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spammer posts

Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Web services, Google

Avoid looking like a spammer on Gmail

Gmail sending limits to prevent spam
Gmail users should take note that Google will disable accounts (for about 24 hours) if you send an e-mail to more than 500 recipients via the web interface, or 100 recipients via POP/IMAP. Also, if you send e-mail to too many undeliverable addresses, prepare to face the Google hammer.

Gmail takes these measures in an attempt to keep spammers off of their system. Sending bulk e-mail or sending to many addresses that don't accept your e-mail are telltale signs of spamming activity.

If you need to communicate with the same set of people often, Google recommends using their Google Groups service to create discussions, webpages, and even share files. If you run a server, you could utilize a listserver (so you can send an e-mail to one e-mail address to make Gmail happy, and then the listserver would send the message to all the members of that listserver).

[Via Digital Inspiration]

Filed under: Internet, Security, E-mail

Reformed spammer says he made up to $15,000 per week

SpamOnly a tiny fraction of internet users respond to spam email messages promising miracle drugs, hot dates, or the ability to enlarge various anatomical parts. But spam is still a profitable industry. One former spammer who goes by the name of Spammer-X says he made $480,000 during his last year as a spam artist.

He worked hard for his money, spending ten hours a day, seven days a week devising new ways to send messages that would get past spam filters.

Of course, no spammer exists in a vacuum. He made his money for referring customers to actual businesses selling actual products (of dubious merit). Not that we'd recommend giving the guy more money, but he's written a book about his experiences, which he says has become popular with law enforcement types.

Why did he get out of the business? Telling people what he did for a living was getting uncomfortable, as was the amount of cash he had lying around the apartment in stacks of $20 bills. He was paid primarily in electronic funds through services like PayPal and e-gold, from which he withdrew the money as cash.

Filed under: Business, Finance, Internet, Web services

AOL spammer found guilty

spammer pleasds guiltySPAM. Just the physical way the word looks in our inbox makes us cringe. Forget about a few spam emails a day, some of us are lucky enough to get hundreds! And who do we have to thank? Herbal remedies, Viagra suppliers, and just plain junk. The war is still waging in the legal system today, and thankfully another goof has pleaded guilty.

A 26 year old man has pleaded guilty to sending spam advertisements for a product. Not just to any users however, they targeted AOL users. Concealing the source of the spam along the way, over 1.2 million emails were sent out. The law stepped in, and now sentencing will take place this September. This email happy spammer could see up to 11 years in prison, along with a fine of $250,000. Is this the end? Most likely not, but I'm sure it will deter many from getting into "the business".

Filed under: Business, Web services, Social Software

MySpace files lawsuit against spammer

myspace spammerSocial networks are great for meeting people and checking out what interests others. But what happens when social networks go bad? We have all heard about the issues MySpace and other networks have with predators lurking, and now we get to hear a bit more about the spamming that affects social networks. MySpace has filed a lawsuit against an individual who has apparently sent millions of spam notes advertising ring tones, shirts and other products and services to users on their network under the Can-Spam Act. The lawsuit aims to bar the man in question, and his companies, from using MySpace, and will also seek monetary damages that are currently unknown. Information Week discovered that this isn't the first legal case for this person. Microsoft had a run-in with the individual who is known as a top spammer, and won a $7 million settlement in 2005. MySpace has been working hard lately trying to clean up their image by taking on predators on their network, and it looks like they will also be coming down hard on spammers and individuals that are running sketchy commercial activities through the social network.

Filed under: Internet, Security

Twenty years for a phisher

phishing scamWhat's better than spam? How about seeing a man found guilty of operating a phishing scheme face 101 years in prison? A 45 year old man in California was recently found guilty of posing as AOL's billing department and tricking people into giving him their credit card information, by using hacked Earthlink accounts and fraudulent web pages. Under the glorious Can-Spam Act, this guy has been convicted on multiple counts including wire fraud, and misuse of AOL trademark. So if you have noticed a little decrease in the amount of spam in your inbox, most likely it stems from cases like this. The government taking spam issues extremely seriously and laying down the law, it seems as though fewer and fewer spammers and phishers are in operation. Look out for final sentencing information that will be announced on June 11th for this case.

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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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