But, I will try it here.
I receive 40 or so emails per day for sex thing... today, I hit reply - to see where is that email coming from.. and found out that it is coming from clintblek@mortgageonefinan
So, I open the www.mortgageonefinance.com
.. I also saw they have a contact us form - are the spammers using that form?
Thanks again.
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Answers
By that, I mean that their website isn't well designed and their DNS records contain a number of flaws/mistakes (such as no SPF entry). It creates the impression that their online IT isn't being professionally handled making them the kind of organization that can be exploited by spammers.
You can do a 'spam database lookup' with the tools on this very useful site - www.dnsstuff.com. You can take a look at some of their DNS issues here - www.dnsreport.com/tools/dn
Well, I can certainly summarize the source of the problems very quickly -
The site was created using MS Word:
" <meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document>
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 9">
<meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 9"> "
The site uses frames:
" <frameset framespacing=0 frameborder=0 border=0 cols="210,1*">
<frame name=contents src=header1.html>
<frame name=main src=main.html>
<noframes>
<body lang=EN-US style='tab-interval:.5in'>
<div class=Section1>
<p>This page uses frames, but your browser doesn't support them.</p>
</div>
</body>
</noframes>
</frameset> "
Therefore, the code is a mess - http://validator.w3.org/ch
This isn't the Online Marketing topic area, but I'll throw in the fact that the site is hopeless from a search engine perspective as well. A recent question about frames & search engines, if you're interested - http:/Q_21568888.html.
OK.. Humeniuk.. sometimes... I get lost when I post question...since I do not even sure what section it belongs.. to.. lol
the validate page tells me:
This page is not Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional!
on the htl file- this is what I have:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
what does that mean???
thanks
First off.
never reply to spam. It only confirms that they sent the message to a valid email address.
Never go on to a spamer's web page, or click on "remove from list" link or anything like that. Any signal they receive from a victim only indicates a "live one"
As much as possible, never fill out an online form with a valid email address unless you have to or you know for sure who's going to see it.. Those usually end up on lists sold to spammers.
Second, the From: address of spam is almost if not always either false or spoofed (stolen if you will). So replying to the email will not get you anywhere.
Third: the only way to really identify the source (if at all possible) is to look at the email header. In outlook, this is done by right-click/Properties of a message and looking at the "options" tab.
The header will contain the IP address of the server your server received it from.
With the IP, if the reverse lookup if registered, you may be able to find the mail server's name and the domain it came from. If it's an open gateway (that anyone can use), you should then complain to your ISP. They will deal with it.
But most likely, by the time you find the source, you'll find that it was just a temporary server setup at a random ISP only used to send out a quick set of spam messages and that it is no longer up.
basically, spammers are extremely difficult to find.
Your best bet if you want to keep the spam out is to:
Use DNSBL services, there are many free ones and servers like postfix are designed to be able to use them directly.
Use spam filtering software on the mail server. Things like spamassassin are pretty effective once configured properly.
Use a spam filtering gateway service. You have to pay for those, but they are very effective if you have the money.
"the validate page tells me:
This page is not Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional!
what does that mean???"
You can find a good overview of doctypes, what they are and what they do, in this article - 'Fix Your Site With the Right DOCTYPE!' (www.alistapart.com/storie
Wow - rex007 .. Thank you very much for your points... each taught me lots..
first of all, I did not reply to the sender... I just hit reply to see the address, and then, I open that site. and it was a mortage company. I felt bad for that company and I thought about informing them. Anyhow, since I did that, I learn lot about spammers... Thank you very much for you guys both opinions... amazing..
and humeniuk, when I try to validate a page, and it said in big red letter that "This page is not Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional!"
and I look at the code and in the first line:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
So, what does that mean?
and If you think I should re-open one more question, I am very happy to do that...
Thanks both again... amazing help.
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by: humeniukPosted on 2005-09-21 at 18:41:29ID: 14933602
The spam isn't necessarily coming from them and it probably isn't. What would a mortgage company have to gain by sending you x-rated spam?
"I also saw they have a contact us form - are the spammers using that form?"
Maybe. If they're using sendmail to process their contact us form, it is notorious for being vulnerable to spammers. But there are other possibilities, too. Spammers can use their server to send mail if it isn't configured properly, ie. if it is an open relay server that doesn't require sender authentication. Also, their DNS entries don't have an SPF entry that would prevent spammers from listing their email addresses in the 'from' field of outgoing mail. The only way to be sure where these messages are coming from is to take a look at the email message headers. Their website and DNS are a mess, so anything is possible.
Whatever the case, I would recommend that you get a good spam filter. Even if they deal with their problems, you'll still be getting spam from somewhere. As for them, their mail server is already listed on a couple of spam blacklists. If they don't fix their problems, they'll be listed on more of them quite soon.