Hi, I have the following question. Lots of spamers use email list to
which they send emails to. When a mail is sent to an invalid email
address, the email gets bounced back, which normaly leads to the
spamer deleting this email address.
Now my question is, is there a way to manually bounce back a received
identified spam email, and basically so clearing my email adress from
getting more mail? Why is this technique not used to fight spam?
wouldn't it make sense, or why not?

Thanks for asking!

Yes, it's possible to "bounce" mail back to the originator. Somebody
has  had the deliciously wicked idea of doing just that, and several 
applications are available to automate the process for you. Bouncing
is part of my own spam-fighting strategy.

At the server level, there's SpamBouncer -- a set of e-mail filters
designed to sort out spam from legitimate mail, and bounce it back to
the originators. SpamBouncer must be installed and configured on a
Linux, Free BSD, or other Unix server with ProcMail installed.

SpamBouncer
http://www.spambouncer.org/

For your individual computer system, there are a couple of effective
freeware/shareware programs.

Bounce Spam Mail is a free download available from PC World Downloads
section.

"Fool those spam mailers: Send a fake bounce message back to them,
making their targeted mailing list manager think your address was
invalid. The program works in a lot of cases when you can't get to the
real sender of the message."

PC World
Downloads > Privacy and Security > Spam Blockers
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,5402,00.asp

Also, MailWasher:

"Bounce back unwanted e-mails so it looks as if your email address is
not valid. This will make the sender think your address is no longer
active so your name can be removed from their list. This unique
feature is great for privacy and it couldn't be simpler!

To check e-mail, you don't open your e-mail client. Instead, you start
MailWasher, and it tells you what messages are waiting for you on the
mail server. In the check boxes, you select whether to Delete or
Bounce messages, then click the Process Mail button. If you have
checked nothing, the e-mail is downloaded to your e-mail client as
normal."

MailWasher, including the bounce feature, is available for free
download for use with a single e-mail account. The Pro version ($20)
allows use with multiple mail accounts.

MailWasher
http://www.mailwasher.net


Happy spam bouncing!

--- larre


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