New FTC report on anti-spam actions

Wed Nov 13 20:08:20 UTC 2002

A new FTC report titled "Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcers
Tackle Deceptive Spam and Internet Scams" was released today. It is
available at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/11/netforce.htm

While not as swift and brutal as many would prefer- there were no
stormings of buildings by jack-booted SWAT teams- it's a great step
for them, and its good to know that they are dedicating resources
towards fighting the problem. Recognition is the first step, and all.

I hppened on the release while looking for how to submit a complaint-
which you can do at
https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

[slightly off-topic rant follows]

I've been plagued for months by 7 to 10 random spams a day, sent to an
address I have only given to "lanstreet.com". The spam comes from
Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Hong Kong, as well as various US DSL
sources.

To Lanstreet's credit, their whois information is up to date. I called
and spoke to their contact, Tseng Lo, at (626) 810-8341.

I called and asked him if they were selling customer information,
contrary to their privacy policy
(http://www.lanstreet.com/privacypolicy.cfm). He stated several times
that under no circumstances did they sell or release customer
information voluntarily.

How, then, did this email address become known to random spammers
across five countries and several continents? His explanation was
simple. He let me know that because they host their site on NT
machines, it is highly probable that the information was obtained by
unknown parties hacking into their systems. He told me that while he
was aware of unauthorized intrusions, he was not able to give me a
number of incidents.

The moral? Stay away. I found lanstreet.com through a pricewatch
search for wireless networking products. They lie about their privacy
policy and have no interest in keeping customer information safe.

Sorry for the rant, but I wanted to spare you folks the potential for
a credit fraud nightmare.

matt ghali

--mghali at snark.net------------------------------------------<darwin><
   Flowers on the razor wire/I know you're here/We are few/And far
   between/I was thinking about her skin/Love is a many splintered
   thing/Don't be afraid now/Just walk on in. #include <disclaim.h>