IP: Re: Ok, who the hell is "E-Mail America"

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

I found this an interesting overview of the spammer business situation djf




From: TELECOM Digest Editor <telecom () eecs nwu edu>


I got mail this morning from the seller of the EUPHORIA TAPE, in which
he stated he wishes to 'surrender'. After reading his letter which is
attached below, my belief is he was snookered by Jeff Slaton into 
getting involved in this business. I think he was naive and did not
realize how offensive this sort of thing is to most netters. He says
he spoke with Jeff and was seduced into thinking this sort of thing
was okay. Jeff, by the way, is the front page story in today's issue
of the {San Jose Mercury News}; a story entitled "King of Spam". I'd
not be surprised to see other newspapers around the country pick up
the story and also run it.


My recommendation, for whatever it is worth, is that we give this guy a
pass; let him off with a warning that Usenet is *not* the place to
advertise, at least not in massive spam-like quantities spread across
the entire network.  I think he is sincerely sorry for this mess.


Here is his note, and as he requested, I am preserving his privacy. The
data I had started to collect on him will not be used.


PAT


From: GiffyScan () eworld com
Subject: I am responsible for THE EUPHORIA TAPE.




I wish to discuss the terms of my surrender.


It was not until TODAY that I discovered the net-abuse newsgroups, and
in reading back as far as it would go, I was shocked and horrified to
see that my Euphoria advertisement has caused so much anger and
disgust. I was also flabbergasted to find out how criminal Jeff Slaton
is considered.


The final volley was your note entitled "War Against Spammers, Update
10/23/95" In it you mention: "My thanks to everyone who has helped on
these projects. I'll see what I can do about the EUPHORIA TAPE in the
next day or so"


I do not wish to be a netcriminal like the others. That is why I'm writing
this letter, and why I am surrending. 


Please let me tell you what happened:


In September I saw Slaton's ADVERTISE TO 5 MILLION PEOPLE ad in the
newsgroup I subscribe to, and I called him, and told him I have a
self-hypnosis tape I'd like to sell. Such a charming man, reminds me
of my uncle.


I wrote some copy, sent him a money order, and five days later I saw
my Euphoria spiel in many newsgroups. Although I saw many complaints
RE'd in some newsgroups, they were rather mild, more crankiness than
anger. Over the next week LOTS of orders for the Euphoria Tape came
in, and I thought this was great.


It died down after a couple weeks, so I starting posting a few ads
myself thru my internet account. That lasted about 2 days until they
cut me off. I talked to them and they said when they reach a certain
number of complaints against a customer they cancel his account, and
posting ads to Newsgroups is the quickest way to get killed, they
said.


So that was the end of it, until, on my AOL account I got another ad
offering to sell 5 million email addresses for $99.00. I've attached
that ad to this letter. As you can see, they make it sound simple, and
effective.


So, I got a new account and that's what I sent out over the weekend,
but only a very small test portion. I thought I'd just wait and see
what happened, as this was a new experiment for me.


When I found the abuse newsgroups today, and your War On Spammers note, I
knew it was time to stop.


Since I am quite afraid at this point, my best best hope is that it can all
just die down and go away and nobody will hear of the Euphoria Tape again.


To that end, with my surrender in mind, I wish to remain anonymous, if
you will allow it. That's why I've sent this note thru eWorld.
("GiffyScan" refers to my hobby of digital photography.)


Please know that the Euphoria Tape is a self-hypnosis tape which
really works on most people. I also offer and honor a full
unconditional money-back guarantee (no takers yet). So the Euphoria
Tape is not a fraud or scam, the only transgression is the method of
advertising. And I will not "spam" the net again, in any fashion.


Following the dashed lines is the advertisement I responded to about 5
million email addresses. Maybe you can put a stop to them as well:


-------------------------------------------


IMAGINE ADVERTISING YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE TO OVER 100,000  PEOPLE PER HOUR
FOR ONLY YOUR CONNECT TIME CHARGES!!


Email America Co.  specializes in providing bulk email lists for your
advertising use.  Over the past year we have been able to develop a list of
over 20 million email addresses covering the internet.  This list is compiled
on computer disks in plain ascii text format.  Using simple text edit
routines, you can extract the email addresses and import them into your
address book.  This saves you time by not having to type the addresses into
an address book!


We have developed this list for a variety of our advertising projects with a
great deal of success, and have to date seen an 18%+ response rate!!  This
will of course vary depending on the product or service offered.  It is
almost impossible to find another form of advertising that generates such a
high response rate.


By sending your messages during periods of slow online use (avoid early
evenings) you can send over 100,000 ads for the price of 10 first class
letters by U.S. Mail! Nothing compares!


We are offering you 5 MILLION of these same addresses in an easy to use plain
ascii text format for only $99! Imagine reaching 5 MILLION people.....with
regular advertising it would cost you in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars. With our introductory 5 Million your overhead is so low that it
takes just a few orders to pay for itself!


By using a word processor or the DOS editor or other edit programs, you can
have over 100,000 ads ready to be sent in just a few minutes.  If you are
getting this message then chances are that you have all the equipment you
need (modem, AOL software, any software with an address book or email
option).


The program comes with *complete instructions* and is so simple you will be
ready to start the same day you receive the material.  We also offer phone
and email support FREE to assist you!


ORDER NOW! OFFER GOOD ONLY THROUGH OCTOBER 23rd!!!!!


ORDERING INFORMATION


Customer Name________________________________________


Company Name_________________________________________


Phone-Day (_____)_____-__________ Fax- (_____) _____-__________


          Evening (_____) _____-________


Delivery Address________________________________________________
                        _________________________________________________


City__________________________________ State____________  


Zip ___________________________  Email Address ___________________


Products:


Introductory 5 Million - 5 million email addresses in an easy      _______$99
to use plain ascii text format


10 Million - 10 million email addresses in an easy to use
        ________$189
plain ascii text format


15 Million - 15 million email addresses in an easy to use
         ________$269
plain ascii text format


20 Million - 20 million email addresses in an easy to use
         ________$359
plain ascii text format
                                                  Subtotal
                          __________


                                                  Tax(if applicable)
              __________


                                                  Next Day* (optional- $20)
  __________


                                                  TOTAL
                           $____________


*For an additional $20 we will deliver your order Federal Express Next Day




Orders accompanied by a Certified Check or Money Order will be shipped the
following day.  Other orders will be shipped within 5 business days of
receipt of order. Mail your payment today and please complete the above
information. Mail payment to:


Email America Co.
626 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite 100
Santa Monica, CA 90401


Phone (310) 967-4070


Have questions? Give us a call or email us at emailists () aol com or
inetlis () wavenet com


                   ===============================


Opinions and thoughts anyone?  Shall we accept the apology and surrender?
It is companies like the above 'Email America' which we are after, not
their customers.


By the way, how much money did you send Jeff? How much did you send to
the Email America people?


                    ===============================


Anyone in the Los Angeles area want to look into the Email America
outfit at the street address and phone number given?  It sounds to me
like that might be a good bunch to work on next.


Remember Spammers, we are at war. You will be exposed, with all your
laundry -- clean, dirty or otherwise -- left to hang out here and dry.
Maybe like Jeff, you will even make the newspapers, so the whole world
can see what an affront you are.


You will lose, the net will win. Your choices are:


       1) voluntarily quit spamming; no more spam from you
          starting at the time you see this message. Something
          may be said about you here if you have been offensive
          enough (or massive enough) in your spam that everyone
          is complaining; then again, maybe I won't mention you.


       2) voluntarily quit spamming and send a note agreeing to
          it to this newsgroup. It can be anonymous if you are
          ashamed and don't want to admit to it. If you don't know
          how to send anonymous mail you can respond to me and I
          will post it for you here. As for myself -- and I cannot
          speak for others -- you will be left alone. 


       3) continue spamming as you have been in the past. Like
          Jeff Slaton, Kevin Lipsitz *and others yet to come* you
          will be put on display here; made into a spectacle for
          other netters. 


Really, its your choice; you are calling the shots here. I've been
inconvenienced all this past weekend with the additional mail coming
in and preparing these messages, etc. Don't make me have to keep
doing it. 


PAT