Spam at FTC dot Gov 0

The Federal Trade Commission has disabled their old email address for reporting spam. It is no longer uce (for unsolicited commercial email) at ftc dot gov.

The new address is spam at ftc dot gov.

The FTC says not to expect a response when you use this address. They get too much mail. They do use it in setting priorities on whom to pursue.

I don’t use it for routine spam–I don’t have that much keyboard time!–I reserve it for identity theft emails, such as this one I got this morning:

We recently have determined that different computers have logged onto your Online Banking account, and multiple password failures were present before the logons. We now need you to re-confirm your account information to us. If this is not completed by November 9, 2006, we will be forced to suspend your account indefinitely, as it may have been used for fraudulent purposes. We thank you for your cooperation in this manner.

To confirm your Online Banking records click here:

https://login.personal.[name of bank].com/logon/logon.asp?dd=1&Update&Your&Info

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

[name of bank] Customer Service

When I hovered the mouse over the link above, the actual link was revealed to be

http://[bogus address].com/forum/www.[name of bank].com/IdentityManagement/index.html?MfcISAPICommand=SignInFPP&UsingSSL=1&email=&userid=

I forwarded the message, with all headers, to abuse@[name of bank] dot com and to Uncle Sugar.

Note: For reporting such stuff, the address of “abuse at [domain name] dot whatever usually works; the “abuse” email address is built-in to mail servers. Generally, only less than legitimate persons disable it.

Jeez Oh Man and people fall for this stuff!

By the way, here is the whois for the bogus email address, courtesy of Sam Spade. Note that there is a good chance that the actual provider knows nothing about the scam–these scammers set up house for a day or two, then move on quickly.

Domains by Proxy Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd. Ste 160 PMB 353
Scottsdale Arizona 85260
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com Inc. http://www.godaddy.com
Domain Name: VPSLAND.COM
Created on: 23-Aug-04
Expires on: 23-Aug-09
Last Updated on: 08-Feb-06
Administrative Contact:
Private Registration VPSLAND.COM@domainsbyproxy.com

Domains by Proxy Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd. Ste 160 PMB 353
Scottsdale Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624-2599
Technical Contact:
Private Registration VPSLAND.COM@

Domains by Proxy Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd. Ste 160 PMB 353
Scottsdale Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624-2599
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.VPSLAND.COM
NS2.VPSLAND.COM