Does Platinumbucks not give a shit about affiliate spamming?

[gaybucks_chip]

Recently I've gotten a ton of spam from some affiliate promoting a bunch of Platinumbucks sites. Every day, I get a bunch of messages promoting different sites, and I know they're all from the same affiliate because the link page that adds the referral code is always the same.

The spams are not CAN-SPAM compliant, because they are not marked "sexually explicit" and it's clear they're sent by zombies, because the return address is fraudulent and the sending IPs resolve to various residential-sounding networks (Comcast, Rogers. etc.)

I emailed Platinumbucks but got what sounded like a blow-off response ("This isn't my account, but I'll ask one of the other people here")

Is Platinumbucks so large that they simply don't care about spamming, or is Platinumbucks so large *because* they turn a blind eye to spamming?

[CorbinFisher_BD]

A number of large sponsor programs got nailed pretty hard last year for spamming by the FCC. The settlement amounts that were paid and court costs involved were significant. And the government's case revolved around affiliates of the sponsor programs spamming people - what the government regarded as the sponsor programs paying people to spam on their behalf.

So I'd hope that a large sponsor program interested in staying out of trouble take spam complaints seriously.

It's difficult to keep track of everything your affiliates are up to but one of the things I do is constantly check referral URLs to keep an eye out for web-based email URLs and shady sounding sites.

[Lee]

Do a search over on GFY for Platinum Bucks + Spam and you'll se why they dont care

Regards,

Lee

[Bec]

Do a search over on GFY for Platinum Bucks + Spam and you'll se why they dont care

Regards,

Lee

How about a thumbnail synopsis for those of us that don't read GFY Lee?

[Lee]

How about a thumbnail synopsis for those of us that don't read GFY Lee?

It makes them money

Regards,

Lee

[gaybucks_chip]

Apparently GFY's search function is busted again.

I would be interested in more details on this... it's bad for the industry as a whole, and gives the FCC and various other authorities jusitifcation for more draconian measures, such as holding sponsors responsible for what their affiliates do.

It's unfortunate... while Platinumbucks has been known for having some pretty crappy sites, I thought they were at least marginally ethical. I guess not.

[jIgG]

they're in Oh Canada and probably don't care

[chadknowslaw]

Platinumbucks may be in Canada but they _do_ avail themselves of the US market place and sell their wares there. That international boundry might be a high wall but it can be breached. However, I think in this case it was an affiliate and not the sponsor program doing the spamming.

This little news bit appeared also, but I don't have any confirmation of it.

http://www.valleywag.com/tech/alan-r...ork-170385.php

Local hacker "Memehacker" IMed in with a scoop on Alan Ralsky, the famed "Spam King" covered by the Observer and the Detroit News. Here's the breaking story:

Valleywag: Tell me the scoop in three sentences.
Memehacker: Alan Ralsky is currently being held by the feds and his file is sealed for the next 72hrs by the DOJ. We are concerned that he is going to narq out the entire network since they have enough on him to send him to jail. This means hackers, spammers, anyone who has worked in spam legally or illegally for the last 5 years at least.
The DOJ wants to do a dragnet, they have the top dog, but they want the whole system as well.
Wag: How many people could be in trouble?
MH: There is a risk of a huge network collapse in the hack scene. I couldn't estimate since I don't know who he has worked with, but it's a lot of people. Think of a huge pyramid with him at the top. He is one of the few people that has knowledge of a large part of the hackscene network.
Wag: What were Ralsky's biggest crimes? How would I explain this guy to my mom?
MH: Ralsky is known as the Spam King. He is one of the biggest spammers out there, his network and spamlists are huge. He is not afraid to use shady methods to bypass filters and to acquire new lists.
He has been known to use the hack scene to help him spam and to get him new lists to work with.

After the jump, why Ralsky would squeal.

Wag: What does he get out of ratting everyone out? And why didn't he do it in 2005 when he was raided?
MH: If he can cut a deal with the DOJ he may get a reduced sentence or even full immunity. I don't know how much he has to offer them, but taking out a network as large as his would definitely give him some bargaining power. I believe this is still the same case as 2005, they just didn't have enough on him back then to really scare him.
Shutting down his network is a lot less scary than jailtime, which was all they could do back then.
We assume that it is more this time since the DOJ sealed the case. They don't do that unless they are planning to do something during that time.
Wag: How many people would get burned? How bad could the fallout be?
MH: It depends on who did what for him, or what he knows about people. I couldn't estimate, but currently a lot of people are very scared.
It's not just about spamming, he knows stuff about other various activities in the hack scene.
Wag: Are we just talking about a bunch of kids here?
MH: Not just kids, legit spam companies that use shadier methods, older people who do spam stuff on the side to make money. There was that case a few years ago of the kid who got aol's user file and tried to sell it. Stuff like that, leaving your company, but taking some info and trading it for money or info. Sometimes people do stupid things because they are upset at their company or something.
Wag: And why get the story out there? What's your motive?
MH: Personally I want the network to be aware of what's going on. Who knows what he is saying in there, no one knows what exactly he knows.
Or what he has guessed.
Wag: And what happens when the file's unsealed?
MH: Even just some stupid kid that bragged to him about buzzing a government network to see if he could.
Then we know what the charges are, what they have on him.
And possibly the deal that was made.

Stay tuned to Valleywag as the story develops.

[gaybucks_chip]

Wow, this is great news! I've heard of the guy Ralsky and he is supposedly responsible for a HUGE amount of spam. If he *and* the network get taken down, that most likely will result in a pretty significant decrease in spam... if people start going to jail, I think the interests in spamming will suddenly decrease.

As for Platinumbucks, I am near certain it was one of their affiliates. However, the fact that they don't care is pretty pathetic. Oh well, guess I shouldn't be surprised.

[Chilihost]

i have a policy to never deal with any program that actively spams or gets put on spam. I would hope that if more people did this then they would feel the effects.