🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <885404300snz@pdlmail.demon.co.uk>
    pete$no$pam@pdlmail.demon.co.uk writes:

> In article <6a4ua8$obd$1@avondale.demon.co.uk>
>            jfhall@avondale.demon.co.uk "John F Hall" writes:

> > restrictions, but there is no reason why 8s and 9s shouldn't be present.
> > What you need to reject (according to most of the forged Compuserve
> > addresses I see) are a number or a dotted pair of numbers that contain
> > an 8 or a 9.
> 
> ...which is what I have in my own mailkill/keep.  Still not
> foolproof, I'll admit, but until I inadvertently trigger the
> first rejection of mail from john_1234_hall@compuserve.* 
> I'll live with it :-)

I have yet to see more than one mail with a forged compuserve numeric
address (and even that one got the dot in the wrong place).  That one
came from the idiot who now uses 8-digit user-ids without a dot and
uses random ISPs (occasionally compuserve) and invalid domains.

I catch him with [0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]@*.  Theoretically
this blocks other valid correspondents, but I've yet to see mail from
such (I do check with POP3 and no mail to me from a user-id of this type
has been anything other than junk).

Yes, I know that bouncing to the invalid domains wastes resources.  But
bouncing to the valid ones gives ISPs a legal reason to pursue the junk
mailers - AOL successfully claimed damages from one who caused lots of
bounces to end up with them.  I suspect that legal action by ISPs over
bounces because of forged addresses may be more successful in preventing
this sort of thing than complaints to abuse addresses of the real ISP. If
you complain to abuse@ the junk mailer gets kicked off and finds another
ISP.  If you bounce and AOL sue for damages the junk mailer may be in no
position to do it again, even if he wanted to.

Even the bounces to invalid domains may persuade ISPs whose users receive
junk mail to institute stricter AUPs because they get to see exactly how
much damage junk mail causes.  It may even persuade them to setup junk
filters on their incoming mail relays.

--Paul