Tanguy Ortolo

Using address extension

Postfix (and many other mail servers) offers one nice address extension feature: addresses like <user+whaterver@> are implicit aliases to <user@>. This allows users to implement a simple measure to fight spam:

1. when SomeCompany® or whatever asks for your email address, give them <user+somecompany@>;
2. if you start receiving spam at that address, you know who sold or was stolen your address;
3. finally, you will be able to disable that address so messages are simply refused with a permanent error code.

Read more Disable your spammed addresses with Postfix

Mon wiki sur l'auto-hébergement est depuis quelque temps la cible de spammeurs. Leur façon de procéder est assez simple : créer de nombreux utilisateurs bidons — une dizaine par jour — puis créer des pages de texte publicitaire.

Read more Vague de spam sur mon wiki sur l'auto-hébergement

Spam trap

Dear lazyweb, I am considering to implement spam traps and evaluate their efficiency. The idea as rather simple:

1. publish some real-looking email addresses on websites, in ways that no human would use them to send legitimate mail, for instance in hidden texts, or in texts clearly stating they should not be used;
2. when my mail server receives a message for one of these address, blacklist the originating server for some time so it cannot spam real recipients.

Read more How to implement a Postfix spam trap?

Email spam is a plague, but sometimes there is at least on category of spammers it is easy to have fun with: naive manual spammers. People that try to do more or less legal business, using Internet in an illegitimate way, for instance (this is a real example, including the spammer's address: spamming bots, please use it ;-) !):

From: Emma Perroni <emmaperroni@gmail.com>
Subject: Hello

Hello,

Do you have a Facebook page? If you do, I can offer you to add fans by
hunders/thouthands in a single day using an original (and confidential)
technique. We can also add subscribers to Twitter, Youtube or Google+1.

Prices: 10€ for 100 fans, -20% for more than 1000 fans ordered.

Regards

Read more Fun with spammers

For hurried readers: do not give your main email address to Moneybookers or to deviantART, since they may give it (unintentionally, I hope) to spammers.

Read more Who gave my address to spammers?