Hi everyone,

Here's a quiz for you. What kind of mentality would give your personal 
e-mail address and your home phone number to numerous companies, causing 
you to receive dozens of spam e-mails and phone calls each day? The 
person in question would have not considered the time and money wasted 
by these companies in pursuing a dead lead. This person would have also 
changed your name into a crude form. So which is it:

a) a mature adult
b) an immature adult
c) a child

Is it possible to track down such an individual, even though he/she has 
obviously used online forms to give out your e-mail address and phone 
number? It's possible that the information was given to just a few sites 
which then sold the info to other companies. Feedback would be appreciated~

Sam

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On 08-Jul-08 23:14, stbenge wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> Here's a quiz for you. What kind of mentality would give your personal 
> e-mail address and your home phone number to numerous companies, causing 
> you to receive dozens of spam e-mails and phone calls each day? The 
> person in question would have not considered the time and money wasted 
> by these companies in pursuing a dead lead. 

interesting that you don't mention your own time.

> This person would have also 
> changed your name into a crude form. So which is it:
> 
> a) a mature adult
> b) an immature adult
> c) a child

your ex or her new boy friend?
If you have a kid in the range 12-16 it could be some of his/her 
'friends'. Unless he/she is the favorite victim in class more parents 
may have your problem.

> Is it possible to track down such an individual, even though he/she has 
> obviously used online forms to give out your e-mail address and phone 
> number? 

If done 'right' by a knowing person: no, so possibly yes.

> It's possible that the information was given to just a few sites 
> which then sold the info to other companies. Feedback would be appreciated~

e-mail very likely, phone number unlikely I would say. There is 
(illegal) trade in e-mail addresses, because you can not you track down 
the person that sent the SPAM and he needs a big volume. Phone calls are 
traceable, you can not make more than one phone call at the same time 
and they cost money. Unless you are in a very special segment (expensive 
(BDSM) clothes, likely to buy a big car or tractor soon or something 
like that), your phone number is worth very little.

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Most sites keep track of the IP...

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andrel wrote:
> On 08-Jul-08 23:14, stbenge wrote:
>> The person in question would have not considered the time and 
>> money wasted by these companies in pursuing a dead lead. 
> 
> interesting that you don't mention your own time.

The person who did this probably doesn't consider my time to be worth much.

>> This person would have also changed your name into a crude form. So 
>> which is it:
> 
> your ex or her new boy friend?
> If you have a kid in the range 12-16 it could be some of his/her 
> 'friends'. Unless he/she is the favorite victim in class more parents 
> may have your problem.

I don't have any children, but I do have an ex. None of my friends are 
angry with me or are the immature type.

>> Is it possible to track down such an individual, even though he/she 
>> has obviously used online forms to give out your e-mail address and 
>> phone number? 
> 
> If done 'right' by a knowing person: no, so possibly yes.

I would have to know somebody who works at one of the companies spamming 
me, yes? Even then, my info might have come from another distributer...

>> It's possible that the information was given to just a few sites which 
>> then sold the info to other companies. Feedback would be appreciated~
> 
> e-mail very likely, phone number unlikely I would say.

I *never* give out my phone number online. I suppose it would be 
possible for somebody to hack my ISP account and find it that way, but 
what anonymous hacker would go through all the trouble? It most 
certainly is somebody I know personally. There is really only one person 
I can think of who would do this. This person spends a great deal of 
time online...

> There is 
> (illegal) trade in e-mail addresses, because you can not you track down 
> the person that sent the SPAM and he needs a big volume. Phone calls are 
> traceable, you can not make more than one phone call at the same time 
> and they cost money.

I know who calls me. They don't know who contacted them, because the 
deed was done through an online form. Could a webmaster provide 
information about who filled out which form?

> Unless you are in a very special segment (expensive 
> (BDSM) clothes, likely to buy a big car or tractor soon or something 
> like that), your phone number is worth very little.

These calls come from people who claim that I signed up for a particular 
service or program. These aren't "cold" calls. They assume already that 
I contacted them, which of course I didn't.

Sam

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DungBeatle wrote:
> Most sites keep track of the IP...
> 

Do they need cookies for this? Considering the high volume of e-mails I 
have been getting, perhaps I will get lucky and find one willing to 
provide me with some info.

Know Your Enemy :)

Sam

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> Do they need cookies for this?

Nope... But if they know what they're doing, they could
spoof their IP...

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DungBeatle wrote:
>> Do they need cookies for this?
> 
> Nope... But if they know what they're doing, they could
> spoof their IP...

I just went to one site which claimed in their privacy policy that they 
could determine the IP address of a sender filling out a form, without 
using cookies. I have made up a generic request letter, sent it to them 
and will be sending out more to other companies. Hopefully I get some 
bites :)

Sam

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stbenge wrote:
> I just went to one site which claimed in their privacy policy that they 
> could determine the IP address of a sender filling out a form, without 
> using cookies.

*Everyone* can determine the IP address of a sender filling out a form. 
Welcome to packet switched networking. Enjoy your stay.  ;-)

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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Darren New wrote:
> stbenge wrote:
>> I just went to one site which claimed in their privacy policy that 
>> they could determine the IP address of a sender filling out a form, 
>> without using cookies.
> 
> *Everyone* can determine the IP address of a sender filling out a form. 
> Welcome to packet switched networking. Enjoy your stay.  ;-)

Well, good. Best case scenario, I find out who the individual is, worst 
case, I found out who their ISP is, correct?

I just got another phone call from a college I didn't request 
information from. The man told me that my name was on a list containing 
about twenty other businesses. I hope I can track the perpetrator down!

Sam

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stbenge wrote:
> Well, good. Best case scenario, I find out who the individual is, worst 
> case, I found out who their ISP is, correct?

	No - worst case is you get nothing. If the person is using proxy 
services, it'll be hard to impossible to trace him/her.

-- 
In an Astronomy class (toward an Astronomy major, not that gen-ed crap) 
the professor did not tell us we would have to remember constants, and 
he asked them as questions. They were short questions, and weren't worth 
a lot.

One of them was: What is the orbital period of Saturn? (2 pts/100)

I started thinking about Bode's law and the posibility I could calculate 
it from an approximate radius I would get from that law... if I could 
remember it. But when you expect a 72% to be an A on a test, you have 
bigger fish to fry.

Then I got it. It was right, it should work, and no one would have to be 
nailed to anything.

I wrote: One Saturn-Year

I didn't get credit for it. A couple years later a sophomore was telling 
me about this funny question he had in the same class. He showed it to 
me. It read:

What is the orbital period of Saturn? (Do not put one Saturn-Year)

I was so right that it had to be guarded against. Yet those were 2 
points I would never have.

(as told by SetupWeasel on Slashdot)


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