For anyone who has seen the contents of more than one Hotmail account, they will see that each account gets spammed by the same people. Why? Hotmail apparently sells lists of their customers' e-mail addresses to every shady, filthy business on this planet.

Below I am pasting a copy of an e-mail I received this morning, since it is either the worst Y2K scam or chain-letter I've come across. Has anyone else received it? I'm not saying it's Hotmail, but it looks a lot like the other 9 pieces of junk I also received this morning!



Reply-To: removal-request@usa.net
To: removal-request@usa.net
Subject: NO FEAR Y2K
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 21:59:11 -0400

<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Under Bill S.1618 TITLE III passed by the 105th U.S. Congress
this letter can not be considered spam as long as we offer you a
no-cost way to remove your name and email from our address book.
<><><><><><><><><><><><>



Y2K Economic Solution Chip

COUNT DOWN!

Four Months Left As The Clock Ticks Towards 2000
Limited Availability. They're Going Fast

There Is a Need to Panic. The Y2K Chip Has Been
Produced In Limited Quantity. You could be ONE
of the very few to receive these specialized, limited
Y2K Relief Chips.

With thousands of dollars in computer equipment
and software, a Y2K crash can leave you penniless
for replacement of software and computer equipment.

The Y2K Chip is compatible for any individual's
needs, computer meltdowns or economic situation
of circumstance.

Help yourself and others to avoid computer and
economic panic. We have the ONLY Certified Y2K
Chip to alleviate your financial nightmares. Help us
to share this knowledge before the clock runs out.

The Y2K Chip Guarantees not to leave you penniless.
The Y2K Chip is your ONLY Financial Security.

Installation and usage is of absolute no concern, regardless
of computer experience and knowledge. If you are old
enough to read, the usage of the Y2K Chip is 100%
foolproof, but is also 100% No Questions Asked Money
Back Guaranteed. Complete Instruction Manual Included.

The Y2K Chip is Affordable. At $69.95, wholesale, You
Can't Afford Not To Have It! (Fax by check, personal checks
and money orders accepted.) Sorry, due to the time element
and sales volume, credit cards can not be processed.

GET YOUR Y2K CHIP FREE...
Contact everyone who needs Y2K help immediately: through
e-mail, fax blast, or scream it from the mountain tops. With
five (5) referral sales, your personal Y2K Chip is Paid In Full.
You will receive a $20.00 sales commission for each additional sale.

Money Back Guarantee! Risk Free!

ORDER TODAY!
A single Y2K Economic Solution Chip for $69.95

-------------------------------------------------------------
Limited Availability / Next Scheduled Production
Run Jan 12, 2000, Allow 4-6 weeks Delivery
-------------------------------------------------------------



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PRINT THIS E-MAIL
Fill out the following information
and FAX or MAIL it
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Name:________________________________________

Address:______________________________________

_____________________________________________

City:_______________________________St:________

Zip:___________________

Phone: ( )_______________________________

E-mail:_______________________________________


Quantity: $______________@ $69.95 each
(No Volume Discount Due To Limited Supply First Production)

ADD: Priority S&H Charge $3.95

TOTAL AMOUNT: $_________________

Payment Method:
Cashier's Check, Money Order, or Personal Check

FAX to 208-338-0474

MAIL FORM TO:
Y2K Freedom
Suite 3
2675 West Main Street
Boise, ID 83702



-------------------------------------------------------------
To UNSUBSCRIBE your Email Address from the List:
please send a blank e-mail with REMOVE [your address(es)]
in the subject line to: mailto:removal-request.net

TO BE IMMEDIATELY AND PERMANENTLY
REMOVED FROM THIS LIST. THANK YOU
-------------------------------------------------------------


-- Y2KGardener (gardens@bigisland.net), September 25, 1999

Answers

Not just spam, a total rip-off! There is a board from I believe it is Evergreen that you can pop into your older 386/486 early pentium if your BIOS can't be patched, but wholesale cost on it is like 26,27 bucks....

I got a spam from a company that pulled my e-mail off Pro-Net, also had the easy to remove bulls**t, but said that if I did, I should also remove myself from Pro-Net! Spammers & telemarketers... makes me almost hope for an 8 plus just to get rid of those scumm...

-- C (c@c.com), September 25, 1999.

DO NOT EVER ask these spammers to remove you from their e-mail list! It only confirms that your address is valid and they'll sell it on to others. Ask your ISP how they would like you to handle spam; I use the blah,blah, blah button on Eudora to get all the headings then complain to abuse@---.---. (e.G., abuse@aol.com.) Unfortunately, many of the addresses are now fake but you can still hit some live ones and get them kicked off their ISP.

From what I understand, it is NOT true that offering a way to get off the list makes the spamming okay. That's just a ploy to get your adress confirmed as valid. Spamming is against just about every ISP's TOS (Terms of Service). Please take the time to complain to abuse addresses so we can get these folks terminated ASAP.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 25, 1999.

I'm afraid that complaining about email spam will lead the gov. in regulating email just like snail mail, i.e., fraud in advertising. Do you really want the gov. to step in? I don't. I just grit my teeth and delete the spam junk mail.

I don't get as much junk email as many folks do, my ISP is pretty good at filtering it out. Shop and try out ISP's, the smaller the better in my experience. Stay away from the AOL's type.

-- Chris (#$%^&@pond.com), September 25, 1999.

I have almost 2 dozen hotmail accounts.

I use separate accounts for tracking spam.

The only accounts which get spam are those that are posted on the web (like this one, it gets a lot of spam), or posted in UseNet.

One account exists only as a "mailto:" reply address on a web page. harvesters got that one, but it gets a different variety of spam.

At least 75% of my Hotmail accounts are Spam-Free. These "active" accounts get NO spam whatsoever. Period.

so, I have to say, your claim of: "For anyone who has seen the contents of more than one Hotmail account, they will see that each account gets spammed by the same people. Why?" has no bearing as far as I can tell.

I started this Hotmail address: realaddress@hotmail.com specifically for THIS forum and originally posted it NOWHERE's else.

After my FIRST posting here, I was somehow subscribed to KOF.net (white supremecist newsletter) and got a bunch of other crap as well, some of it targeted at Y2K solutions and preps.

Hotmail certainly isn't to blame for that.

do some research before you speak for others.

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), September 26, 1999.

I have had no spam at my hotmail nor at my regular address and I've used both at this forum. Moreover, I was on the frequent poster list for a long time, though not since switching to my hotmail addy. Frankly, if it did happen, I'd just delete; but then if there's a thread here that offends me, I just skip it. For some reason, this solution doesn't seem to appeal to many here.

-- T the C (tricia_canuck@hotmail.com), September 26, 1999.

At one point I had so much spam my mailbox was overloaded and bounced additional mail, including those e-mails I WANTED to get. There were lots of "adult" spam messages too, with not-so-subtle headings.

Harvesting addresses from bulletin boards isn't the only way to get addresses. I know that whenever I look at official Chinese sites I get an avalanche of spam almost immediately. And I have a spam-filtering program from my ISP!

I hope that going through the abuse channels of ISPs doesn't mean the government will get involved further in regulation; I hope it means the ISPs will do as they have been doing--closing accounts immediately and prosecuting those they can find. I equate spam with telephone solicitors; I don't have time for them either.

I find it extremely irritating to get a "mail's in" message while I'm on the Net, only to find out it's a couple of spam messages.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 26, 1999.

I received that message today as well. I read about one paragraph and deleted it. I don't spend much time on any mail from someone I don't know. No big deal.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), September 26, 1999.

When creating a new account, Hotmail *used* to give a check-box or two where you could decide if you wanted to be e-mailed about "useful" things (aka spam). That doesn't seem to be there anymore. I know that whenever I forgot to un-tick that box I was spammed to death; whenever I remembered I got nothing.

Unfortunately their blocking mechanism (and probably many other blocking mechanisms) doesn't work now that spammers are using computer-generated senders' addresses e.g. sexysue2351@sex.com. Block it and the next e-mail will be from sexysue24773@sex.com.

I've now started having hotmail send anything with either a "$" or various words such as "free" in the subject line straight to trash.

The .gov's anti-spam legislation really is working!

-- Y2KGardener (gardens@bigisland.net), September 26, 1999.