This is a riot. For some time, I've had some discussions regarding Robert Soloway, who ranks among the notable spammers on the internet. Please note: I've made three posts, as follows:
In themselves, pretty dull stuff; just me referring to something I'd read or observed. Where it gets interesting? The comments, the comments and the comments. Folks who did an MSN or Google search for the mysterious Mr. Soloway found these articles and have produced some VERY lively discussions. Note that if a comment got threatening or over the top, I've removed them.
The plot thickens today, with a note from my ISP, HostDepot. I've been with these guys for years, and have enjoyed an enviable level of service from them. They host my web site (http://www.opsan.com), which isn't a very exciting site at all. I guess I could say that this blog is really what I wanted my site to be: interesting ideas and discussions about technical and business topics.
I digress; back to the thickening. HostDepot uses an excellent spam filter called SpamCop, reducing my inbox spam to only a few a day. Well, part of their excellent spam-prevention service arrived in my inbox today in the form of this message:
Hello Michael,
It has been brought to our attention that SPAM messages are being sent spamvertising this website hosted here at Host Depot (www.opsan.com).
Please take this opportunity to resolve this issue. The information to contact spamcop is listed below in their link.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please let us know if you have any questions or if we can be of further assistance.
I clicked on the link in the message to respond to the spam report and was offered a few options, the best of which was “URL used without permission” (which, in this case, it was). There was also an option to “add a note to this issue”, which I'll try the next time (if there is a next time).
What? A thicker plot? But of course! The body of the 'offending message' was most amusing:
Click to Advertise Your Web Site Today for Free to 2,000,000 Email Users
...only if you are a non-profit charity.simply click on "charity info" on our corporate web site for full details on this non-commercial special offer to assist charities.
this non-commercial email & non-commercial email offer have a primary sole purpose to assist non-profit charities with their non-commercial email message only. if you are not a non-profit charity, please immediately delete this email, do not visit our web site, do not read this email, do not contact us and do not respond to this email or email offer as this email is not intended for any commercial purpose of any kind.
another primary purpose of this email is to share with you some funny and interesting signs...
the owner of www.opsan.com has a blog that at times has had comments made relating to death threats to the owner of our organization, simply for our assistance in offering charity emailings to non-profit organizations.
help us prevent future death threats to the ceo of our organization by complaining about www.opsan.com to: reportspam@networksolutionsemail.com
So, there you have it. A maligned attempt by a maligned individual who is upset that some people who visit this blog don't like him amd discuss him in the comments.