Re: [Asrg] who gets the report, was We really don't need

[John Levine <[e-mail]>]

>I'd say the worst they can do is to direct the abuse report back to
>themselves.  This not only suppresses some fraction of their spam
>complaints, but it also confirms valid email addresses and may reveal
>information about what MUA is in use, which in turn can be used to
>refine the next spam or exploit that they direct to that address.

A spammer might collect complaints and listwash, which would mean that
the complainant gets less spam.  I hope we agree that's the goal.

If a spammer wants to confirm receipt, which very few of them do,
he uses web bugs.  I suppose info about the MUA might be marginally
useful, but if I were a spammer and knew that a recipient was
sufficiently annoyed to press the spam button, I'd take them off the
list.  I still have millions of other people to mail to, after all.

R's,
John