[clug] spam attacker

[CLUG at d-silva.org]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ivan Leo Puoti [mailto:puoti at inwind.it] 
> Sent: Tuesday, 12 October 2004 8:03 AM
> To: clug
> Cc: luke_worth; linux
> Subject: RE: [clug] spam attacker
> 
> I don't see how this can hurt the hosters. If they don't get 
> the money, why should they want to provide bullet proof 
> hosting? If spammers swindle them, they would just close all 

The merchant normally doesn't find that the credit card is fraudulent
until a month or so down the track, By this time, they've already spent
time and bandwidth (i.e., money) hosting the spammers site. When the
bank does get around to issuing a chargeback, since most of these
transactions are online, the provider does not have a signature, and so
loses the money the money they would have been paid for hosting the
site.

> sites they get spam reports about. Also, entering a false 
> credit card number is probably illegal in most countries. I 

This doesn't stop them doing so. Generally, I've found that fraudulent
payments come through from countries such as the former Soviet Union and
Indonesia, none of which seem intent on upholding their fraud laws.

On the other hand, if you are talking about entering trivial numbers
into the spammers website, well, first, I am not a lawyer, and anything
I say is completely incorrectly. Now with that out of the way, it is my
understanding that it is illegal to use fraudulent numbers as payment
for goods and services. No bank would ever approve a transaction for a
card that doesn't exist, and by using a trivial number, you can
demonstrate that it was never intended to be a valid transaction.

Also, if the spammer does decide to sue for defrauding them, so much the
better - the world now has a face they can put behind the spam :)

-- 
Alastair D'Silva           mob: 0413 485 733
Networking Consultant      fax: 0413 181 661
New Millennium Networking  web: http://www.newmillennium.net.au