[SATLUG] anti-spam effort

[Robert Pearson]

On 12/5/06, Charles D Hogan <cd_satl at futuretechsolutions.com> wrote:
> The problem is not that the spam is going through the list, as the list
> is moderated, but rather some clever spammer has found a way to harvest
> our addresses.  Looking at the message archives on satlug.org, it
> wouldn't be all that difficult to REGEX the "me at here.com" for the
> sender back to "me at here.com".  Take a look at the html of a handful of
> messages in the archive, you will see a pattern easy to REGEX for that.
>   A simple script calling wget, and then running the results through a
> fairly simple REGEX will get you all the useable addresses that post to
> the list.
>
> The address I use for the mailing list is an alias that has never been
> used for anything but this list.  Yet it still receives SPAM.  It never
> received spam while I was just lurking, only after my first post.
>
> One way to get around the spammers would be to set up one address that
> you use to post to the list, and another that you only receive to.  Once
> your "post from" address is confirmed by the list, quietly drop all mail
> going to that address into /dev/null. Never use the receive address for
> sending anything, and make sure that it is not a common word.  I would
> probably do that, but my spam filters on my mail server, and here at
> home, are aggressive enough to keep the majority of spam out.  So little
> of the spam going to my satlug only address makes it through that it
> would be more of a bother for me to do that than delete the ones I get.
>   Obviously, this won't work if you still wish to get mail on the
> address that the vile vermin have already gotten ahold of.
>
> The first spam in about a week or 2 that made it to my satlug only
> address arrived just this evening, so it has not yet made it to the
> rubbish bin.  I am posting the pertinent headers, and you will notice,
> it never even hit the satlug server.
>
> Charles

Do you use gmail? I use gmail exclusively.

I visit lots of Web sites, I am on several mailing lists, and I am
having the same type of problem.

I am getting very clever SPAM constructed with words that I have only
used in posting to a Web site or replying on a mailing list. This
indicates to me that it is browser and platform based. I normally use
gmail from one machine. When I use gmail from one of my other machines
I don't get this. Perhaps there is a bug on my primary machine?

One of the mailing lists was most interesting in the way it happened.
I receive mail from the JavaMUG.org mailing list. I hardly ever reply
to these because they are mostly Java job postings.
There was a flurry of emails from some guy promoting himself, some
headhunter service or some Java tools. It looked OK, like a normal job
posting. Normally I delete these unopened due to lack of interest. I
opened this one.
I started having problems with that mailing list, and another totally
different one, shortly after opening that email.

This just started in the last couple of months.