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Thread: What to do about websites that spam

  1. #11
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    After getting yet another email this morning, I felt motivated enough to start the ball rolling.

    It has come to my attention that the Vodamail service is being used illegaly for the propogation of spam emails. I have received three unsolicited emails, the content of which is near identical, with a clear attempt to conceal their source. Following the promoted link, it is clear from the content of the site that I am not alone in being unhappy that the site appears to be using illegal spamming techniques to promote their site.

    Following is the content of the email:
    ~begin
    (content of email already posted here)
    ~end

    The following are the contents of the mail envelopes:

    ~begin1
    (I won't bore you with the details here)
    ~end1

    ~begin2
    more boring detail
    ~end2

    ~begin3
    and even more
    ~end3

    I request that you investigate this matter, and would also appreciate any feedback you could give me on this.

    This issue is being discussed at the following link, and I think it would be helpful if I could give some feedback there as to whether an ISP is able to assist in matters such as these.
    (link to this thread on TFSA)

    Yours sincerely

    Dave Alcock.
    If I get any news, I'll let you know.

  2. #12
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Now in terms of the fine print, I'm not supposed to share this with you. But I'm sure Vodacom will excuse me this one time, especially as this is essentially going to be a compliment:
    Dear Dave

    Thank you for your e-mail communication to Vodacom.

    We have logged an official query to our Advanced Data Support Desk who will investigate and contact you with feedback. The reference number is (etc)
    They're taking it seriously.

    I'd better ask for permission once we start getting to the meaty stuff. One thing's for sure (and I've said it before), Vodacom doesn't stuff around.

  3. #13
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Another update:

    I got a call from a Vodacom staffer this morning. They have traced the source (apparently there have been other complaints too), and are pursuing legal action against the subscriber.

    Just to clarify one point discussed and relevant to my copy of the message to Vodacom - It's not Vodacom that has performed an illegal act, it is the subscriber that has contravened the ECA.

    It seems the spamming was no small operation. The volume was sufficient to affect their system performance - so they're feeling pretty motivated.

  4. #14
    Platinum Member Chatmaster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave A View Post
    Just to clarify one point discussed and relevant to my copy of the message to Vodacom - It's not Vodacom that has performed an illegal act, it is the subscriber that has contravened the ECA.
    As far as I know the ECA has a lot of holes in it, unless there has been another amendment to the act that I do not know of. Did they give you any information on exactly what grounds they would like to pursue legal action? It would be very interesting to know.
    Roelof Vermeulen (Entrepreneurship in large organizations)
    Roelof Vermeulen| Rock flaps south africa

  5. #15
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chatmaster View Post
    Did they give you any information on exactly what grounds they would like to pursue legal action?
    No.

    They asked me why I had claimed it was illegal - I pointed out the lack of unsubscribe option, the invalid sender and return email addresses, deliberate concealment, and my inability to establish/ask where the spammer got my email address from.

    We also covered the fact that it was definitely sent from SA, so SA law has jurisdiction.

    I'm also interested on what their legal foundation will be in the end, but I think we might have to keep an eye on the news for that.

  6. #16
    Gold Member twinscythe12332's Avatar
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    it is pretty easy to use an SMTP, put in your credentials, and then give a completely different "from" field. considering Vodacom has a blank user name and password login for internet., I'm wondering if it isn't similar for the smtp. I remember trying to set my mail up, and got given a password and user name. either someone is using an emailing system, or as Dave suggests, it could be a possibly enslaved machine generating emails and someone has no clue about it.

    by localhost (mx1.vodamail.co.za [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024)

    either that is as Chatmaster suggests the localhost of the machines ending, or perhaps it is the emailing program vodacom is using?

  7. #17
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Nowadays most ISPs SMTP servers are set to prevent leaching. Vodacom is one of these. You won't be able to use their SMTP server unless you're on a Vodacom connection. If you go the webmail route into your Vodamail account, this is still linked to a connection profile which is governed by all that ID verification detail that goes with it. And in the webmail system, you wouldn't be able to forge the "sent from" email address.

    SMTP servers on domains are slightly different, of course. They can't control where the request is coming from quite the same way - but there you'll have to validate your identity before the SMTP will respond (as long as the server admin hasn't been a total idiot).
    Last edited by Dave A; 24-Feb-08 at 08:46 AM. Reason: typo

  8. #18
    Platinum Member Chatmaster's Avatar
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    Yah, my servers all require authentication. Most hosting services also do not make use of CDONTS because of this exact reason. CDONTS don't require any authentication.
    Roelof Vermeulen (Entrepreneurship in large organizations)
    Roelof Vermeulen| Rock flaps south africa

  9. #19
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    From what I can tell is that is came from a vodacom smtp server. I believe they have a public one set up for all their subscribers: smtp.vodacom.co.za or something like that. So all the users can basically use that mail server and send from anything@anything.co.za etc.

    That 10.***** ip is making me unsure of where exactly the mail came from though. If you can actually get hold of someone at vodacom I would just forward the whole email with all the header information. You can usually contact someone at the abuse email addresses when you do a whois on the ips. Threatening to get ip's black listed also gives them some motive to do something about it.
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  10. #20
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    The 10. IP is possibly a LAN router. Anything after that is a stuffed red herring

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