XPOST: Spammer spammed

[Tannin]

Excuse cross post, but this gem that Handruin slipped onto the front page news is just too good not to pick up on.

A couple of weeks ago the Detroit Free Press ran an article detailing the exploits of a Michigan based "spam king." The article told how Alan Ralsky controls 190 email servers, used to pump out 650,000 spam emails per server per hour. Ralsky's spamming netted enough money for him to recently buy an 8,000 sq ft house in an affluent Detroit suburb. Although the reporter didn't give out Ralsky's address, "which I found in Oakland County real estate records," he (intentionally?) hinted where to find it.

Readers over at /. took up the invitation when the Free Press article was mentioned on their site and quickly uncovered Ralsky's current address. Soon the spammer was signed up for any ads, catalogs and brochures they could find. An update to the original story has Ralsky whining:

"They've signed me up for every advertising campaign and mailing list there is," he told me. "These people are out of their minds. They're harassing me."

Apparently he has hired an attorney and is looking into suing people who signed him up for all the junk mail. I really doubt if he'll be able find a sympathetic judge and jury. Ralsky summed it up best in the original story.

"Isn't technology great?"

(From Ars Technica.)

I love it!

 

[Clocker]

I thought you guys would like this...this guy is local to me....



You beat me to it, Tannin....

C

 

[Prof.Wizard]

That was indeed COOL!

 

[Handruin]

I was wondering if anyone would like that bit. It made me feel good to hear that a spammer was getting a taste of his own medicine!

 

[jtr1962]

This is the best news I've heard in a long time. The guy actually has the nerve to complain when he's getting a taste of his own medicine. The sooner SPAM is made illegal, the better. Anyway, this just goes to show what I've said all along, which is that 99.9% of all the SPAM we receive is generated by at most a few hundred people worldwide. Put them out of action and the problem will mostly go away. 190 servers at 650,000 spams each per hour is 123.5 million junk mails per hour. The amount of bandwidth this must waste is just disgusting.

Hopefully, Mr. Ralsky will now find a more tasteful line of work.

 

[Buck]

Vengeance is such sweet bliss.

 

[Handruin]

Vengeance is such sweet bliss.

Reading that news article put such a smile on my face. I (like most others) hate spam with a passion, and nothing is as satisfying as to read about that guy complaining about postal spam.

 

[Tannin]

The second part of the article has a distinct flavour of urban legend hanging about it. I am inclined to suspect that it is fantasy. But it's a damn nice fantasy, and I choose to believe it anyway.

 

[GMac]

There must be at least some truth in it, as the national press has picked it up over here Serves the @!#&* right :mrgrn: - I loathe spam of any description, so to see one of the major originators get his is very satisfying....

GM