Sometimes I receive spam and phishing emails that are so outright egregious that I feel the need to report it. Here are the steps I use.
1. I view the message header of the email and copy it. To view it in Microsoft Outlook, click View, Options then select all and copy the text in the Internet Headers text box.
2. In Microsoft Outlook, Click Forward and paste the Email Address Internet Header into the top of the email.
3. I will redact the By XXX, the name of my Internet Mail server in some circumstances such as this one in which I am posting the message header to the public Internet. In most cases, I will leave it as is.
4. I go to a WhoIs Database Search site such as: http://www.arin.net/whois/ and http://wq.apnic.net/apnic-bin/whois.pl (IPs in Asian Pacifict and view the IP address owner and email contacts for Received From (66.155.32.42) and the Received from User: (124.42.122.163). I find the email contacts and add them in the To: field of my email.
5. I view the ReplyTo: field and find the email address that the Phisher wants to receive information from. In most cases, by the time you report it, the email is already deleted by the ISP, but I normally would not attempt to send an email to it. In this case, it’s a Gmail site so I’ll file a Gmail Email Abuse report at:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=abuse_phishing
6. Finally, I will add spam@uce.gov, the United States Federal Trade Commission email address for reporting spam. I’m sure what they do with it, but at the very least it make me feel good each time I send a spam email there.
I have a list of the above links for reporting Spam and Phishing email as well as some other Internet Security websites on my website: http://socialmedialists.com/wiki/ If you have any sites to add or recommend, please add them to the Wiki. Here is the website address for the Website Security Wiki.
http://www.socialmedialists.com/wiki/index.php?title=Publisher_Website_Security
Email Internet Address Header
Received: from VEGA-FRANCE.FR ([66.155.32.42]) by XXX with MailEnable ESMTP; Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:19:41 -0600
Received: from User [124.42.122.163] by VEGA-FRANCE.FR with ESMTP
(SMTPD32-8.15) id A3641630080; Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:16:04 -0500
Reply-To: <dr.joeprice@gmail.com>
From: "Bank of America"<wiretransfer@bankofamerica.com>
Subject: DEPOSIT NOTIFICATION: Confirmation of Telegraphic Wire Transfer
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:18:29 +0100
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="Windows-1251"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 1
X-MSMail-Priority: High
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
Message-Id: <200901300518351.SM01684@User>
From: Bank of America [mailto:wiretransfer@bankofamerica.com]
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 5:18 AM
Subject: DEPOSIT NOTIFICATION: Confirmation of Telegraphic Wire Transfer
Importance: High
This email was sent to you by Bank of America. To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add wiretransfer@bankofamerica.com to your address book or safe sender list.
Bank of
241 Century Plaza
This message confirms that on Thursday, Jan 29, 2009 we received a Telegraphic Wire Transfer of $450,090.00 from the United States Government as your compensatory grant for the current economic hardship.
The funds have been deposited into an Escrow Account with Bank of America/Alabama Branch Office and your e-mail address was attached as reference. This funds has been confirmed to be legitimately yours and is available for remittance immediately.
The standard payment procedure is as follows:- The funds will be wired out of the Escrow Account into any bank account of your choice by the Bank of America.
You will be expected to activate the Escrow Account by making a one-time payment of $500.00 via the Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram to Enable the Wire Transfer function of the Account. The fee also covers all inherent litigation fees.
TAKE NOTE: The Escrow Account Activation Fee of $500.00 could not be deducted from $450,090.00 as your funds are protected by a "Federal Government Premium Hardcover Insurance Policy" installed to prevent any deductions from your funds.
This means that the Escrow Account Activation Fee cannot be deducted from your funds and hence must be provided by you before the funds can be wired out of the Escrow Account by the payment secretary.
CONTACT BANK OF
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Joe L. Price
BRANCH OFFICE: 241 Century Plaza,
E-MAIL: dr.joeprice@gmail.com
PHONE: +1 206-453-0445
UPON CONFIRMATION OF PAYMENT OF THE ESCROW ACCOUNT ACTIVATION FEE ($500.00) , YOUR FUNDS WILL BE WIRED DIRECTLY INTO ANY BANK ACCOUNT OF YOUR CHOICE.
The remittance procedure can only be completed through Joe L. Price.
This notification is for informational purposes only.
Please do not reply to this message.
Sincerely,
Bank of
Contact us about this email
If you have any questions, please email the Chief Financial Officer.
Bank of
Bank of
© 2009 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.
NOTE: This Email is SPAM, if you receive an email like this above, please Do Not Reply to It.