Ralsky Gets 51 Months in Prison
Alan Ralsky, a pump-and-dump spammer noted by Spamhaus as one of the world's top ten worst spammers for "quite some time," is off to camp fed for 51 months. Anti-spammers are torn between cheering for his downfall and annoyance that the sentence doesn't include longer prison time, or banishment to a desert island. For more on the story, head over to Brian Krebs' Security Fix website.Al Iverson's Spam Resource

Ask Al: Delivering a Monthly Newsletter to 350 People?
Lynn asks, "Al, I'm hoping you can help me out. I belong to a group that has a mailing list of 350 people. Every month the group sends them a PDF, and there are always problems. Some people can't open the PDF attachment. Some people get the mail in their spam folder. Some people (usually Hotmail users) don't get the email at all. What's the right way to get this mail delivered to the inbox?"Lynn, thanks! Great question. Here are some general suggestions, things I would do if I were in your shoes.Move this mail to an ESP (email service provider). Yeah, somebody with a lot of technical savvy could do it on their own with a perl script

O HAI TAG44 WTF?
My friend Mickey Chandler mentioned to me that TAG44 emailed him yet again.They're apparently still putting a stupid "this is not spam" disclaimer in their email. As with last time, they reference a law that doesn't exist."Note: We respect your Online Privacy. This is not an unsolicited mail. Under Bills 1618 Title III passed by the 105th U. S. Congress this mail cannot be considered Spam as long as we include Contact information and a method to be removed from our mailing list. If you are not interested in receiving our E-mails then please reply with a

Loren McDonald on FISUE Syndrome
Yesterday, Loren McDonald blogged about "FISUE Syndrome." What is it? It's where a recipient "Forgot I Signed Up for Email." He writes: "Was That Email Spam? Or Just Spam-Like? Earlier this year, I received an email from a presentation company that I was sure I had never heard of nor done business with. [...] I didn't know who this company was or whether I knowingly opted in for email, and I still don't."He makes good points on how senders can avoid FISUE Syndrome. I'm drawn to one in particular: "From/ Sender Names: Of the six emai

Ask Al: What are filters checking?
Jerry writes, "Al, a recent email from 'Get to the Point' quoted you as below. My question is this: What, exactly, are spam [content] filters picking up from a generic template that could reduce delivery? Thanks in advance for your reply." It looks like I was quoted by MarketingProfs: Here's how it happens. "If that partner works with a whole bunch of people sending email," explains Al Iverson in a post at the Spam Resource blog, "[and] if that template is out all over town, then there's a pretty good chance that somebody has sent emails usin