Fax Spammers…

I routinely receive spam faxes that waste paper and ink.  Just today, I liberated my fax out bin of an accumulated pile of spam garbage.  I recently saw a great article on a font that had “holes” in it but looks like the popular Arial font.  Reportedly, it can save you about 10% of your ink cost.  So this kinda prompted me to wonder how much this spam was really costing me…all in, about $50-$60/year as near as I can tell.

Then I spy a line at the bottom of a fax from “Empire Roofing”, which says “To remove your fax number please visit www.thefaxremovalservice.com”.  (This link intentionally disabled)  So I go there and it is a spare interface requesting the number I wish to stop having spammed.  Hmmm, says I, this doesn’t look kosher even to a Catholic kid like me.

So, off I go to do SOMETHING… 

First I verify that my number is on the Do Not Call list…check, since 2003 even. 

Then I verify that that this spam is actually illegal, check. 

Now, off to the FTC site to notify the Gov wonks who are supposed to protect us from these types of things.  After dutifully entering in all MY info (as if they want to investigate me for having the temerity to complain about these pains-in-the-asses), I am blessed with a THANK YOU FOR COMING message which basically tells me that this will be added to some sort of DB should anyone in local law enforcement care to look at it, but don’t expect squat to ever come of it.   Typical Gov’t response…we don’t care unless it’s a war.

Now I’m pissed at everybody.  So, more research.  Here’s a link to a neat service that sheds some light on the server location of “thefaxremovalservice.com”.  Bingo, suspicians confirmed.  See for yourself…  http://www.statinternet.com/domain/thefaxremovalservice.com

Now I want to crush these guys, punish them for wasting my damn time and making me wary of anything on the internet.  It’s amazing to me that this stuff is allowed to go on.  But it’s protected by a very strong “keep the internet free” lobby.  

Fundamentally, I’ve always been open to this argument…but here’s the irony of the situation.  We seem to be protecting the rights of people who want to hide what they do (scammers, child porn, identity thieves, even terrorists!).  And, since these people prey on the rest of us one way or another, we’re the ones that have to be wary and careful what we click on or to whom we provide information.  I no longer feel very free on the internet.

Here’s a thought…maybe we need to be responsible for who we are and what we create.  Hiding behind an alias may not bring out the best in human nature.