Eat your spam…and LIKE IT!!!

So over the past two weeks or so, this journal has been under constant attack by LiveJournal comment spammers; I’ve been averaging about 2-5 pieces of spam a day, mostly for penis enlargers, “herbal Viagra,” and tooth whiteners, in comments to various posts.

Interestingly, all the spamvertised Web sites are hosted by the same ISP: Sago Networks, an American Web hosting ISP located in Atlanta.

I’ve emailed the abuse team at Sago Networks repeatedly. They refuse to take action against their pet spammers unless LiveJournal actually provides them with the LJ server logs showing the placement of the spam.

Now, here’s the interesting thing. Sago Networks is headquartered right across the street from my office. I mean that literally; right across the street. You can see their building from my front door; they’re a ten-second walk away.

I woke up this morning to still more comment spam, all of it hosted by Sago. If this continues, I think I’ll walk over there and ask them in person why they like hosting spammers so much. (Not like I don’t already know the answer: money. It’s profitable to host spammers, at least in the short run.)

I’m thinking of putting a Spam Supporter Hall of Shame on my Web site, listing pro-spam outfits like Sago and Pipex (who do not consider Usenet spam to be “spam,” and permit their customers to spam Usenet newsgroups with impunity) and the email exchanges I’ve had with them, so people who don’t like spam supporters can make informed decisions about who to host with.

[EDIT] The Sago facility across the street from me is their data center. Their corporate headquarters are (ready for this?) in Tampa, about five minutes from my old Tampa office. They’re stalking me!

36 thoughts on “Eat your spam…and LIKE IT!!!

  1. Just curious, have you contacted LJ abuse?
    They should easily be able to get you those logs, and they (ideally at least) should be blocking those IP’s if they are spammers.

    • I haven’t talked to LJ abuse yet, but it’s a good idea. I don’t know if they release server logs or not, but it’s worth a shot.

      Ideally, I’d be able to walk into Sago’s office with a printout of the server logs, slap ’em down on the desk, and tell ’em to stuff their pet spammers up their…well, you get the idea. 🙂

      • Oh definitely. I’d still pursue the Sago end too. Poor business practice in the long run.

        I actually work Fraud stuff at another Atlanta-based ISP, so we actually see this stuff a good bit. I’d have to look over LJ’s terms of service and such, but yea, it’d be a good idea for them to take some action.

  2. Just curious, have you contacted LJ abuse?
    They should easily be able to get you those logs, and they (ideally at least) should be blocking those IP’s if they are spammers.

  3. I haven’t talked to LJ abuse yet, but it’s a good idea. I don’t know if they release server logs or not, but it’s worth a shot.

    Ideally, I’d be able to walk into Sago’s office with a printout of the server logs, slap ’em down on the desk, and tell ’em to stuff their pet spammers up their…well, you get the idea. 🙂

  4. Oh definitely. I’d still pursue the Sago end too. Poor business practice in the long run.

    I actually work Fraud stuff at another Atlanta-based ISP, so we actually see this stuff a good bit. I’d have to look over LJ’s terms of service and such, but yea, it’d be a good idea for them to take some action.

  5. Yep, that’s why I want to do it. I think I’ll talk to LJ abuse first, and see if I can get the server logs in question. If so, I’ll be able to walk in there fully armed.

  6. Gah! I hate spammers!

    I’ve been getting an increasing number of spammers on my LJ too. Only like 2 or 3 a week, but it’s irritating. Enough so that I had to start screening anonymous comments. Grr. Spammers.

  7. Gah! I hate spammers!

    I’ve been getting an increasing number of spammers on my LJ too. Only like 2 or 3 a week, but it’s irritating. Enough so that I had to start screening anonymous comments. Grr. Spammers.

  8. i have a confession to make. it is this: that i am really enjoying the new trend of building spam out of literary hash to get it past filters. it means that any email spam i actually end up seeing is like the world’s most fucked up beat poetry.

    prize subject line from the other day: “The stars have a gravitational pull, but the missiles don’t, because that’d take up too much processing power, according to Wikipedia.”

    i mean, come on. that’s just awesome.

  9. i have a confession to make. it is this: that i am really enjoying the new trend of building spam out of literary hash to get it past filters. it means that any email spam i actually end up seeing is like the world’s most fucked up beat poetry.

    prize subject line from the other day: “The stars have a gravitational pull, but the missiles don’t, because that’d take up too much processing power, according to Wikipedia.”

    i mean, come on. that’s just awesome.

  10. I have a Gmail label specifically reserved for “Spam Poetry”. Once in a blue moon I comb through some spam mail before I delete it to see if there are any new gems!

    • Heh. I used to do that with junk mail, actually; I’d typically send back literature for the Church of the Subgenius in those postage-paid envelopes. 🙂

  11. LJ spam is spam left as anonymous comments in LiveJournal posts and other Weblog posts. It’s not deleted afterward; it’s just left there.

    There’s some benefit to the spammer in terms of exposure (the comment spam I’m seeing is always attached to some of the more popular posts I’ve made), but the main payoff is indirect–Google’s PageRank system returns Web pages that have large numbers of links to them first. By spamming a large number of blogs, guestbooks, forums, and other similar sites with links, the spammer hopes to raise his Google ranking.

    And I suspect you’re right about the way to end spam…

    • Agreed, and for the record, I (and you) know a lot of people in Tampa with violent tendencies, lots of alcohol, anger to spare, and nothing left to lose.

      Just sayin’…

      • Raises hand in anticipation…

        Put me in coach! I hate spam as much as you if not more. Glad to see you around still. Time to get a LJ account!
        Tony aka Dranged

  12. LJ spam is spam left as anonymous comments in LiveJournal posts and other Weblog posts. It’s not deleted afterward; it’s just left there.

    There’s some benefit to the spammer in terms of exposure (the comment spam I’m seeing is always attached to some of the more popular posts I’ve made), but the main payoff is indirect–Google’s PageRank system returns Web pages that have large numbers of links to them first. By spamming a large number of blogs, guestbooks, forums, and other similar sites with links, the spammer hopes to raise his Google ranking.

    And I suspect you’re right about the way to end spam…

  13. Agreed, and for the record, I (and you) know a lot of people in Tampa with violent tendencies, lots of alcohol, anger to spare, and nothing left to lose.

    Just sayin’…

  14. Raises hand in anticipation…

    Put me in coach! I hate spam as much as you if not more. Glad to see you around still. Time to get a LJ account!
    Tony aka Dranged

  15. Heh. I used to do that with junk mail, actually; I’d typically send back literature for the Church of the Subgenius in those postage-paid envelopes. 🙂

  16. Franklin kinda dropped the ball. 😉 Mei Mei is “younger sister,” partly because we had Calcifer first, and partly as a subtle Firefly/Serenity reference. Though lately she just goes by “bucket” as in “bucket of love”. 😛

  17. Franklin kinda dropped the ball. 😉 Mei Mei is “younger sister,” partly because we had Calcifer first, and partly as a subtle Firefly/Serenity reference. Though lately she just goes by “bucket” as in “bucket of love”. 😛

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.