AOL SPAM Response

The ultimate online blackjack and poker strategy site for card counters and advantage players!

An AOL Response to a letter I sent them regarding email spam:

Dated Nov 1, 1998

Dear mdalton,

I am writing to you on behalf of America Online in response to your recent concern.

Unfortunately, this unsolicited advertisment did not come from the America Online service.

As the Internet grows in popularity, unfortunate situations like this are likely to continue to occur. This problem of "junk" bulk e-mail is not limited to America Online--many online services are experiencing this phenomenon. On America Online, as with many other service providers, sending unsolicited commercial e-mail is a violation of Terms of Service.

The people sending junk offers are often very technically savvy and go to great lengths to hide the location they are sending from. As a result, the header information may have been forged to indicate systems that were not really involved. (Headers are the lines of information that accompany every e-mail address and show where the message originated and by what path it got to your mailbox.) Many of these bogus headers make the mail appear to come from seemingly legitimate sites; however, when you send a reply (press the Reply button), mail is returned to you as undeliverable. These forged headers are designed to confuse people who are trying to complain. Unfortunately, forged headers also make it difficult for service providers like AOL to block or otherwise filter out offending mail; the junk-mail abusers can simply change their headers to any address that is not blocked.

AOL is cooperating with the system administrators at the sites from which such mail originates to halt the abuse of their facilities.

Your best course of action consists of the following four steps:

1. Remove Yourself from the Distribution List

If the re-mailer gives instructions on how to be removed from the distribution list, follow those instructions exactly. (You do not need to "cc" screen name Postmaster when doing so, but please let us know if those instructions prove faulty.)

2. Complain to the Other Site's Postmaster

You should complain directly to the Postmaster at the site from which the mail originated. Often such abusive mail is a violation of the ISP's (Internet Service Provider's) usage agreement. By looking in the mail headers at the bottom of the mail message, you will often see a line reading something like "Message-ID: <9424$2dc2@mail.forinstance.com>". In such a case, you can try writing to "postmaster@forinstance.com" and ask that they curb their errant mailer.

Several large ISPs have special addresses for registering complaints. Following is an alphabetical list of some providers, their typical e-mail addresses, and the address you should send complaints to:

Compuserve ( @compuserve.com)--postmaster@compuserve.com
Interramp ( @interramp.com)--abuse@interramp.com
Netcom ( @ix.netcom.com)--abuse@netcom.com
Prodigy ( @prodigy.com)--postmaster@prodigy.com

If the Message-ID line is missing or looks like it might be fake, then look at the bottom of the headers for the bottom-most line, which should read something like:

Received: from mail.example.net (mail.example.net [192.229.169.1]) by
emin22.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id TAA00559; Sat, 6 Dec
1999 19:13:39 -0500

This indicates the mail arrived at AOL from a server called mail.example.net. In this example, you would want to contact postmaster@example.net. You can omit the "mail" or any other qualifiers that you see in the address. If there are multiple Received lines, please also send complaints to any other domains shown.

Note: You do not need to forward a copy to the your Postmaster, unless you have a problem contacting the postmaster at the offending site. Internet protocols require all domains to accept mail addressed to postmaster at their domain. If for some reason your mail is returned to you as undeliverable, this is an egregious breach of protocols.

Be Careful! Many junk re-mailers know that their recipients will do this, and forge mail to make it look like it comes from elsewhere. So be nice, since many system administrators have no idea their system is being abused. If you aren't absolutely sure where the mail is originating from, forward a copy of the Internet headers, from the bottom of the mail message, to your Postmaster. Your Postmaster provide you the means of registering a complaint with that individual.

3. Complain to the Advertiser about the Re-mailer

If the commercial re-mailer includes multiple ads with e-mail addresses of the people whose services or products are being offered, you might consider sending a polite message to each of them, explaining your situation. Keep in mind that many advertisers are unaware that the re-mailer they are using sends unsolicited mail. For example, you might say:

Are you aware that the "bulk" re-mailer you used to advertise your product (or service) sends unsolicited e-mail? By sending me this unasked-for junk mail, you have cost me both time and money. "Collect" phone calls are a bad method of advertising, and junk e-mail isn't any better--please consider more reputable means of advertising in the future. Thanks!

This is concise, polite, and--most important--not abusive.

4. Complain by Other Means
Some junk mailing companies are proud of their accomplishments and provide information on contacting them by postal mail, phone, or fax. By all means, use those methods. You might also consider notifying the Better Business Bureau and other consumer protection agencies in their locale to complain about their practices. You should keep copies of your correspondence (on disk and paper) as documentation of your complaint. Make sure everything is dated accurately.

If you continue to receive further junk mail from a particular "remailer," ignoring it and deleting the messages may be your only option.

AOL will continue to work with other Internet service providers to stop this problem. In the meantime, these steps should help you help yourself.

Thank you for your use of America Online. We hope that you will continue to enjoy the service.

Steve M. (Webmaster@aol.com)
Senior Customer Care Consultant
America Online, Inc.

PS: Please forward the original mail if you are replying.

----------original message----------
From: editor@BJRnet.com
To: webmaster@aol.com
X-Mailer-Version: Unknown (No Version)

This is getting ridiculous! I am receiving at least 1 email per day from
different aol addresses for the following.
This time it is from concerned@aol.com . This is JUNK mail and I want it
stopped.
At 12:15 AM 10/30/98 +0000, you wrote:
>10/30/98
>
>Y2K Solution!
>8 Pine Circle Dr., Silicon Valley, Calif. USA
>
>OTC Company "TCFG" 21 st. Century Frontier Group has
>through several members of their administrative research
>department leaked vital information about their companies
>efforts.
>
>Everyone was tight lipped and interviews were refused,
>and through un-named sources we have learned that the
>technology and software solution are in the process of
>being patented!
>
>In over 1640 trials, using various data systems the use
>of the new technology and software solved the Y2K
>problem 100% of the time.
>
>This small publicly traded company "TCFG" which is just
>3 years old is through various sources now negotiating
>with the "Big Boys"!
>
>"TCFG" the letters to look for...

Last Update 08/25/99