MainSleaze

Super Hot Casino Games, an online gambling web site, is sending bulk email to <spamtrap@spambouncer.org>. Really. 🙂 That’s the old public spam reporting address at spambouncer.org, used mostly by users of the long-unmaintained SpamBouncer spam filtering program. That email address is probably in every decent suppression list and listwashing list on the planet. Super Hot Casino Games is obviously not validating subscriptions on their web site.

The ESP is BlueHornet, a subsidiary of ESP Digital River. Has BlueHornet abandoned all sanity checking on client email lists as well?

I do not for a moment suspect that Super Hot Casino Games bought a list so dirty that it contained this email address. I also would not normally report as spam email sent to this email address, because (unlike my real spamtraps) its identity is publicly known. I suspect that some rabid nutcase antispammer(TM) plunked this email address into a web form at the Super Hot Casino Games web site, probably along with a bunch of other known spamtraps and personal email addresses of anti-spammers.

That was dishonest of whoever did this — granted. I don’t consider Super Hot Casino Games a spam site because of this incident, just a carelessly managed web site. However, a legitimate online company should NEVER accept unconfirmed web form subscriptions, for the same reason that owners of homes with swimming pools should not leave the gates unlocked. Those that do this are running what we in the United States call an attractive nuisance: a web site set up to invite “the children” (immature and dishonest people) to misbehave, possibly hurting themselves and others.

I also think that part of an ESP’s job is to detect clearly illegitimate addresses on lists, suppress emails to such email addresses, and ask their customer about their processes so that the problem can be fixed. We have ESPs because of their expertise in bulk email, after all. BlueHornet, please step up to the plate and do the needful with your customer.

The following headers are completely unredacted, on purpose.

Sending IP: 216.54.194.19

Spam Sample:

Actual Headers:

Received: from smtp.copenhagen.bluehornet.com (smtp.copenhagen.bluehornet.com [216.54.194.19])
        by pinochet.ergosphere.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 143F6648089
        for <spamtrap@spambouncer.org>; Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:13:18 -0500 (CDT)
X-MSFBL: c3BhbXRyYXBAc3BhbWJvdW5jZXIub3JnQGNvcGVuaGFnZW5fZXVsZXJAZXVsZXJC
        aW5kaW5nQGJvdW5jZS11c2U9TT0xNTkzNzM4ODE1ND1lY2hvND1FNjU3MDk0NEM4
        MzdCNTVEOUFGM0NFMDg3Qjg1QzU1RQ==
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; d=bluehornet.com; s=bluehornet-1.bh; c=simple/simple;
        q=dns/txt; i=@bluehornet.com; t=1319829197;
        h=From:Subject:Date:To:Mime-Version:Content-Type;
        bh=2egZ0etSNWyEGZiPGde88raqx1Q=;
        b=ejQgH292CbcVONrUO07skJZG+AdQthj8P8FRnNxkrrtXqdPN18FRC4xfzH7KIQt5
        YdCvPcIFFpAIcRLD+Ds0xK2J9fnsrHbhlrAx4QNDHHmt0VMyjPtvkO5BX/6b8S8x;
Received: from [10.64.22.23] ([10.64.22.23:59832] helo=localhost.localdomain)
        by dc1bhmta04 (envelope-from <bounce-use=M=15937388154=echo4=E6570944C837B55D9AF3CE087B85C55E@returnpath.bluehornet.com>)
        (ecelerity 3.0.28.38595 r(38597)) with ESMTP
        id 2C/68-03920-DCEFAAE4; Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:13:17 -0700
Message-ID: <2C.68.03920.DCEFAAE4@dc1bhmta04>
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:06:20 -0700
From: "Angela Harrel" <email@superhotcasinogames.com>
Reply-To: email@superhotcasinogames.com
To:   <spamtrap@spambouncer.org>
X-Outgoing: euler
Subject: Get ahead now with free no purchase spins! Up to 1000 slot pulls are yours.
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:unsub-15937388154-echo4-E6570944C837B55D9AF3CE087B85C55E@listunsub.bluehornet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
    boundary="--4ea42d6c05fe8-MultiPart-Mime-Boundary"

Readable Email:

From: Angela Harrel <email@superhotcasinogames.com>
To: <spamtrap@spambouncer.org>
Subject: Get ahead now with free no purchase spins! Up to 1000 slot pulls are yours.
Reply-To: email@superhotcasinogames.com

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You were added to the system September 20, 2011. For more information please follow the URL below:
http://echo4.bluehornet.com/subscribe/source.htm?c=bhsIwqp.J66So&email=spamtrap%40spambouncer.org&cid=f11c8474aade7418d350c9cf08432cb4

Follow the URL below to update your preferences or opt-out:
http://echo4.bluehornet.com/phase2/survey1/survey.htm?CID=owsbja&action=update&eemail=spamtrap%40spambouncer.org&_mh=f2e16229467e03b9165df2ff72f60606