Wanted: Spam Fighter to show me some tricks :-)

Short guide to analysing UCE full email headers, identifying source
and reporting to originator's ISP; please include details of useful
DOS/Windows tools, and what tricks are available for deciphering
attempts to cloud or falsify the header information.

I'm fine with most technical aspects of computing so don't worry about
using technical terminology, but there is a gap in my knowledge
concerning email..

Currently I'm using spam punisher 2.3 http://www.spampunisher.com on
XP Pro, fresh install, no service packs. Outlook Express
6.00.2600.0000 - one concern I had was that on one occasion, spam punisher 
instructed me to report to abuse@[let's say, freeviagraonline.com] -
this got me to thinking, well if I do that, aren't I just confirming
my address to the spammer.. I'd like you to cover uncertanties like
that to whatever extent you can in an answer.

I'm aware that it's not always possible to identify the source of
every UCE, I just need the seemingly huge morass of anti-spam information 
out there, to be boiled down into a manageable couple of paragraphs.

Hail, Colleague!

I.  Hate.  Spam.  Loathe it.  Detest it.  Would dearly love free reign
to personally whang each and every spammer over the head just once
with my trusty cast iron skillet.  Can't research effectively when
jailed on multiple assault charges, though.  ;)

Since my favored method is decidedly illegal, let's look at the more
socially acceptable ways of dealing with spam.

First, you need a good guide to reading headers.  There are two
wonderfully comprehensive guides which explain everything in detail. 
They're not brief, but they're the best guides out there:

Reading Email Headers
http://www.stopspam.org/email/headers/headers.html

Tracking Spam
http://www.claws-and-paws.com/spam-l/tracking.html

For brief, how about a quick and dirty illustration from MaximumPC's
January issue?  If you have access to a copy, I highly recommend you
pick it up and read through the very informative article, running from
page 27 through page 38.

Decoding E-mail Headers - Illustrated Guide - Maximum PC Magazine,
January 2003, Page 34 (.JPG, .64MB)
http://www.darkfriends.net/princessmoo/extras/maxPC.jpg

SpamPunisher is correct, you *should* report spammers to the abuse
department of their ISPs.  As you rightly note, however, it can be
difficult to determine who the ISP is.  Not to worry.  Julian Haight
operates a terrific and very well known spam-busting service, SpamCop:

SpamCop
http://spamcop.net

SpamCop offers paid accounts with aggressively filtered e-mail, as
well as a free spam tracing and reporting service.  Register with a
valid e-mail address, copy and paste the entire offending e-mail with
full headers into the reporting box (or forward it to your personal
reporting address), click submit, and watch as SpamCop traces the
headers, identifies the correct ISP abuse desk, and submits abuse
reports on your behalf - without identifying you to potential
spammers.

You can see a sample SpamCop report here:

SpamCop Report
http://spamcop.net/sc?id=z62339509z8542ef7af50f0ac6b4ff5a59c782e304z

(Note that it traced the headers just fine, even though I edited out
my own e-mail address.  To submit reports yourself, I do advise you to
leave your e-mail address intact.  This report was not submitted, just
created for demonstration purposes.)

It takes SpamCop an average of 7 seconds to trace, identify and report
spam to the relevant abuse departments - much faster than trying to
plow through headers yourself.

Of course, if you want to dig on your own, and send your own spam
reports, you can use the nifty tools at SamSpade.org:

SamSpade
http://samspade.org/

There's more to spam fighting than tracking spammers down and
reporting them, though.  PC Magazine's most recent issue discusses how
to stop spam before it gets started here:

Personal Antispam Tools
February 25, 2003 
Top Antispam Tips 
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,844454,00.asp

For more information about spamfighting, have a look at
CluelessMailers and their Spamdemic Map, which shows the
inter-relationships of various spammers, and tracks how spammers get
your address, and from whom:

CluelessMailers
http://www.cluelessmailers.org

Additional anti-spam resources:

Fight Spam on the Internet!
http://spam.abuse.net/

Anti-Spam Tips, Tricks and Secrets 
http://email.about.com/cs/spamfightingtips/

Anti-Spam (junk email) links and information
http://www.tincher.to/antispam.htm

I hope you've found this information manageable and useful.  If you
need clarification or more information, just ask!  I'll be happy to
provide further assistance!

--Missy

Search terms:  none.  Spam fighting bookmarks and MaximumPC.

That's great Missy. Just the right kind of information I was looking
for - the scan from MaximumPC's January issue and the sample SpamCop
report caught my interest on first read; looking forward to studying
in more detail tomorrow.
Thanks.