Hi, Suna,
I don't know exactly how all this works, I've just learned that it's good to
tell the domain host so they can take action.
The spammer seems to have found the S-news e-mail address so it came to us
via that route. Sometimes spammers use professional directories (like
American Statistical Association for example) to get a list of addresses to
spam; a listserve address is the equivalent of a mailing list - if the
listserve hides the subscriber list then the spammer might use the
"unsubscribe" trick to confirm the subscriber e-mails (those who try to
unsubscribe).
Yahoo offers this information about how spammers might get e-mails from
Yahoo groups: http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/members/members-03.html
The group the message came from may actually be a Yahoo group (and if so
Yahoo will shut it down) or the spammer may have hijacked another e-mail
address (in which case Yahoo will work with the domain that it really came
from to get them to shut it down). The spammer will probably try again by
opening other fake groups or e-mail accounts, so it's a constant battle.
Best you can do is to report it to the domain if you can find the time, or
hope others will.
So, don't be embarrassed (although the content was awful and the spammer
very tricky with that "dream house" advertisement at the beginning) - most
people know spam when they see it (even when it's not porn) - and just fight
back.
Laurie
-----Original Message-----
From: Barlas, Suna [mailto:suna_barlas@merck.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 5:43 PM
To: s-news@lists.biostat.wustl.edu
Subject: Re: [S] inappropriate content on S-news (and Yahoo groups)
How did we get this? When I opened it I had a co-worker sitting next to me -
it was embarrassing
Suna Barlas, Ph.D.
Manager, Outcomes Research & Management
Merck & Co., Inc.
WP39-168, P.O. Box 4
West Point, PA 19486-0004
Tel: (215) 652-0494
Fax: (215) 652-0860
suna_barlas@merck.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Barker, Laurie [mailto:lub2@cdc.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 5:31 PM
To: s-news@lists.biostat.wustl.edu
Subject: [S] inappropriate content on S-news (and Yahoo groups)
Hi, S-news,
I reported the inappropriate messages we were getting from a Yahoo group
(the sexy little girl junk) to mail-abuse@yahoo-inc.com. (Maybe others did,
too?) Others may do the same by forwarding this or other offending e-mail
with full headers (see
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mail/config/config-11.html for more info on
mail headers).
Yahoo also has an online form for reporting such abuses of Yahoo groups
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/groups-38.html.
Would strongly recommend you do not use the "unsubscribe" e-mail listed in
these junk messages - the senders of such junk use that to confirm that you
are a "live" e-mail account and to increase the volume of similar junk to
your e-mail account.
When other such junk shows up on the list or in your inbox - report it to
the domain it is coming from (like yahoo or aol) and they will shut down the
account that is sending it.
Laurie
Laurie Barker ~ LBarker@cdc.gov ~ 770-488-5961
Mathematical Statistician
Division of Oral Health / Surveillance and Research Branch
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Highway ~ Mailstop F-10
Atlanta GA 30341
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