John --

For those of us who are not able to initiate the commands you've provided,
it might be worthwhile for you (or anyone else who can) to post the address
of the owners of SPAM-originating systems so that we can all complain.
SPAMs are like grafitti -- we gotta keep after them or they'll ruin the
neighborhood.

-- Stephen Nowlin

On 1/3 John Chadwick wrote:

>The following was on the SPAM-L list, a group that deals with trying to stop
>people from sending unwanted and unsolicited e-mail to a large number of lists.
>As Helen Glazer said so well, responding to the list only compounds the
>problem.
>
>If you are using a terminal session on a Unix system the commands here will
>work,  then express your displeasure with the owners of the systems that allow
>people to continue to send out SPAMs. Most Internet Service Providers are very
>responsive, but those who send SPAMs have learned how to stay one step ahead in
>the game. As long as people make money sending out SPAMs, they will continue.
>
>The following is a way to verify that the person who posted the SPAM is a
>legitimate user on the originating system.
>
>--john chadwick
>[log in to unmask]
>
>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
>
>First, use nslookup to find an authoritative name server for the
>domain in question. The syntax is "nslookup -q=ns domain.in.question"
>
>$ nslookup -q=ns bvoice.com
>Server:  merlin.datawave.net
>Address:  0.0.0.0
>
>Non-authoritative answer:
>bvoice.com      nameserver = NS.HOOSIER.NET
>bvoice.com      nameserver = NS.LSI.NET
>
>Authoritative answers can be found from:
>NS.HOOSIER.NET  internet address = 206.106.64.10
>NS.LSI.NET      internet address = 206.106.127.10
>
>========
>
>OK, now ask an authoritative nameserver for the mx record
>for he domain in question. This tells us where mail to that
>site really goes. The syntax is
>"nslookup -q=mx domain.in.question nameserver"
>
>$ nslookup -q=mx bvoice.com ns.lsi.net
>Server:  user.lsi.net
>Address:  206.106.127.25
>
>bvoice.com      preference = 5, mail exchanger = mail.lsi.net
>bvoice.com      nameserver = ns.lsi.net
>bvoice.com      nameserver = ns2.lsi.net
>mail.lsi.net    internet address = 206.106.127.25
>ns.lsi.net      internet address = 206.106.127.25
>ns2.lsi.net     internet address = 206.106.127.10
>
>========
>
>From the above, it appears that mail to "[log in to unmask]" is actually
>handled by mail.lsi.net. So telnet to port 25 at mail.lsi.net and
>ask about the account you're wondering about.
>
>$ telnet mail.lsi.net 25
>220-user.lsi.net Sendmail 8.6.9/8.6.9 ready at Wed, 1 Jan 1997 02:55:53 -0500
>220 ESMTP spoken here
>vrfy mredman
>250 <[log in to unmask]>
>expn mredman
>250 <[log in to unmask]>
>
>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=