Abuse of Usenet: Spam, Forged Postings and One
Example
There is a growing trend of abuse of Usenet, including spam on newsgroups and the
use of forgeries to harass innocent people. This page describes Usenet jargon for
those not used to it. It also tells you how to detect many common forms of email address forgery; who to tell if you have seen
spam or a forgery; where to go if you have been harassed/stalked online;
and how to protect yourself against forgery.
Example of Usenet Abuse: The Woodside Literary Agency
Background on Usenet - If the jargon here is new to you,
reading this background article should help.
How to find and read Full Headers when sending a complaint to
an ISP
How to tell a forged email address - A tutorial on how to detect
most forms of forged email addresses in news postings.
Various views of spam and harassment by forgery
CyberSnitch Headquarters
SpamCop
Who to tell about Spam/forging
What to do if you encounter spam or forgery.
Fight Spam on the Internet!
Join the Fight Against Spam!
How to protect yourself - A brief tutorial
on signing email messages, including how to use pgp.
Tutorial for Unix users on how
to use procmail to reduce your chances of being Email-bombed, provided by Zach Babayco.
If you've been harassed, stalked or otherwise abused online,
contact:
Follow me to
W.H.O.A.
A few more interesting sites you should check out:
Junkbusters
The Children's
Protection & Advocacy Coalition
HOAXBUSTERS
Urban
Legends and Folklore
National Fraud Information
Center
Caveat: This site contains descriptions of the plaintiff's case against
an alleged abuser of Usenet. Every effort has been made to provide only factual, verifiable
evidence. However, typography errors may be present. (Errors in quoted text are preserved from
the original.) Anyone who is aware of an error in this document, including representatives of the
Woodside Literary Agency, is requested to send electronic mail to Abuse of Usenet Mail. Mail will be responded to as
quickly as possible. Once it has been established that there is in fact an error, an immediate
correction will be made, and the facts of the correction posted in the newsgroup
misc.writing
Page expanded from an original compiled and written by Marty Fouts
