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Sympathy for the SPAMMER

The International Herald Tribune has an article (hat tip to Kim Kommando) about people responding to scam emails like this one. The idea of baiting the scammers isn't a new one. I seem to remember "Shiver Metimbers" making news about doing this some time ago. What is new is the reactions of some of the people who are meant to be enforcing the law against the people trying to defraud us all.

PARIS: Ever been tempted to respond to that e-mail message offering untold millions from the relatives of a deposed African dictator?

For some, replying is a rewarding hobby.

...

Scambaiters turn the tables and scam the scammer. They antagonize, humiliate and frustrate scammers who think they have an unwary victim.

I think that's a wonderful idea. As one scambaiter said every minute the scammer is having to deal with his scambaiting, is one less minute he's spending scamming the rest of us.

Their motives may be altruistic, but not all law enforcement officials approve of their tactics, which can include entrapment and the public humiliation of having embarrassing photographs posted on the Internet.

"At first you might smile and think the trophy photographs are funny, but I have seen some with fraudsters in highly degrading positions," said Zimmermann of Interpol. "They are fraudsters and they are not good people, but they have their human rights."

I have no sympathy for the SPAMMER. Anti-SPAM laws have no teeth to speak of. Sure we hear about a high profile case being prosecuted every now and then, but the tide of SPAM hasn't ebbed.

These people, motivated solely by greed waste our bandwidth, waste our time, and even defraud some people out of their life savings. They deserve to be put into jail and denied access to computers, the Internet, and even snail mail. Despite the increase in enforcement personnel it's attitudes like that held by "Zimmermann of Interpol" that prevents a lot of them from seeing the hand of justice.

Zimmermann complains that they are put into highly degrading positions, to which I say "Wonderful". He claims that they have their "human rights". I don't give a rat's backside.

These frauds are so motivated by greed that they'll willingly humiliate themselves. Nobody is forcing them to make fools of themselves. They are simply showing that they've been fools all along.

Michael Berry and his fellow scambaiters deserve our praise. If every one of these fools that send out the 419 scam SPAMS and similar trash were to be publicly humiliated we'd probably see a lot less SPAM.

Sadly, there just aren't enough scambaiters, and enforcement is like plugging a hole in a dike with a toothpick.

For all the effort and time spent by scambaiters, not everyone is convinced they make a difference.

"Given the scale of the problem, it is like the scambaiters are cleaning a stadium with a toothbrush," said Suresh Ramasubramanian, who manages anti-spam operations at Outblaze, one of the world's largest e-mail hosting companies. "This may be an entertaining hobby, but it is not saving the world."

Entertaining hobby or not, saving the world or not, it's still a step in the right direction. Firewalls and SPAM filters don't do anything to prevent SPAM, all they do is put it out of sight and out of mind. For some that's enough, but Firewalls and SPAM filters don't stop my bandwidth from being wasted at my Web Host. At least the scambaiters are going to the source of the problem, one SPAMMER at a time.

Becoming Illegal

Another fun item I received in the e-mail from my dad. This one is supposedly a letter sent by a constituent to Sen. Harkin. Just because the amnesty bill is "dead" doesn't change the sentiment here, and we know from past experience that "dead" isn't really "dead" in Washington D.C.

The Honorable Tom Harkin
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Phone (202) 224 3254
Washington DC 20510

    Dear Senator Harkin:
    As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.
    My primary reason for wishing to change my status from US Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill's provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.
    Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2005 and 2006.
    Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.
    Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as "instate" tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.
    Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums.
This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.
    If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative.

    Thank you for your assistance.
    Your Loyal Constituent,
    Donald Ruppert

I don't know about the numbers. I seem to recall the fine being a bit bigger, but Mr. Ruppert certainly seems to have captured a lot of the argument against illegal immigration quite nicely.