FOREWORD
This document discusses unsolicited email, both commerical and non-commericial, and multi-level marketing schemes. While there are legitimate multi-level marketing programs in existence there are also so many illegal scams on the Internet, being sent out as unsolicited email that it may be impossible for the average consumer to make any intelligent choice as to what "offerings" are legitimate and what are not.

The old Latin phrase, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) was never more true than today as applied to unsolicited commercial email offerings. Our only advice can be that if you would even consider reading or responding to email SPAM that you read all you can about the illegal activities going on so you have a frame of reference when considering any offer which "seems" to be legal. Remember, always: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Participation in many of the "legitimate sounding " schemes currently being offered on the Internet will not only cost you money, but may subject you to serious civil and criminal liabilities.

Dealing with SPAM
Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) usually can't take any action against SPAM you receive, that you can't do more efficiently (and much more quickly) for yourself, unless the spammer is operating from one of your own ISP's accounts. Here is some advice and resources to help you deal with SPAM, primarily related to how you can identify spammers and report them to someone who CAN take action.

TERMS: What is SPAM?
SPAM is sending out many copies of the same unsolicited email (or Usenet) messages, usually for commercial advertising purposes, to persons who have had no prior dealings/relationship with the sender or the company he/she represents. It's also called UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail) and "flooding". The root of the term "spam" come from an old Monty Python song, SPAM, where the the word is repeated over and over again ("Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam...) - which is what electronic SPAM does: sends out the same message over and over again to many recipents, usually using one or more lists.

A SPAMMER is someone who sends out SPAM. If a spammer has your name on a list, you will often get many messages from him/her over a period of time, though none may show the same "address" in the "From:" field of the message since many spammers forge the FROM information to confuse the trail as to who actually sent out the information. Furthermore, if you're on a spammer's list, he/she may share that list with other spammers, which will add to your problems.

The term SPAMMING is the act of sending SPAM.

Classic commercial spam may include come-ons such as "Make Money Fast!" or "Extra Holiday Cash!" or "Mass Email Works!".

All you have to do is send them a few dollars and they'll share the secret of how to make easy money! Often, that secret is how to sell the secret to other people. It's a variation of the classic pyramid scheme: A multi-level marketing "program" built around people giving other people money in exchange for no real product other than the "secret" of how to make money by getting other people to give you money for the secret of...

They will also include impressive statements about how it's a fully "legal" program and make false authority claims like:

"I EVEN CHECKED WITH THE US POST OFFICE TO VERIFY THAT THE PLAN WAS LEGAL. IT DEFINITELY IS! (Refer to Title 18, Sections 1302 and 1341 or Title 39, Section 3005 in the U.S. Code, also Code of Federal Regs. vol. 16, Sections 255 & 436)"

(the very statutes which declare what they are doing ILLEGAL in most cases!)

Why is SPAM bad?
Other than that it's unsolicited, which you may not see as necessarily bad, the content of SPAM mail is usually " worthless, deceptive, and partly or entirely fraudulent." SPAMMERS are people (or people working for people) who want to separate you from your money, and make you pay them to do it.

Click on the link below for an excellent article on six main reasons why SPAM IS BAD.

Why SPAM is BAD (from www.abuse.net)

If you're one of the few people on the planet with email services that hasn't been spammed with MMF (Make Money Fast) type of mass mailings, go to the link, below, and check out "The MMF Hall of Humilation" which includes, among other things, actual spam examples sent out from almost every state in the U.S.

The MMF Hall of Humilation!

The MMF Hall of Humilation site also has a good glossary of terms to put "names" to the types of SPAM you're receiving, such as

MLM (Multi-Level Marketing)

MMF (Make Money Fast) - a generic term for get-rich-quick mailings.

Gratuitous Webmaster's Note: I also like The MMF Hall of Humilation because they currently include on their book list "Web Psychos, Stalkers, and Pranksters: How to Protect Yourself in Cyberspace". Not because I've bought this book or endorse it (I'm not allowed to make endorsements), but because the author, Michael Banks, prominently links our Citizen's Self Arrest Page on the official web page for the book.

Visit the U.S. Postal Inspection Service website for complete information on a number of current consumer fraud issues.

If you're a lawyer, or play one on TV, you might want to also check out the website of Grimes & Reese, P.L.L.C., a law firm that specializes in MLM law.

How To's
How do I know who actually sent the SPAM?
To know who is actually sending you spam, you'll often have to view the "full header" of the message. Many email clients don't show "full header" information by default. However, it will usually have a option, which you can select, to allow you to view the full header information from the message. A full header shows the various hops the message took from it's sender to you.

The sender's "return address" shown in the normal "FROM:" box on many readers may often be a forgery when dealing with SPAM.

Here's is a link, below, to a more complete tutorial on how to complain, including instructions on how to identify the source of the spammer:

How To Complain To The Spammer's Provider
(from www.abuse.net)

WWW.ABUSE.NET also has a nice piece of boilerplate text, below, that you can paste in front of the headers, when composing a letter to either the ISP (Internet Service Provider) of the spammer, and/or to intermediates (such as an ISP who's been "framed" for the spam by a forged "from" address.)

Sample Complaint Letter
(from www.abuse.net)
This is text to be sent to the ISP, along with the SPAM message "full" header

Many email clients have a method of storing "stationary mail" or boilerplate text so it can be very easy to create and save a "complaint template" for your future use.

Make your complaint letters polite, short, and to the point, and include the offending message (or at least part if it's long) and be sure it shows the full header information of the message.

Links to more information:

From the U.S. Department of Energy's
Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC):
Information Bulletin #I-005c: E-Mail Spamming countermeasures.

WWW.ABUSE.NET
A site specializing in Anti-SPAM links.

CAUCE (Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email
An organization lobbying for prevention of SPAM and Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) in general.

U.S. Federal Trade Commission
They have a formal complaint form at:

FTC Consumer Complaint Form

Note: Email about suspicious claims, pyramid schemes, or suspected fraud that you received via email should be directed to The Federal Trade Commission at:

uce@ftc.gov

SCAM List
A list of 700 SCAMS at the Advocacy-net site.