Dave Trapnell wrote:
[...]

...  Since these did not come back, it
seems likely they are real addresses, but of course, not
necessarily the originating addresses. The one that did come
back was because their inbox was full, which means that it,
too, may be clogged with viruses.

EXACTLY! You STUPID PLONKER!!!

Martin <ml_news@ddnospamddml1dd.co.uk.dd> wrote:

(Just in case you didn't get the hint. DO NOT REPLY TO VIRUS/WORM MAIL. It shouldn't take any intelligence to reason why.)

Replying to the Return-Path: is not quite the same as simply
replying to the email. The Return-Path: field is less
obviously bogus than the From: field.

Making _any_ reply is being simplistically silly. Your one example proves the point.

It is trivially easy to forge ALL the mail headers. The only trustworthy info in there is whatever is added by the server that you know you are connected to. Everything previous to that can be forged.

You can even have one of the MS Worms mail you DIRECTLY.


To explain further (Gee, no wonder ET considers us too dumb to bother with!):

So, you get an MS infested email with various reply/bounce headers with randomly selected _REAL_ addresses filched from whatever of multiple sources. You then as a STUPID PLONKER _GENERATE_ _MORE_ useless mail to SPAM some poor unfortunates that have nothing to do with that piece of junk mail.

Very nice sustaining pyramid effect, especially from the antivirus scanners that can send up to THREE emails to random headers for every one infested mail.

And YOU get DUPED into perpetrating a DENILE OF SERVICE ATTACK against the rest of the world that are listed in MS address books or on newsnet...


Now, note carefully:

When confronted with vengeance inspiring (or otherwise) junk/spam/ MS infestation crap, just junk it with minimum effort. NO REPLIES, NO BOUNCES, NO NEW MAIL GENERATED.



With a little better user awareness, and a severe dent in the MS miss-operations, all this silliness might come to an abrupt end.

Meanwhile, my ISP is sending an email to _all_ its users (saving you the trouble and inconvenience) to try to educate the masses and to apologise for reduced network service.


No replies, no bounce, just delete.
Martin