Gmail spamming

May 8, 2008 9:56 AM

How do I report a gmail user who is spamming me?

Google seems to be doing their damndest to not allow me to send them anything. (I do not have a login with them and don't want one.)

Someone has started a "blog by email" and somehow I've landed on his list of people to send several emails per day. He has ignored my requests to stop. He is using gmail to send his spam. How do I tell Google about him so that they pull his account? Does anyone have a contact email address, or can tell me which web page I can use?

posted by Class Goat to computers & internet (24 comments total)

with most ISPs, abuse@ispname works... I would suggest trying [e-mail] and see if that works.
posted by JMOZ at 9:58 AM on May 8, 2008

Set up a filter so that mail from him immediately gets marked as spam, or at least skips your inbox.
posted by heatherann at 10:05 AM on May 8, 2008

This page seems to indicate you can email [e-mail]. However, it seems more concerned with phishing scams than bulk mailers. You can also try this form.
posted by bluefly at 10:05 AM on May 8, 2008

Does this Gmail help page assist you?
posted by WCityMike at 10:06 AM on May 8, 2008

You should be 100% certain that the sender is really the sender, since the "From" field can easily be forged. There are some resources you can find on Google that show how to find the IP and mail gateway that sent the email. This is more common with commercial spam, but in your case it sounds like the email address could be genuine.

I had the same problem awhile back -- some crazy lady on Earthlink found everyone she could find with the same surname, including me, and was sending chain letters, gas boycott day stuff, prayer requests, etc. She didn't reply to my requests to be removed, and Earthlink flatly ignored my pleas to intervene (nice going there, Earthlink). So in the end I had to filter her. That may ultimately be your only recourse, too, should Google refuse to do anything.
posted by crapmatic at 10:06 AM on May 8, 2008

In the meantime, you can create a rule to automatically route all messages from that user to the trash, bypassing your inbox.
posted by davcoo at 10:06 AM on May 8, 2008

bluefly has the correct email address to report abuse. But a filter on your end will fix the problem faster and easier.
posted by GuyZero at 10:06 AM on May 8, 2008

And to clarify, are you a Gmail user? If so, hitting the "Report Spam" button "helps you personally. It gets the spam out of your Inbox and keeps what is truly spam separate from any non-spam messages you just want to delete. We keep statistics on which senders you've flagged as spammers (and which you've marked as non-spammers), and we use this information to provide you a better, personalized Gmail spam filter that overrides the system-wide filter when appropriate." (source)
posted by WCityMike at 10:09 AM on May 8, 2008

This is the closest I could find in the Gmail Help:

Harassment from a Google Mail user

Google Mail's Terms of Use do state in Section 3 that:

"You shall not, shall not agree to, and shall not authorise or encourage any third party to: (i) use the Service to upload, transmit or otherwise distribute any content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, abusive, fraudulent, obscene, contains viruses, or is otherwise objectionable as reasonably determined by Google."

First, if you feel that you are in danger, we suggest contacting your local authorities. For nuisance emails, we suggest setting up a filter in your mail account to send mail from the sender directly to your trash. If you have a Google Mail account, please read How do I set up filters? for instructions.

Because message headers and senders can be spoofed using a variety of means, we're unable to take action on any account without further verification. In accordance with state and federal law, it is Google's policy to only provide information about a specific Google Mail account pursuant to a valid third-party summons or other appropriate legal process.

We apologise for any inconvenience, and we're sorry that you're receiving such messages.

------------------------

So their answer seems to be "set a filter to automatically trash it".
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:09 AM on May 8, 2008

I apologize -- you even said explicitly in your post that you don't use Gmail.
posted by WCityMike at 10:10 AM on May 8, 2008

I've already got a filter for him, but I still would like to stop the flow.

WCityMike, that instruction page would be useful except that it requires me to create a Google account and log in in order to report it -- which really sucks.

Bluefly, I'll give that form a try.
posted by Class Goat at 10:11 AM on May 8, 2008

This suggests that [e-mail] is also a valid reporting address. And seconding the suggestion to double-check the IP; Gmail is probably one of the top ten spoofed domains out there.
posted by WCityMike at 10:13 AM on May 8, 2008

Delivery to the following recipients failed permanently:

* [e-mail]

I did check the header; I know all about spoofing, and there's absolutely no doubt that it really did come from gmail.
posted by Class Goat at 10:25 AM on May 8, 2008

It's [e-mail]. The corporate domain, not at the gmail domain.
posted by GuyZero at 10:31 AM on May 8, 2008

Oops, sorry, I misread bluefly's initial post. Sorry about that. My fault too.
posted by GuyZero at 10:31 AM on May 8, 2008

He has ignored my requests to stop

For future reference don't ever reply to a spam mail.
You are just verifying that there your mail box is an actual and live mail box.

I also received few mails from "blog by email" and simply ignored it. after sometime it just stopped.
posted by WizKid at 11:42 AM on May 8, 2008

I don't think there's actually anything you can do to prevent mails from actually being sent, since as others have said emails can easily made to look like they're coming from a particular address. So your best bet really is setting up filters to prevent the mail from coming into your inbox and leaving it at that.
posted by peacheater at 12:18 PM on May 8, 2008

You have a filter to trash it -- good. Now you need a filter (or rule) to annoy the hell out of him.

In addition to trashing every email you receive from him, set your email client to forward every email of his back to him. See if you can set up multiple rules so that he receives multiple copies of every email he sends you.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:25 PM on May 8, 2008

(P.S: I tried to report fraudulent use of a gmail address a few months ago and never got a response from them.)
posted by mudpuppie at 12:26 PM on May 8, 2008

Oh, sorry about that it is [e-mail] (That's what the page I linked to says as well, I just mistyped).
posted by bluefly at 12:35 PM on May 8, 2008

You can un-best answer me :).
posted by bluefly at 12:35 PM on May 8, 2008

How do you know he's actually sending it through gmail? Anyone can put anything they want in the "FROM:" field. If he's doing a 'blog by email' it may just be configured to send email as if it was from that address.

If it was actually possible to stop email from people, we wouldn't have the spam problem we do.
posted by delmoi at 3:45 PM on May 8, 2008

How do you know he's actually sending it through gmail?

The email header says that it's coming through "wf-out-1314.google.com ([209.85.200.170])". It also contains a great deal of header information which clearly was placed there by gmail.

I resent that complaint, this time to "[e-mail]", and received a "Thank you for your report" response. So at least it got through this time.
posted by Class Goat at 4:01 PM on May 8, 2008

hmmm "resent" means "sent again", not "got annoyed at".
posted by Class Goat at 4:02 PM on May 8, 2008