In <[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] writes:

> Chris Bartram wrote
> <snip>
>
> | Note that it's almost NEVER worthwhile to complain to a spammer directly
> | anyway; complain to their Internet providers or to postmaster or abuse
> | mailboxes at the companies where the mail comes from.
>
> Chris, how do I find out who the spammer's ISP is?
> How does one complain.   By phone, by email?    How does one find out their
> email address or phone number?

Good question!

The easiest way to find out stuff about spammers is through one of the many
webpages that'll allow you to do online lookups. One I like is;
 http://kryten.eng.monash.edu.au/gspamt.html

You can select "Dig hostname->mailexchanger" to find the names of their
mail servers;

Then "Traceroute hostname" on one of those hosts; follow the chain backwards
(from the bottom) - the bottom/last entry will be them, the first machine
above that with a different machine name is their ISP. In many cases, there
will be multiple ISPs (spammer buys from ISP1, who resells for ISP2...etc).
Complain to all of them. Each ISP has an AUP (acceptable usage policy). Even
if the bototm-line guy doesn't do anything about it, HIS provider might.

Another good source of info on this page is the "WHOIS" entries. With this
you can find contact names for the domain they're spamming from; complain to
the person that's the admin or tech contact for that domain. If they're a
major player (AOL, UUNET, etc) try "abuse@" (whatever) since most major ISPs
now have abuse mailboxes set up to accept complaints about spammers and other
net-nuisances.

The more complaints received, the more that spammer moves up the ISPs list
of "users to deal with".

E-mail is the preferred method of complaining -- although if the spammer
is silly enough to provide a toll-free number in their spam, calling up their
number and letting them know what you think about their "advertising
practices" can't hurt. No sense calling a non-toll-free number (unless it's
a local call) -- the spammer's taken enough of your time and resources already
- no sense adding a call on your dime to their "imposed" cost.

            -Chris Bartram