| LED Digest 1745: Transactional Email & Filters |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam,led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com ................................................ February 10, 2004 Issue #1745 ................................................ .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Spammer Using our Domain, Help! ==-- ~ Adam Boettiger ~ R Bass --== Losing Filtered Email ==-- ~ Ken Evoy --== Email Address Verification ==-- ~ Eva Rosenberg ~ TJ Sylvester ~ Mark Roberts ~ Michael Linehan ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Bayesian Filtering ==-- ~ Graham Brown ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Adam Boettiger Subject: Joe Jobs (Spam spoofed) > Some unscrupulous person overseas has been using > our email addresses to send tons and tons of spam all > over the internet. I am getting the bounces by the dozens > (sometimes hundreds). - Brigitte Burchett, LED 1743 Hi Brigitte, You've got 2 issues to deal with: 1. The bounces 2. Your reputation Regarding the bounces what you need to do is have your Webmaster or Web hosting provider go into your domain account and turn OFF the catch-all. Normally when you set up a Web hosting or email account with a hosting provider, they create a single POP mailbox that is the default that This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it is sent to, like a funnel. You don't want that. You want an upside down funnel where everything falls the wayside but what is specifically addressed to your mailbox or the specific addresses on your account. If your hosting provider says you must have a catchall, tell them then that you want anything that is not specifically addressed to your email address to be routed to the /dev/null folder, which is a bit bucket and you won't see those messages when you download email. - OR - If you don't want to do that, the second option to stop getting bounces is to go pay $19 and open up an account at SpamArrest http://www.spamarrest.com/ , which is a c/r (challenge and response) solution. Take your Outlook or email address book of people whom you correspond with regularly, export it as a .csv file to your desktop, then import it into your SpamArrest account. This is your "whitelist", meaning that all email from these folks goes right through to you, everything else gets a challenge message, so you won't get bounces. You can read more about it on their site, but this will immediately solve your problem. You've also got your company's reputation to worry about because folks probably think you're spamming. Post a link on your main home page that says something like "Did you receive unsolicited email from us? It was not from us. Click here to read details." and then have a page explaining how easy and common it is for spammers to spoof domains and conduct "Joe-Jobs", which is the non-technical term for what has happened to you. Also make sure your address at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it is functional and that you address any complaints with a template form letter explaining that your domain was spoofed. Finally, be sure to immediately notify your Web hosting provider and email provider so they do not terminate your account. Hope this helps! Contact me off-list at ab at i-advertising dot dom if you have follow up questions. No, I don't know all this because I'm a spammer, but rather the opposite. I help businesses promote themselves responsibly online and many time clients come to use having been burned in the past. Adam Boettiger, President I-Advertising - Interactive Advertising & Marketing Since 1996 http://www.i-advertising.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: R Bass Subject: Spam spoofed > Some unscrupulous person overseas has been using > our email addresses to send tons of spam... herbal-world.us, > pureherbal.us are two of the domains. - Brigitte Burchett, LED 1743 Just FYI-- A .us extention can only be issued to a US citizen or US based company, so this spoofer cannot be an overseas outfit. Contact whois.com for the name of the real person and address behind the address R Bass ------- new post - new topic -------- From: Ken Evoy Subject: Losing email Regarding [losing business email] I have a less happy experience with Microsoft, and I tell you about it because it relates to the current discussion on mail filtering. Wanda Husick had asked... > But how do you know [your email filter] is not blocking > business mail? I just do not feel confident that filters > will let through the mail that I need to run my business. As you'll see Wanda, you don't. I should preface this by saying that our company, SiteSell.com does not spam. We don't come close to spamming. Every piece of mail is either confirmed opt-in or transactional. Transactional e-mail (i.e., the confirming e-mail you send after a purchase, with download instructions, receipt etc.) is, by even the most extreme definition of what constitutes spam, a golden piece of mail -- a user has specifically filled out a rather lengthy form, pulled out a credit card, and paid for a product. So... RETURN MAIL IS EXPECTED. Well, all of our post-orders are being blocked by Microsoft, both at HotMail and MSN. Despite all our research and work with them, despite Microsoft's clear understanding that this is transactional e-mail, despite the fact that HotMail has a "Safe List" tool for their users, Microsoft will simply not let this mail through. We considered our options and took the most practical route. There is no point in fighting with Microsoft. Just like Brigitte's forgery issue above, the correct question is one that seeks a simple, direct solution and not get upset... -------------------------------------------------- "What can we do that involves the least bother for our clients AND that works around this problem?" -------------------------------------------------- We have developed a rather simple workaround... We put up a special "thank you" post-order Web page for HotMail and MSN customers. Here's the template (Hotmail and MSN users get this page after their credit cards clear)... http://buildit.sitesell.com/success-page-MSN-hotmail.html ------------------- NOTE TO LED READERS If this happens to you, feel free to use it. Although we put a copyright on it, we permit anyone to use this page and its language should any mail service impact you in this way. Naturally, you'll have to program it to hook it up. ------------------- This special "Hotmail/MSN Success Page"... 1) warns them that they will likely NOT receive the "Get Ready for SBI!" e-mail 2) warns them that even if they "safelist" us, they will not get it 3) provides a 1-877 number or a form for them to send us a different e-mail address to which we'll re-send the post-order e-mail 4) provides the full story, including Microsoft's e-mailed replies. No editorializing, just the facts which speak for themselves... a) Folks are ordering products. b) They expect to receive e-mail. c) A mail filter is blocking that mail. d) No bounceback courtesy. e) We are doing nothing wrong, not on their black list. f) The customer cannot safelist it. We will continue this policy indefinitely until Microsoft lets the mail through. Yes, it would be much easier for us just to get bonded with the bonding house that Microsoft is pushing us towards (which is run by former founders and senior mgmt of Hotmail, ListBot, and Microsoft). We'll even use them once this is over because the service seems decent (although the penalty fee is currently way too unreasonable, $20 per complaint of any kind for every complaint over 1 per million e-mails sent!). But for right now... There are times when principles must outweigh business. This is one of those times. All the best, Ken Evoy, President SiteSell.com http://webmaster.sitesell.com P.S. Our alternate choice was to warn the customer PRE-order. But that would actually end up protecting Microsoft (since this would remain a quiet little secret), AND would cast doubt on our credibility before the order, hurting sales. I hate to inconvenience the customer, but in this case, it's really HotMail that is the prime mover. SiteSell and the customer are the victims -- it is NOT our fault that the customer is inconvenienced. ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Eva Rosenberg Subject: Email verification Hi Adam Graham Brown's response about 'Email verification' touches a nerve with me, too. > This post touches a nerve for me... You went to all the trouble > to get me to your site... but you will only give it to me if I give you > the information to add me to a spam list? What legitimate use > is there for all the information that you are seeking...? Someone goes and develops some software or tool, or e-book or whatever, that you think is interesting or important enough to download - and you want it for free, with no strings attached? I think not. He is not GIVING IT TO you. He is letting you test it. If I brought you all the way to my site, and I am giving you the right to try or test my product BEFORE you buy it, I darn well DO want the right to be able to follow up and ask how you like it. Or remind you to pay for it before the trial period runs out. In fact, if you like the product, you might even be pleased that I reminded you, before you lose the data you've entered in it. Heck, be pleased you get to try it without paying for it. I am so tired of people who feel the Internet is here for their convenience to get everything for free. Yes, it's an early stage of the relationship - but if my product is valuable enough for you to want to download, take responsibility and identify yourself. Or if I need some demographic information, be kind enough to pay that price - or you are at liberty not to download my product or tool. As to that spam list you feel you've been added to? You can always opt out when you get any mail. All legitimate vendors give you that option. Oh, and if someone IS giving away valuable software, as folks like Will Bontrager are apt to do (willmaster.com), I am quite happy to pay the price of my identity to get it. Best wishes, Eva Rosenberg, MBA, EA http://www.taxmama.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: TJ Sylvester Subject: Email verification Question was asked on how (not 'if' it is right or wrong). So, the best way to validate email addresses is to do a DNS check or SMTP server query. You may need to search for a 3rd party component to use with your hosting provider (if they don't already have one.) Here is an article that describes the basics: http://coveryourasp.com/ValidateEmail.asp TJ Sylvester ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Mark Roberts Subject: Email verification > You went to all the trouble to get me to your site... but > you will only give it to me if I give you the information to > add me to a spam list? What legitimate use is there > for all the information that you are seeking...? - Graham Brown Well, for one thing. It's gets frustrating when you get someone interested enough in your product to seek more information, request more information via an email form, only to find out that they have transposed or fat-fingered part of their email address and there is no way to get that information back to the custoemr. Customer then thinks that you have poor customer support because you don't respond to their email in a timely fashion. So who's fault is that. Do we just write the customer off as so dumb and stupid that you don't want to communicate with them anyway? (Sorry, I need the business too much to go that far yet). I suppose an alternative would be to put a notice on the form that all emails will be answered within 24-hours, if no response is received, try again (even that sounds tacky). Mark Roberts Roberts Computing Systems http://www.robertscomputing.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: Email verification One of the basics of marketing is to REMOVE all possible obstructions between the prospect and the purchase. And another is to make the first step as easy as possible --- e.g. free sample. I don't think email verification is an answer. All those who put in false addresses are not going to suddenly start parting with their personal information. Adding an obstruction is not effective marketing. Try giving it away truly free, (no money, no information) and trust that, if there is enough value for people, plenty will come back for more. Michael Linehan Marketing Alchemy ==== BILLBOARD ==================================== From: Graham Brown Subject: Bayesian filtering [Losing Email] > ... I suggest you look into any of the many products now > available that use Bayesian filtering to identify spam. I use > Eudora, which has it built in. - Veronica Yuill, LED 1742 The whole point about bayesian filtering is that it works best at the local level. I use spampal http://www.spampal.org on a Windows box. It is free and I find it very effectively disposes of my 150+ spam emails each day. Spampal uses a combination of bayesian and other methods and has provision for white and black lists. It takes a little while to train, but that is the whole point - it has to be trained on your ham words, there is no standard list. It is the words that are unique to your communications that are the basis for filtering. That is why it is difficult for spammers to overcome. For clarity, it is much easier to find the one or two legit emails in amongst the spam than the other way around, unless, of course you have regular correspondents with names like Salmon T Cornwich and Elizrah J Smooch. I have no connection with spampal other than as a user. Graham Brown ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2004 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man." - Oliver Wendell Holmes |
