RE: Challenge Response (Was: Re: FN-FORUM: XML Question (verification))

date posted 10th January 2007 11:44

> If you dont want spam, be careful what you do with your email address =
online, simple > as that.

With respect, it's not as simple as all that. I receive upwards of 300 =
spam messages a day from about a dozen domains I own, and I am very =
careful with my email address(es) and always have been. =20

Some of my domains have been owned by other people before, and they get =
a lot of spam (they obviously weren't quite so careful). Most of the =
rest of the spam is sent to 'fake' email addresses for each domain - =
[EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED] etc etc etc. I use =
catch-all addresses extensively for legitimate purposes and have no =
plans to change that, so I have to put up with all the spam. =
Thankfully, the Outlook spam filter catches 99% of it.

I even have SPF records set up for all my domains - to little effect, as =
few people bother checking them, it seems.

The other problem is that on at least two occasions, I've had spam sent =
to addresses that I've only given to legitimate companies. These =
companies have somehow sold (or had stolen) their email address =
databases. Nothing I can do about that but complain to the company and =
boycott the company in future. I can't stop the spam now coming through =
to those addresses.

So I have given some thought to a challenge-response system, but right =
now it seems like too much of a pain for people writing to me (and =
wouldn't work with the way I use catch-all addresses anyway). So maybe =
the people that you know that use challenge-response have gotten really =
sick of wasting their time wading through spam - maybe you could cut =
them a little slack. Until the spam problem is solved, we'll just have =
to put up with these interim solutions.

Cheers,
Andrew.

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_____________________________
Andrew Bibby
I.T. Solutions Ltd
http://www.itsolutions.uk.com