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Who’s Jonny? The anti-spam campaign is on!
by Mary - October 12, 2006 - 12:05 PM

GumShoe.jpgAlright, folks, listen up. We’re gonna get this comment-spamming sucker.

I did a moderate amount of searching and found that “Jonny,” who- or whatever he is, is affiliated with the Savvis data center and the hosting company Layered Technologies in Dallas. The WHOIS search on about half the “Jonny” spam gives me this:

Savvis SAVVIS (NET-216-32-0-0-1)
216.32.0.0 – 216.35.255.255
Layered Technologies, Inc. NET-216-32-64-0 (NET-216-32-64-0-1)
216.32.64.0 – 216.32.95.255

Occasionally, Jonny pops up elsewhere, such as “ThePlanet.com Internet Services,” a company that appears to have some link to Layered Technologies. If I were a gumshoe, I’d be planning my stakeout. (I’d also be wearing a trenchcoat and a silly hat, but that’s by the by.)

Now, let’s look more closely at Layered Tech. The company has rules against this kind of thing; unfortunately, it looks as though the company has a record of not enforcing said rules (also, scroll down to “update” for more details). Layered Tech also seems to be involved in a referral spam scheme involving Disney, and the FBI has even paid LT an unfriendly visit in the last couple of weeks — although, sadly, not on a stakeout for Jonny. Then there’s this profanity-laden rant. Finally, there’s phishing, one of the sleaziest types of email fraud, in which the writer pretends to be a trustworthy source (say, PayPal, or your bank, or your company’s own customer-service department — we’ve gotten all three) and then asks you for your credit card information. This post suggests a Layered Technologies client may be involved in that too.

Folks, I’m pretty sure we’ve found Jonny’s lair.

Now, here’s where you guys come in — what do I DO with this information? Is there some way we an all band together and spread the word? Should I bother calling LT? What more proof do I need? And how do I go about bringing down Jonny once and for all?

Comments (4)
  1. Well, Rob at Cockeyed.com auctioned off 1,000 blog comments, with his readers as the source of the comments. There must be 1,000 readers of this site. Perhaps we can use the customer service email addresses at LT and marshal the mental_floss army to give them a taste of their own medicine?

  2. There’s the legal route… try submitting these forms:

    https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=

    http://www.usdoj.gov/spam.htm

    http://www.ic3.gov/crimeschemes.aspx

  3. I say we start by forcing those responsible to sit for 48 hours watching reruns of “Thirtysomething.”

    Why not 72 hours? Geneva Conventions.

  4. Another one

    http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/index.html

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