I was doing some research on mail spamming and wouldn't you know it, I got
spammed with this nice little product announcement.
I've changed the name of the product, the addresses and phone numbers to
protect the innocent! Note that the ttw41, is not a real address, otherwise
their mailbox would fill up instantly with flames. Isn't it odd, that they
are forced to do business by snail mail themselves and not w-mail. Yikes!
I got this back when I mailed them:
>... while talking to ixmail4.ix.netcom.com.:
>>>> RCPT To:<ttw41@ix.netcom.com>
><<< 550 <ttw41@ix.netcom.com>... User unknown
>550 <ttw41@ix.netcom.com>... User unknown
>
Scary isn't it? Just a little conciousness raising.
This is the spam I got:
At 09:56 AM 12/9/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Authenticated sender is <ttw41@ix.netcom.com>
>Subject: 12/09
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>EMAIL MARKETING WORKS!!
>
>Bullsh*t Gold is the PREMIER email address collection tool.
>This program allows you to develop TARGETED lists of email
>addresses. Doctors, florists, MLM, biz opp,...you can collect
>anything...you are only limited by your imagination! You can
>even collect email addresses for specific states, cities, and
>even countries! All you need is your web browser and this program.
>Our software utilizes the latest in search technology called
>"spidering". By simply feeding the spider program a starting
>website it will collect for hours. The spider will go from website
>to targeted website providing you with thousands upon thousands of
>fresh TARGETED email addresses. When you are done collecting, the
>spider removes duplicates and saves the email list in a ready to
>send format. No longer is it necessary to send millions of ads to
>get a handful of responses...SEND LESS...EARN MORE!!!
>
>A terrific aspect of the Bullsh*t software is that there is
>no difficult set up involved and no special technical mumbo-jumbo
>to learn. All you need to know is how to search for your targeted
>market in one of the many search engines and let the spider do the
>rest! Not familiar with the search engines? No problem, we provide
>you with a list of all the top search engines. Just surf to the
>location of a search engine on your browser then search for the
>market you wish to reach...it's that easy!
>
>For instance if you were looking for email addresses of Doctors
>in New York all you would do is:
>
>1) Do a search using your favorite search engine by typing in
>the words doctor(s) and New York
>2) Copy the URL (one or more)...that's the stuff after the
>http://... for instance it might look like
>http://www.yahoo.com/?doctor(s)/?New+York
>3) Press the START button
>
>THAT's IT!!! The Bullsh*t spider will go to all the websites
>that are linked, automatically extracting the email addresses
>you want.
>
>The spider is passive too! That means you can let it run all
>day or all night while you are working on important things or
>just having fun on your computer. There is no need to keep a
>constant watch on it, just feed it your target market and give
>it praise when it delivers thousands of email addresses at
>the end of the day!
>
>Features of the Bullsh*t Software:
>
>* Does TARGETED searches of websites collecting the email
> addresses you want!
>* Collects Email addresses by City, State, even specific
> Countries
>* Runs Automatically...simply enter the Starting information,
> press The Start Button, and it does the rest
>* Filters out duplicates
>* Keeps track of URLs already visited
>* Can run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week
>* Fast and Easy List Management
>* Also has built in filtering options...you can put in words
> that it "Must" have while searching,...you can even put in
> criteria that it "Must NOT Have"...giving you added flexibility
>* Also imports email addresses from any kind of files (text
> files, binary files, database files)
>* List editor handles Multiple files to work on many lists
> simultaneously
>* Has a Black-Book feature... avoid sending emails to people
> who do not want to receive it
>* Built-in Mail program...send email directly on the internet
> with just a click of your mouse
>* Personalized Emails...if the email address has the user's
> name when it is collected,..you can send Personalized emails!!!
>* Sort by Location, Server, User Name, Contact Name
>* Advanced Operations:
>· Email address lists export in many different formats
> (HTML, Comma delimited, text file)
>· Advanced editing...Transfer, Copy, Addition, Delete, Crop,
> Move to Top/Bottom
>· Operations between lists...Union, Subtraction, Comparison
>* Program is Passive,...meaning you can run other programs at
> the same time
>
>CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION 213-xxxxxxxxx>CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION
213-xxxxxxxxx>
>ORDERING INFORMATION
>
>Customer Name
>Company Name
>Address
>City
>State Zip
>Phone Fax
>Email Address
>
>______ BULLSH*T SOFTWARE $259.00
>Includes Software, Instructions, Technical Support
>
>______ Shipping & Handling (2-3 Day Fedex) $10.00
> (Fedex Overnite) $20.00
>
>______ TOTAL
> (CA Residents add applicable sales tax)
>
>*All orders are for Win 95 and Win NT
>
> *****CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED*****
> MASTERCARD VISA AMEX
>
> PLEASE CALL 213xxxxxxxx to process your order
> 8am-5pm Pacific Time
> Checks or Money Orders send to:
Ø xxxxxxxxx
Ø >xxxxxx Blvd. Suite 2170 Los Angeles, CA 9999999>Please note: Allow 5
business days for all checks to
>clear before order is shipped.
>
Bostick & Sullivan
PO Box 16639, Santa Fe
NM 87506
505-474-0890 FAX 505-474-2857
<http://www.bostick-sullivan.com>http://www.bostick-sullivan.com