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Local spammers outed

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 20 Apr 2012

Sending spam could not only result in a damaged online reputation, but could cause culprits to lose money as well.

This is according to the Internet Service Providers' Association of SA (ISPA), which recently released its latest “Hall of Shame” report, in which it names and shames SA's top spammers and e-mail address resellers, in an attempt to curtail the significant growth of local spam.

The “Hall of Shame” list, now released on a quarterly basis, was initiated in 2008 - and back then contained just five of SA's most prolific spammers. The latest list names and shames 64 spammers and 34 e-mail address resellers, the largest number ISPA has listed to date and an indication that spam is on the rise in SA.

While there is no specific order in which spammers are listed, says ISPA, serial spammers who have been listed for a long time are more likely to appear at the top of the list. The first five unsolicited e-mail senders are Dynamic Seminars, New Heights 1268/Jaco Derksen, SA Webs, Ketler Presentations and Brain Power. Topping the list of identified e-mail address resellers are Mark Tribelhorn, Affordable Construction, Rain Marketing, Peter Van Wyk/Media Online and Mandy Simone.

ISPA says the initiative is aimed at highlighting South African spammers, which are multiplying in number. The industry body says the list has seen limited upshot, with 37 parties returning a signed undertaking to observe best practices in the sending of commercial mail. “However, several have simply resumed spamming shortly after signing it. These parties have been added back to the report where they will remain for three years.”

However, the consequences for guilty parties, says ISPA, are evident. “Of the parties who have upheld the undertaking, the greater majority of them purchased a list of addresses which the list reseller claimed was opt-in. Not only was their online reputation harmed through sending spam, but they lost money on tainted address lists they cannot use.”

User benefits

As far as Internet users and spam go, ISPA says it does not suggest recipients block or filter the sender e-mail addresses or domains, although many parties - including ISPA members - do so.

“Third-parties also have software solutions that use the ISPA Hall of Shame report in their filter lists. For example, Synaq incorporates the report in their Pinpoint SecureMail e-mail filtering solution.”

ISPA says ISPs receive thousands of spam messages a day and filtering some of these can result in lower bandwidth costs, fewer support calls and happier customers.

According to ISPA's policy governing the listing, new spammers are added when they meet the listing criteria. They are removed when no further spam has been received, or when they return a signed undertaking to observe best practice in the sending of commercial e-mail.

The latest list accounts for roughly six months of submissions and includes 12 removals, 30 updates to existing listings (for example, spammers with new addresses or domains), 33 new spammers and five new list-resellers.

To view the list of spammers and e-mail address resellers, including their addresses and domains, visit ISPA's Hall of Shame.

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