Spam Capital of the World 213
ermita2 writes "The South Florida Sun-Sentinel published this weekend a story about how South Florida is home to more spammers than any other place in the world according to Spamhaus. The reason for that seems to be Florida's long history and friendliness with dirty business from real estate speculation to the penny stock scammers. Among the interesting tidbits is anecdotal evidence that the amount of spam worldwide fell for a while after last year's hurricanes in Florida."
Great now we have a target. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Great now we have a target. (Score:2)
The important problem is: does canned pork float?
Don't suppose... (Score:4, Funny)
Call it
Re:Great now we have a target. (Score:2, Funny)
That would be a despicable waste! (Score:2)
Re:Great now we have a target. (Score:2)
So if we hit florada with some bombs then we should be spam free right?
One nuke exploded at high altitude over Florida should be adequate. The EMP should blow just about everything electronic in the Sunshine State, or should that be the Spam State :-)
Re:Great now we have a target. (Score:2)
Re:Great now we have a target. (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Dirty Business (Score:1)
South Florida is DEM territory. (Score:5, Informative)
South Florida is home to more spammers than any other place in the world...
Don't forget the Bush family...
South Florida is Democrat territory [mostly transplanted NYers and NJers] and went overwhelmingly Gore. Republican strength is in North Florida, which, for all intents and purposes, is an entirely different state.
By the way, real estate swindling is a long time source of Democrat wealth [John Zaccaro, husband of Geraldine Ferraro; Richard Blum, husband of Diane Feinstein; etc], which is the primary reason why Federal, State, and Local zoning laws and "environmental" regulations exist in the first place [to defend the interests of the landed gentry, and crooked Tony Soprano-esque insiders who can game the system].
We could also take some time to review the history of penny stock swindlers, like FDR's bootlegger cum-Nazi apologist ambassador to Great Britain, but this reply is getting kinda long-winded.
Re:South Florida is DEM territory. (Score:3, Informative)
True that N. Florida is the bottom of the Bible Belt, but your summation of S. Florida as all transplants from NY is dated. They definitely exist in large numbers, but so do native Republicans. And then there is the enormous first and second generation Cuban community, which Jeb has more-or-les
Re:South Florida is DEM territory. (Score:2)
South Florida is (NOT) DEM territory. (Score:3, Informative)
Bush 2,909,176 (49%)
Gore 2,907,451 (49%)
2004 Election results from the Washington Post:
George W. Bush 3,955,656 (52%)
John F. Kerry 3,574,509 (47%)
Other 61,618 (1%)
49% of the state voted Republican in 2000. 52% in 2004.
In South Florida, only Broward, Miami/Dade and Palm Beach counties voted Democrat and Kerry lead Bush by only 6% of the votes in Miami/Dade.
More info here: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/ [cnn.com]
Spam and politics (Score:4, Interesting)
From the article in the story (TFA): "Together, Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties are home to more spammers than any country on Earth. "
(my emphasis)
Ooops
Correlation isn't necessarily correlation, but I found it rather funny that they were the same counties.
Re:Spam and politics (Score:2)
So, if I'm to understand correctly, the majority of "small-time" criminals are Democrat. I guess that would leave the Big Leagues to the Republicans?
Re:South Florida is DEM territory. (Score:2)
No, wait... I don't want to know. Nevermind.
Re:Dirty Business (Score:2)
Re:Dirty Business (Score:2)
only one option (Score:2, Funny)
Hurricanes are evidence........ (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Hurricanes are evidence........ (Score:2)
The spammers are still walking around, and still have their FINGERS.
Re:Hurricanes are evidence........ (Score:5, Funny)
God, being very lenient, didn't hate spam from the very beginning. Only after spammers discovered his secret e-mail address, and didn't stop spamming him after he repeatedly clicked on the dysfunctional "remove me" links, did he become upset and started complaining by raising big hurricanes.
Re:Hurricanes are evidence........ (Score:2)
Re:Hurricanes are evidence........ (Score:2)
God Hates Spammers (Score:5, Funny)
There is a just and loving god after all!
Re:God Hates Spammers (Score:5, Funny)
Increases in spam results in increases in usage of electricity and in tempers, both of which increase heat*. This leads to global warming causing adverse conditions such as last year's hurricanes.
*Left to reader as an exercise to prove the relation
solution (Score:1, Insightful)
Okay, seriously though. Spam exists for a reason. It exists because it works. So, why is there *so* much emphasis on trying to kill the spam from the source rather than educating people? Because if people just *knew* not to buy things from e-mail (have you EVER seen a legal warning that says "Caution: Buying products through e-mail is dangerous and stupid"? Didn't think so.).
I swe
Re:solution (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:solution (Score:5, Interesting)
Or maybe it's just stupid wanna-be spammers who think that? So one spammer spams the world for a few weeks, doesn't make anything, and moves on. Then another spammer thinks ``wow, this is a great business model'', and spams the world for a few weeks, doesn't make anything, and moves on. And so the cycle repeats.
Re:solution (Score:4, Informative)
Re:solution (Score:4, Informative)
Economics problem - spam is profitable as long as 0.01% of the spammed masses buy the pills. As long as there are just a few idiots buying into the crap, we all get spammed.
The spammers aren't making a profit selling physical products, they're making a profit selling spamming services. The best ones usually have a huge network of contacts where small businesses buy "opt-in mailing campaigns" or some such rubbish from a third party, who then subcontract someone to harvest or buy a list from the Internet and then give it to a another spammer who sends the actual spam. The end result is that the product seller is inundated by angry e-mails but has no idea what happened (plausable deniability) and the only one who gets anything out of it is the spammer.
Re:solution (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57
Spam is one big pyramid scheme.
Re:solution (Score:2)
Not to contradict, but why then would the spammers spend the effort to actually send out the spam? It wouldn't be necessary once someone has been conned into purchasing their services.
Most spammmers seem to live in self-delusion. They believe (or at least have convinced themselves) that what they do is perfectly ethical and that sending spam is beneficial. In the world according to spammers, the only people who don't like spam are a small vocal group of "antis" that resort to criminal acts against the p
Re:solution (Score:2)
Re:solution (Score:2)
Re:solution (Score:3, Interesting)
Of these, I would estimate 80% are in a language other than English, so I can't buy anything from them (and who knows what they're even about). That leaves 6,000 messages.
About 75% of these don't have a product that I could actually purchase. Viagara e-mails with no URLs and that sort of thing (I have no idea why these message are even sent out in the first place).
So everything is fine, because .. (Score:4, Interesting)
=>global warming
=>more hurricanes in Florida
=>less spammers
=>less spam
+1 Funny should be renamed to: "+1 Curse" (Score:2)
Is it too late (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Is it too late (Score:2)
Re:Is it too late (Score:2)
Get a grip... (Score:2)
Spam is the direct result of the freedoms and capitalism that our great democratic republic is a great nation for. If you don't like it, than move to China...
Re:Is it too late (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a big difference between advertising and unwanted solicitation.
Nuclear option? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Nuclear option? (Score:2, Insightful)
Now you know why Fark... (Score:2)
Re:Now you know why Fark... (Score:2)
Florida is for business (Score:5, Interesting)
All the building codes, regulations, and sundry laws seem to favor corporations above everything else. Its one of those places you'll find scammers, shady SEO consultants and search engines, and yes... spammers.
Re:Florida is for business (Score:2)
I live in Broward county, and I can back that up, at least for southeast Florida. Retirees are moving farther up north, and to the gulf coast. Same sunny climate but fewer idiots. People move down here to southeast florida for one reason: To get their hands on as much money as they possibly can in any way possible, and not let go. And thanks to our (quite libertarian, economically) laws, this is the best place to do just that.
Not coincidentally, this is probably the most cosmopolitan place I've ever l
Why do we tolerate these businesses? (Score:4, Interesting)
Why do we voters tolerate these businesses that bring nothing to the economy except for to the few only at the expense of the unwilling many and their time? Like telemarketers used to be such a PITA(got much less since the National Do-Not-Call lists), we should follow suit and push laws that shut down these people if they do it within the US.
If they want to yell Freedom of Speech, let them build a website I may or may not choose to go.
Re:its easy to call people stupid (Score:2)
Because God wants us to, apparently...
Re:Why do we tolerate these businesses? (Score:2)
"We voters" don't really care too much about this stuff. All a politician has to do is to promise not to let gays get married and he will win.
Spam blocklist (Score:2)
Michael
Flushed out! (Score:1)
They had to wait till the sewers were drained back to normal levels
Well, now I don't feel bad... (Score:2)
IronChefMorimoto
Re:Well, now I don't feel bad... (Score:2)
Dude, I was chillen out there and stuck my feet in the water at Sanibel and I never sent you a single email. I'm gonna kick sand on your towel if I ever come across it. And may the spams of a thousand bot-nets infest your email box.
Too bad this wasn't exposed sooner... (Score:2)
"What do you mean that I have no insurance or money to rebuild my South Beach home? They did what? Seized what accounts? Why? Found out I'm a spammer? Who the hell...what?! My last $1 million in spam profits is going to rebuild a church? Where? Isn't that a swamp? DAMMIT!"
IronChefMorimoto
Con Men and Crooks (Score:5, Interesting)
Two Words (Score:2)
It's nicely relevant to the current political climate in the US as well.
Personal Story (Score:5, Interesting)
It's not everyday that you get a phone call from a sleazy spammer. I was just filling out some forms and this random guy (apparently) from Miami, Florida calls me up. He asked about my BotBlock service, or rather how to override it. Turns out he wants to pay me "any amount you want" to make a software that can bypass the image-verification (CAPTCHA) used by TicketMaster. He told me his "competition" was overtaking him and he was willing to pay me $5,000 to make such an application. Best of all, if I was feeling lonely, he could send me a hot woman any time of the day. I politely told him, "I'm sorry Sir but I think I'll have to hang up now. Please do not call again."
The world of mafia and money launderers of the yester years used to be a world of machismo, bravado, and to a certain extent glamour. While the neighborhood mobster is mostly a thing of the past, street-corner spammers are dime a dozen and each is trying every under-handed trick to oust the other. There is nothing smooth or sauve about trying to peddle cheap sexual aids or promote low-budget vacations to islands that don't exist. I think even the spammers themselves will agree that they are almost the scum of the planet, slightly above child molestors and rapists.
Tonight I had this guy asking me if I could write a ground-breaking software (image recognition is not cakewalk) so he can hoarde tickets illegally and spam mailboxes around the world with filth. Of course I said NO! I will never EVER on any conditions do anything to promote spam. Hell I wrote BotBlock to prevent it! Come to think of it, the genius asked me how to bypass BotBlock! I wanted to say, "What the hell do you think I am??? As dumb as you???" But then, last thing I want to do is piss off a spammer who will only enjoy harassing me. So I just acted polite and hung up.
I have a decent job and a bright career to look foward to so even the slightest dealings with these tarts will taint me forever. But what about the recently laid off, newly-married programmer who has bills, loans, and rent to pay? That's the guy to watch out for. I think the blame lies not only with these slimy spammers but also with smart programmers without jobs. It's no wonder so many hackers (well crackers) are from Russia, where the minds are young and bright but their future is bleak and dark. I'm pretty certain that the spammers are already working in tandem with programmers from all over the world but I wonder if there's anything anyone can do to stop them. Well other than making better blocking and filtering software. I think I'll stick to that for now.
Re:Personal Story (Score:2)
I like mine best around 9am or so, if the offer still stands...
Re:Personal Story (Score:2)
Re:Personal Story (Score:2)
Re:Personal Story (Score:2)
You should invite him to a public park to discuss the matter.
Then knock him out with a taser and then ether.
Then pile him into a car trunk.
Then take the car to a cash-only motel. Unload him into the room you rented for a couple of hours.
Then make some cuts on each back/side of his body right by his kidneys. Stich th
Re:Personal Story (Score:2)
I'd mod you down like you asked, but I don't have mod points, so I'll reply with facts instead.
I sometimes wonder... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I sometimes wonder... (Score:2)
Don't buy online from Florida (Score:2)
Not quite an answer (Score:4, Interesting)
Because of the very design (or lack of) of the Internet, it is not possible to locate and eliminate the source of spam with anything near 100% efficacy.
The only answer is not a single answer, but many small efforts to both block, and eliminate spam. There are currently laws to prosecute spammers, but the governments of the world are more or less impotent when it comes to catching and stopping spammers. Like any good scammer, they are always looking for loopholes and workarounds for anything that is put in their way.
Only education and a concerted global community effort will stop them. They are obviously making money or they wouldn't bother to send out that spam. Really, they don't send it just to irritate you or I, they send it because there are smucks in the world that click on the links and hand over cash for whatever is being sold.
The real way to stop SPAM is by using an approach that includes everything we know or will know about stopping it:
-Educating users to press delete first
-Hardened mail servers
-OSS based instant notification to the global community of new spam identifiers
-OSS based listing of spam identifiers, with something like
-Actual use of white and black lists by default on e-mail clients
-many many more mail servers scanning emails, even small modem sized proxies doing it for home users
and the list goes on. Until we are furiously implementing all methods instead of looking for one killer app to get rid of spam, it will exist.
Just 2 cents worth
Follow the money.... (Score:2)
The thing is that if somebody offers a product over the Internet, they want paying. You don't get V1agra or C1alis for free!
In the end a Spamming business needs bank accounts and in particular, card clearing services. Sure, technical solutions can help but it is an Arms Race. The best way is surely to close down their source of funds, or at least make it uneconomic for them to work over the internet.
There is one good solution to this (Score:2)
Re:There is one good solution to this (Score:2)
Speaking of AT&T... there is the most curious AT&T facility about 40-ish miles from me. On a little country road, built into the side of a low hill. A big tall microwave/cell tower on top and 3 HUGE gensets under
5 Hurricanes... (Score:2, Redundant)
(I can say this because I'm from S. Florida.)
Old news. (Score:5, Informative)
See, for example, this media report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel [google.co.uk] from Mar 24, 2003, or this one [google.co.uk] from Oct 10 2001, asking
One of the reputed reasons spammers find it attractive, as mentioned in the article are the lenient bankruptcy laws which prevent the spammer's house from being reposessed.
Re:Old news. (Score:2)
Re:Old news. (Score:2)
It is home to the rudest, most obnoxious, egocentric, opportunistic, agressive, materialistc scumbags I've ever met. And that only describes the people who *would* give you the time of day.
Well it is time (Score:2)
Re:Well it is time (Score:2)
Speaking of Penny Stock Spammers... (Score:2)
(Yap Internation and Emerson Oil & Gas aren't far behind.) I've copied enforcement@sec.gov on all my spamcop comlaints, so far without avail.
If anyone has a good e-mail address to get their domain yanked, that would be a good start. Here's the DNS info:
wysak.com
Registrant: Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15511 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 United States
Registered through:
You mean (Score:3, Funny)
Florida is deffinitelly a crookland... (Score:2)
And it's governor another Bush, what a great american family...
A shame... (Score:2)
So you'll need a good story in advance, and no witnesses.
Re:Florida is deffinitelly a crookland... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Florida is deffinitelly a crookland... (Score:3, Insightful)
Last time I checked Washington DC leads the nation in violence and firearms are banned out right there.
Re:Florida is deffinitelly a crookland... (Score:2)
No wait, it's Jeb Bush.... That MUST be it. Liberals are bad enough but then you have stupid liberal trolls... Then again you might just be bashing Bush. Too bad you're so incompetent at it.
Uh oh... (Score:2)
"Marge? What in the world does '133t Hax0r' mean?"
Poor statistics, no proof (Score:2)
With so many ISP's, and Customers that report spam OFFLINE in florida it would make perfect sense that the rate of reported spam would drop!!!
Granted im not saying Spam is not a major source of spam, just that there theory has no backing and is has a major flaw in its thought.
Job interview (Score:5, Funny)
Interviewer: So tell me what you know about mail?
Me: Well, I've configured dozens of mail servers. I've configured everything from the DNS down to the spam filtering software.
Interviewer: Spam filtering software?
Me: All aspects. I can configure software such as SpamAssassin and of course hard Postfix and Sendmail against lots of spam attacks. Depending on what the customer wants, I can set it up to be super aggressive or not.
Interviewer: So you don't agree with the practice?
Me: Man, I hate spam. These people don't realize the headaches that it can cause. I wish they'd get some fungus that science hasn't heard about yet.
[snip]
Interviewer: So any questions that you'd like to ask us?
Me: There are a couple. Things such as salary and of course the job description. The headhunter was a little vague.
Interviewer: We're an, umm, direct marketing association.
Me: Direct marketing?
Interviewer: Yeah, we send email to people who have expressed an interest in our products.
Me: [light beginning to flicker on] So how do you know they're interested?
Interviewer: They have visited related sites...
The interview pretty went south from there. He finally told me that I perhaps wasn't the best candidate for the position. I agreed.
Re:Job interview (Score:2)
Florida (Score:2)
...not to mention corrupt law enforcement, massive election fraud (1876, 2000, 2004), a large percentage of the nation's collection agencies, corrupt school board officials, Disneyland, you name it. Florida is a festering pot of swill that doesn't deserve to be a state in my Union. (And technically isn't.)
i like s florida (Score:2)
for its shamelessness
and the girls are gorgeous
and the club scene is great in miami
and people drive nice cars
and the golf courses are nice
and the water is bright frikkin' blue
i sympathize with the spammers
only the hurricanes are a bummer
and imho if the world has to have a spam capital, I'd rather have it here in the US than abroad -- spam isn't going to disappear if we clear up South Florida
read this fun slate article [msn.com] about election fraud and
Can be easily solved, South Korea block needed (Score:2)
http://www.spamcop.net/w3m?action=inprogress [spamcop.net]
Its dynamic statistic. Kornet and Hananet.
Government action is: Mail servers, servers are SHUT DOWN until businesses PROVE they are legit/non spammer business, servers patched, force ISP buy whatever security service needed, price not asked.
As a spam reporting guy, believe me when I say it. Those ISP's are in a point of S. Korea congress/parliament whatever heari
Re:Lower 48 (Score:3, Insightful)
Mississippi is a MUCH worse place than Florida. People in *Alabama* regularly thank God that they don't live in Mississippi.
Personally, I'd much rather live in Florida than, say... [shudder] New Jersey!
Re:Lower 48 (Score:2, Interesting)
Mississippi (Score:2)
Re:Lower 48 (Score:2)
Alabama has redneck NASA in Huntsville. You go there and see the space shuttle sitting in an overgrown field of weeds, resting on blocks with the tires off, one window smashed out, and painted in two different colors of primer.
Re:Lower 48 (Score:2)
Re:Secret spammer's base (Score:2)
Ackbar: It's a trap!
ObiWan: That's not a planet
(New security systems - installed by the mice after that Vogon incident - kick in and destroy the SSD)
Re:spam spam lol (Score:2)