May 24, 2005
Pair of Las Vegas Lawyers Roll Snake Eyes Again
Sean Flanagan and Daniel Chapman are back in the news, once again targeted for their role in a fraudulent stock scheme. We thought we had heard the last of these two Las Vegas, Nevada lawyers in August 2003, when they were indicted for their roles in a $414 million stock fraud scam. At the time, prosecutors charged that Chapman and Flanagan were engaged in a scheme to create phony shell companies and dump shares on the public.
But there was more two come for this pair of attorneys, who represented a lengthy list of obscure over-the-counter companies, many of which had entered the public marketplace through reverse-mergers. StockPatrol.com readers already were well acquainted with Chapman and Flanagan. The two men had acted as attorneys for a series of highly touted, non-performing companies, like Infotopia, Inc. Hydro Environmental Resources, Inc., Inc. and Bach-Hauser, Inc. – often receiving stock, registered on Forms S-8, in exchange for their services.
Now Flanagan and Chapman have run afoul of regulators once more. On April 25, 2005, the SEC filed a civil action charging the two lawyers and several of their associates with orchestrating a stock manipulation and accounting fraud scam from 1999 through 2002. The lawsuit centers on a scheme to rig the market for shares of Exotics.com, Inc., a Nevada corporation that maintains its principal office in Vancouver, British Columbia,. Named as defendants in the Complaint are Exotics.com, its sole officer, four accountants, and Chapman and Flanagan. The law firm of Flanagan & Associates Ltd was named as a relief defendant because it purportedly received proceeds from the scheme.
The Commission alleges that, from 1999 through 2002, the defendants manipulated trading of Exotics.com stock in order to increase both the share price and trading volume, filed false and misleading public documents, and issued misleading press releases and promotional material about the Company using fax and spam e-mail.
According to the Commission, fraudulent trading activity was coordinated from the law offices of Chapman & Flanagan. Shares were funneled through accounts maintained by Chapman & Flanagan to further the illicit scheme. In this case the SEC says the corrupt lawyers were teamed with a series of unscrupulous accountants, some of whom prepared phony financial statements and filed false financial reports.
In essence, Exotics.com, the product of a reverse-merger – one of the specialties employed by Chapman and Flanagan – became a vehicle for these "professionals" to ride as they manipulated the marketplace.
The SEC is seeking, among other relief, to bar Chapman and Flanagan from future participation in penny stock offerings and to recover funds from the Flanagan law firm.
Posted by rich at 04:31 PM | TrackBack
July 07, 2004
LashBack 2.13
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Product: Lashback Vendor: LashBack LLC Price: $3.99 per month / $29.99 per year Editor Rating: 3 ½ stars Download Now! |
Pros
+ Highly effective at fighting spam
+ Easy to use
Cons
- Price
- Only supports Outlook and Outlook Express
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a larger set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
Installation
LashBack installed easily into both Outlook Express and Outlook 2000. When Outlook was started for the first time, Internet Explorer displayed a Flash based tutorial on how to use the product. The short tutorial was very helpful in becoming familiar with the function of each of the four LashBack toolbar buttons.
Usability
LashBack works much like other spam filtering applications. If a spam email gets into your Inbox, you designate it as spam using the 'LashBack' button and the message is moved automatically to the ‘Spam’ folder. If a legitimate email is erroneously marked as spam, simply click 'AddToSafeList' and emails from the sender will no longer be filtered.
Training
After installing LashBack for the first time, we downloaded 70 spam emails and 30 legitimate emails from our test account. The software quarantined 78 total emails of which 13 were legitimate emails. Five spam emails made it through (93% effectiveness).
The emails that slipped through the initial test were corrected using the ‘LashBack’ and ‘AddToSafeList’ buttons. We then downloaded another 283 spam messages and 17 legitimate emails. LashBack quarantined 266 emails, including 3 legitimate ones; another 20 spam emails were not identified as such. This puts LashBack accuracy up there with the other top spam filters at 94%. While LashBack was extremely effective at blocking spam, it tended to filter more legitimate emails than our #1 product, Spam Inspector.
Other Features
One feature that sets LashBack apart from the other spam filters is that it will attempt to unsubscribe you from distribution lists using an unsubscribe link, if available. While this is a nice feature, the worst spammers will not include a working unsubscribe link in their email. This could change with the advent of tougher anti-spam laws.
Summary
LashBack is easy to use and very effective at filtering spam out of your Inbox. The software is sold on a subscription ($3.99 per month, $29.99 per year) basis, which makes it a slightly more expensive product.
Price: $3.99 per month, $29.99 per year
Free Trial: Yes
Posted by rich at 05:14 PM | TrackBack
June 25, 2004
The Great Nigerian Scam
For those who have not received the Nigerian scam e-mail letter or a newer variation, the letter says that your name was given to someone in Nigeria (or elsewhere) as a "trustworthy person who can help." For some long-winded reason, the sender has access to a large amount of money—usually around $20 million—that he needs to get out of the country. If you help him, you can earn 10 to 20 percent of the money as a fee. Then the letter gets vague and goes into weird, off-the-wall details.
Wow! You—the sucker—have been flattered by being selected. And you realize that you can make a cool $2 to $4 million just by helping this poor sap. Apparently, a university professor in northern California fell prey to this scam and lost $30,000.
One version of the scam works by convincing you that the money will be transferred by wire into your bank account. You have to provide all sorts of financial information, and soon your account is drained of whatever it had, as money is transferred out instead of in. Duh!
What interests me is that thanks to spamming techniques, the con men do not have to spot a mark anymore. They simply try to scam everyone in the world and see what happens. This particular con actually did begin in Nigeria and predates the Web. In the original scam, paper letters were sent out by hand, including elaborate packages of documents. Care went into finding the right suckers. With spam broadcast mailing, such research is no longer necessary. I predict quality con jobs are going to be a thing of the past, and Darwinism will take over. The dumbest get ripped off.
I might be more aware than most of the extent of broadcast spamming. I have been collecting these scam letters for a few years and have both a good collection of them and one of the best lists of names by whom these letters are supposedly authored. This is urban folklore at its finest.
The scam has expanded from Nigeria to all over the world. I wonder whether any Nigerians even do this scam anymore. The latest version I received was from a Mr. Nosa (no first name given) who is supposedly hiding out in the Benin Republic and has millions of dollars he needs me to help him get out of the country. In the past, you would do a Google search using Benin and Nosa and find out there really is some famous guy named Nosa hiding out in Benin who is loaded with dough. But nowadays, when you type those search terms, you get hit after hit regarding the Nigerian scam. Oops!
I received another variation of the classic a week ago from a "Senator David T.I. Mark," who claims to be some sort of investment honcho trying to move a mere $9 million from Nigeria (aha!) to a safe haven. This is supposedly pension money that was overinvoiced and available to steal. Apparently, when a bookkeeping error is made in Nigeria, the money is up for grabs, if you can just get it out of the country.
Then there is the letter I received from Funsho Williams, telling me that he is executing the will of a passenger killed in a Korean Air flight, and nobody is claiming the money. Would I help him figure something out? Of course, I would be paid handsomely. You'll note the use of a foreign-sounding name combined with a Western-sounding name in many of the scam letters. There's Jensen Davis, who tells me I won $1.5 million in some Dutch lottery and I must claim the money ASAP! A weird rigmarole is involved. Geez.
The wives of recently killed, indicted, or imprisoned husbands writing for help is a common theme, too. A letter arrived from Louisa Ejercitor Estrada, whose husband was indicted for a scam in the Philippines. Guess what! She wants me to help her move $65 million to Switzerland.
I'm impressed with the way the classic scam letter has morphed over time, but I still appreciate the original Nigerian scam, in which there is a crooked banker trying to move money out of Nigeria. And I love the names of the supposed letter writers. One of my favorites is Prince Ahmadu A. Ahmadu, whose middle initial must stand for Ahmadu. And a mention goes to two identical letters from two different fakes: Dr. Thomas Okon and Dr. Raymond Okoro, both of whom claimed to be the manager of Zenith Bank in Lagos, Nigeria.
Posted by rich at 09:48 AM | TrackBack
June 17, 2004
How to Avoid Internet Investment Scams
The Internet serves as an excellent tool for investors, allowing them to easily and inexpensively research investment opportunities. But the Internet is also an excellent tool for fraudsters. That's why you should always think twice before you invest your money in any opportunity you learn about through the Internet.
This alert tells you how to spot different types of Internet fraud, what the SEC is doing to fight Internet investment scams, and how to use the Internet to invest wisely.
Navigating the Frontier: Where the Frauds Are
The Internet allows individuals or companies to communicate with a large audience without spending a lot of time, effort, or money. Anyone can reach tens of thousands of people by building an Internet web site, posting a message on an online bulletin board, entering a discussion in a live "chat" room, or sending mass e-mails. It's easy for fraudsters to make their messages look real and credible. But it's nearly impossible for investors to tell the difference between fact and fiction.
Online Investment Newsletters
Hundreds of online investment newsletters have appeared on the Internet in recent years. Many offer investors seemingly unbiased information free of charge about featured companies or recommending "stock picks of the month." While legitimate online newsletters can help investors gather valuable information, some online newsletters are tools for fraud.
Some companies pay the people who write online newsletters cash or securities to "tout" or recommend their stocks. While this isn't illegal, the federal securities laws require the newsletters to disclose who paid them, the amount, and the type of payment. But many fraudsters fail to do so. Instead, they'll lie about the payments they received, their independence, their so-called research, and their track records. Their newsletters masquerade as sources of unbiased information, when in fact they stand to profit handsomely if they convince investors to buy or sell particular stocks.
Some online newsletters falsely claim to independently research the stocks they profile. Others spread false information or promote worthless stocks. The most notorious sometimes "scalp" the stocks they hype, driving up the price of the stock with their baseless recommendations and then selling their own holdings at high prices and high profits. To learn how to separate the good from the bad, read our tips for checking out newsletters.
Bulletin Boards
Online bulletin boards – whether newsgroups, usenet, or web-based bulletin boards – have become an increasingly popular forum for investors to share information. Bulletin boards typically feature "threads" made up of numerous messages on various investment opportunities.
While some messages may be true, many turn out to be bogus – or even scams. Fraudsters often pump up a company or pretend to reveal "inside" information about upcoming announcements, new products, or lucrative contracts.
Also, you never know for certain who you're dealing with – or whether they're credible – because many bulletin boards allow users to hide their identity behind multiple aliases. People claiming to be unbiased observers who've carefully researched the company may actually be company insiders, large shareholders, or paid promoters. A single person can easily create the illusion of widespread interest in a small, thinly-traded stock by posting a series of messages under various aliases.
E-mail Spams
Because "spam" – junk e-mail – is so cheap and easy to create, fraudsters increasingly use it to find investors for bogus investment schemes or to spread false information about a company. Spam allows the unscrupulous to target many more potential investors than cold calling or mass mailing. Using a bulk e-mail program, spammers can send personalized messages to thousands and even millions of Internet users at a time.
How to Use the Internet to Invest Wisely
If you want to invest wisely and steer clear of frauds, you must get the facts. Never, ever, make an investment based solely on what you read in an online newsletter or bulletin board posting, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isn't well known. And don't even think about investing on your own in small companies that don't file regular reports with the SEC, unless you are willing to investigate each company thoroughly and to check the truth of every statement about the company. For instance, you'll need to:- get financial statements from the company and be able to analyze them;
- verify the claims about new product developments or lucrative contracts;
- call every supplier or customer of the company and ask if they really do business with the company; and
- check out the people running the company and find out if they've ever made money for investors before.
Here's how you can use the internet to help you invest wisely:
Start With the SEC's EDGAR Database
The federal securities laws require many public companies to register with the SEC and file annual reports containing audited financial statements. For example, the following companies must file reports with the SEC:
- All U.S. companies with more than 500 investors and $10 million in net assets; and
- All companies that list their securities on The Nasdaq Stock Market or a major national stock exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange.
Anyone can access and download these reports from the SEC's EDGAR database for free. Before you invest in a company, check to see whether it's registered with the SEC and read its reports.
But some companies don't have to register their securities or file reports on EDGAR. For example, companies raising less than $5 million in a 12-month period may be exempt from registering the transaction under a rule known as "Regulation A." Instead, these companies must file a hard copy of the "offering circular" with the SEC containing financial statements and other information. Also, smaller companies raising less than one million dollars don't have to register with the SEC, but they must file a "Form D." Form D is a brief notice which includes the names and addresses of owners and stock promoters, but little other information. If you can't find a company on EDGAR, call the SEC at (202) 942-8090 to find out if the company filed an offering circular under Regulation A or a Form D. And be sure to request a copy.
The difference between investing in companies that register with the SEC and those that don't is like the difference between driving on a clear sunny day and driving at night without your headlights. You're asking for serious losses if you invest in small, thinly-traded companies that aren't widely known just by following the signs you read on Internet bulletin boards or online newsletters.
Contact Your State Securities Regulators
Don't stop with the SEC. You should always check with your state securities regulator, which you can find on the website of the North American Securities Administrators Association, to see if they have more information about the company and the people behind it. They can check the Central Registration Depository (CRD) and tell you whether the broker touting the stock or the broker's firm has a disciplinary history. They can also tell you whether they've cleared the offering for sale in your state.
Check with the NASD
The National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. can also give you a partial disciplinary history on the broker or firm that's touting the stock. Call their toll-free public disclosure hot-line at (800) 289-9999 or visit their website at http://www.nasdr.com.
Online Investment Fraud:
New Medium, Same Old Scam
The types of investment fraud seen online mirror the frauds perpetrated over the phone or through the mail. Remember that fraudsters can use a variety of Internet tools to spread false information, including bulletin boards, online newsletters, spam, or chat (including Internet Relay Chat or Web Page Chat). They can also build a glitzy, sophisticated web page. All of these tools cost very little money and can be found at the fingertips of fraudsters.
Consider all offers with skepticism. Investment frauds usually fit one of the following categories:
The "Pump And Dump" Scam
It's common to see messages posted online that urge readers to buy a stock quickly or tell you to sell before the price goes down. Often the writers will claim to have "inside" information about an impending development or to use an "infallible" combination of economic and stock market data to pick stocks. In reality, they may be insiders or paid promoters who stand to gain by selling their shares after the stock price is pumped up by gullible investors. Once these fraudsters sell their shares and stop hyping the stock, the price typically falls and investors lose their money. Fraudsters frequently use this ploy with small, thinly-traded companies because it's easier to manipulate a stock when there's little or no information available about the company.
The Pyramid
Be wary of messages that read: "How To Make Big Money From Your Home Computer!!!" One online promoter claimed that investors could "turn $5 into $60,000 in just three to six weeks." In reality, this program was nothing more than an electronic version of the classic "pyramid" scheme in which participants attempt to make money solely by recruiting new participants into the program.
The "Risk-Free" Fraud
"Exciting, Low-Risk Investment Opportunities" to participate in exotic-sounding investments – such as wireless cable projects, prime bank securities, and eel farms – have been offered through the Internet. But no investment is risk-free. And sometimes the investment products touted do not even exist – they're merely scams. Be wary of opportunities that promise spectacular profits or "guaranteed" returns. If the deal sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
Off-shore Frauds
At one time, off-shore schemes targeting U.S. investors cost a great deal of money and were difficult to carry out. Conflicting time zones, differing currencies, and the high costs of international telephone calls and overnight mailings made it difficult for fraudsters to prey on U.S. residents. But the Internet has removed those obstacles. Be extra careful when considering any investment opportunity that comes from another country, because it's difficult for U.S. law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute foreign frauds.
Posted by rich at 11:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 09, 2004
12 scams most likely to arrive by bulk email
Email boxes are filling up with more offers for business
opportunities than any other kind of unsolicited commercial email. That's a
problem, according to the Federal Trade Commission, because many of these
offers are scams.
In response to requests from consumers, the FTC asked email users
to forward their unsolicited commercial email to the agency for an inside look
at the bulk email business. FTC staff found that more often than not, bulk
email offers appeared to be fraudulent, and if pursued, could have ripped-off
unsuspecting consumers to the tune of billions of dollars.
The FTC has identified the 12 scams that are most likely to arrive
in consumers' email boxes. The "dirty dozen" are:
1. Business opportunities
These business opportunities make it sound easy to start a business
that will bring lots of income without much work or cash outlay. The
solicitations trumpet unbelievable earnings claims of $140 a day, $1,000 a day,
or more, and claim that the business doesn't involve selling, meetings, or
personal contact with others, or that someone else will do all the work. Many
business opportunity solicitations claim to offer a way to make money in an
Internet-related business. Short on details but long on promises, these
messages usually offer a telephone number to call for more information. In many
cases, you'll be told to leave your name and telephone number so that a
salesperson can call you back with the sales pitch.
The scam: Many of these are illegal pyramid schemes masquerading as
legitimate opportunities to earn money.
2. Bulk email
Bulk email solicitations offer to sell you lists of email
addresses, by the millions, to which you can send your own bulk solicitations.
Some offer software that automates the sending of email messages to thousands
or millions of recipients. Others offer the service of sending bulk email
solicitations on your behalf. Some of these offers say, or imply, that you can
make a lot of money using this marketing method.
The problem: Sending bulk email violates the terms of service of
most Internet service providers. If you use one of the automated email
programs, your ISP may shut you down. In addition, inserting a false return
address into your solicitations, as some of the automated programs allow you to
do, may land you in legal hot water with the owner of the address's domain
name. Several states have laws regulating the sending of unsolicited commercial
email, which you may unwittingly violate by sending bulk email. Few legitimate
businesses, if any, engage in bulk email marketing for fear of offending
potential customers.
3. Chain letters
You're asked to send a small amount of money ($5 to $20) to each of
four or five names on a list, replace one of the names on the list with your
own, and then forward the revised message via bulk email. The letter may claim
that the scheme is legal, that it's been reviewed or approved by the
government; or it may refer to sections of U.S. law that legitimize the scheme.
Don't believe it.
The scam: Chain letters-traditional or high-tech-are almost always
illegal, and nearly all of the people who participate in them lose their money.
The fact that a "product" such as a report on how to make money fast, a mailing
list, or a recipe may be changing hands in the transaction does not change the
legality of these schemes.
4. Work-at-home schemes
Envelope-stuffing solicitations promise steady income for minimal
labor-for example, you'll earn $2 each time you fold a brochure and seal it in
an envelope. Craft assembly work schemes often require an investment of
hundreds of dollars in equipment or supplies, and many hours of your time
producing goods for a company that has promised to buy them.
The scam: You'll pay a small fee to get started in the
envelope-stuffing business. Then, you'll learn that the email sender never had
real employment to offer. Instead, you'll get instructions on how to send the
same envelope-stuffing ad in your own bulk emailings. If you earn any money, it
will be from others who fall for the scheme you're perpetuating. And after
spending the money and putting in the time on the craft assembly work, you are
likely to find promoters who refuse to pay you, claiming that your work isn't
up to their "quality standards."
5. Health and diet scams
Pills that let you lose weight without exercising or changing your
diet, herbal formulas that liquefy your fat cells so that they are absorbed by
your body, and cures for impotence and hair loss are among the scams flooding
email boxes.
The scam: These gimmicks don't work. The fact is that successful
weight loss requires a reduction in calories and an increase in physical
activity. Beware of case histories from "cured" consumers claiming amazing
results; testimonials from "famous" medical experts you've never heard of;
claims that the product is available from only one source or for a limited
time; and ads that use phrases like "scientific breakthrough," "miraculous
cure," "exclusive product," "secret formula," and "ancient ingredient."
6. Effortless income
The trendiest get-rich-quick schemes offer unlimited profits
exchanging money on world currency markets; newsletters describing a variety of
easy-money opportunities; the perfect sales letter; and the secret to making
$4,000 in one day.
The scam: If these systems worked, wouldn't everyone be using them?
The thought of easy money may be appealing, but success generally requires hard
work.
7. Free goods
Some email messages offer valuable goods-for example, computers,
other electronic items, and long-distance phone cards-for free. You're asked to
pay a fee to join a club, then told that to earn the offered goods, you have to
bring in a certain number of participants. You're paying for the right to earn
income by recruiting other participants, but your payoff is in goods, not
money.
The scam: Most of these messages are covering up pyramid schemes,
operations that inevitably collapse. Almost all of the payoff goes to the
promoters and little or none to consumers who pay to participate.
8. Investment opportunities
Investment schemes promise outrageously high rates of return with
no risk. One version seeks investors to help form an offshore bank. Others are
vague about the nature of the investment, stressing the rates of return. Many
are Ponzi schemes, in which early investors are paid off with money contributed
by later investors. This makes the early investors believe that the system
actually works, and encourages them to invest even more.
Promoters of fraudulent investments often operate a particular scam
for a short time, quickly spend the money they take in, then close down before
they can be detected. Often, they reopen under another name, selling another
investment scam. In their sales pitch, they'll say that they have high-level
financial connections; that they're privy to inside information; that they'll
guarantee the investment; or that they'll buy back the investment after a
certain time. To close the deal, they often serve up phony statistics,
misrepresent the significance of a current event, or stress the unique quality
of their offering-anything to deter you from verifying their story.
The scam: Ponzi schemes eventually collapse because there isn't
enough money coming in to continue simulating earnings. Other schemes are a
good investment for the promoters, but no for participants.
9. Cable descrambler kits
For a small sum of money, you can buy a kit to assemble a cable
descrambler that supposedly allows you to receive cable television
transmissions without paying any subscription fee.
The scam: The device that you build probably won't work. Most of
the cable TV systems in the U.S. use technology that these devices can't crack.
What's more, even if it worked, stealing service from a cable television
company is illegal.
10. Guaranteed loans or credit, on easy terms
Some email messages offer home-equity loans that don't require
equity in your home, as well as solicitations for guaranteed, unsecured credit
cards, regardless of your credit history. Usually, these are said to be offered
by offshore banks. Sometimes they are combined with pyramid schemes, which
offer you an opportunity to make money by attracting new participants to the
scheme.
The scams: The home equity loans turn out to be useless lists of
lenders who will turn you down if you don't meet their qualifications. The
promised credit cards never come through, and the pyramid money-making schemes
always collapse.
11. Credit repair
Credit repair scams offer to erase accurate negative information
from your credit file so you can qualify for a credit card, auto loan, home
mortgage, or a job.
The scam: The scam artists who promote these services can't
deliver. Only time, a deliberate effort, and a personal debt repayment plan
will improve your credit. The companies that advertise credit repair services
appeal to consumers with poor credit histories. Not only can't they provide you
with a clean credit record, but they also may be encouraging you to violate
federal law. If you follow their advice by lying on a loan or credit
application, misrepresenting your Social Security number, or getting an
Employer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service under false
pretenses, you will be committing fraud.
12. Vacation prize promotions
Electronic certificates congratulating you on "winning" a fabulous
vacation for a very attractive price are among the scams arriving in your
email. Some say you have been "specially selected" for this opportunity.
The scam: Most unsolicited commercial email goes to thousands or
millions of recipients at a time. Often, the cruise ship you're booked on may
look more like a tug boat. The hotel accommodations likely are shabby, and you
may be required to pay more for an upgrade. Scheduling the vacation at the time
you want it also may require an additional fee.
Posted by rich at 05:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Spam Inspector 4.0
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Product: Spam Inspector Vendor: Giant Company Price: Editor Rating: 4 stars DOWNLOAD NOW |
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+ The most effective protection against spam out of all products tested.
Cons
- Some minor cosmetic glitches with the user interface on Windows XP
- More features than most users would ever use.
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a large set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
We tested each spam filter on Outlook Express, Eudora, and Yahoo.
Installation
Spam Inspector installed perfectly the first time. It correctly found our email clients and integrated into each one automatically. The first time we ran Outlook, it popped up a helpful screen of information teaching us how to get started. However, spam filtering did not appear to work at all the first time we ran the program … but this was our fault. The installation program instructed us to reboot our PC before running the program, but we ignored it. After a reboot everything worked perfectly.
Usability
Spam Inspector was easy to use. It installed a toolbar directly into Outlook Express with just a few, easy-to-understand buttons:
The first two buttons, “Is Spam” and “Not Spam” allow you to teach the program which email is spam and which isn’t. However, other buttons allow you to simulate a bounce message back to the sender, reducing the possibility of receiving more spam, or even report abuse to the sender’s ISP with a single-click of the button (note: this is addictive!).
We did notice a few minor cosmetic issues on Windows XP, but this may be due to the fact that we are using an LCD display rotated at 90 degrees. Unlike most other vendors, the makers of Spam Inspector paid great attention to aesthetics down to the most trivial of help screens and it shows.
Training
Immediately after installing Spam Inspector for the first time, we downloaded 96 spam emails and 4 legitimate emails from our test account. It quarantined all 96 of the spam messages and allowed the 4 legitimate emails to pass through … 100% accuracy!
There was nothing to train, so we then imported an additional 291 spam email and 15 legitimate emails. Spam Inspector quarantined 289 of them (99.3%) and allowed the legitimate emails to pass through. This was the most impressive effectiveness of any of the products we’ve tested, and far better than Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail’s built-in spam filters. This was even more impressive considering that SI achieved this accuracy with the “out-of-box” settings (ie: no training). Presumably with training, the accuracy would have been even higher.
Other Features
Spam Inspector has few flaws, but we did feel that the sheer number of features can be confusing. Unlike most of the products we tested which have too few features, Spam Inspector allows you to exert control over every aspect of the program, and this can make the options screen a little daunting for some users. Fortunately, they’ve tucked this functionality away so the average user will never be bothered by it.
Other features include friend and enemy lists, abuse reporting, and automatic update. One feature we found helpful that is not found in any other spam filtering program is that Spam Inspector maintains a list of known opt-in email newsletters. If you attempt to block an opt-in email, the program will alert you, letting you know that it comes from a reputable source.
Summary
Spam Inspector was by far the most effective spam filter we could find. While jam-packed with features, its unobtrusive and easy-to-use interface and competitive price make this your best bet.
Price: $29.95 $19.95 for SpamReviews readers (Enter discount code SPAMFIGHTER)
Free Trial: Yes - Click here to download
Posted by rich at 03:00 PM | TrackBack
June 08, 2004
SpamNet 4.1
Product: Spamnet 4.1
Vendor: Cloudmark
Price: $39.95 (1-year subscription)
Editor Rating: 3 stars
Pros
+ Very good protection against spam.
Cons
- Light on extra features, such as reporting spam abuse
- Leaving messages on server causes them to be re-downloaded on every refresh
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a different set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
If applicable, we tested each spam filter on Outlook Express, Eudora, and Yahoo.
Installation
SpamNet installed perfectly the first time. It installed seamlessly into both Outlook and Outlook Express.
Usability
Like other good spam filtering applications, SpamNet was very easy to use. It installed a toolbar directly into Outlook Express with just two buttons, “Block” and “Unblock” (it also had an options button):
We did have a very big technical problem with SpamNet. We use our email accounts from both work and home, and in order to ensure that we have access to them at both locations, we’ve configured our email clients to leave the messages for five days on the server instead of removing them. SpamNet would download the same messages each time from the server. This product would be much better if it remembered which email it had already checked.
Training
After installing SpamNet for the first time, we downloaded 96 spam emails and 4 legitimate emails from our test account. It correctly quarantined 50 of the spam emails (52%) and allowed the legitimate emails through.
We then selected the 46 spam messages and clicked on the “block” button. This sends information about the spam emails back to Cloudmark. Each time you block an email, it counts as a vote. When a spam email gets enough negative votes from users, SpamNet will then filter it from everyone’s email inbox. At least, this is how it works in theory. The real test came next.
We then imported an additional 291 spam email and 15 legitimate emails. Spamnet quarantined 238 of them (82%) and allowed all of the legitimate emails to pass through … much better than the initial test. It allowed some spam through, such as a faked Yahoo forum newsletter, several Viagara ads, mortgage solicitations, as well as an ad for an adult website.
Other Features
SpamNet does little more than filter spam. It doesn’t give you the ability to report spammers, and while there is a “whitelist” feature that lets you tell SpamNet which addresses to always allow, it is very basic. For instance, you can’t allow or disallow certain domain names or servers.
Summary
SpamNet provided very good protection, although not perfect. It lacks any additional features beyond spam filtering and it is higher priced than our top picks.
Price: $39.95
Free Trial: YES
Posted by rich at 12:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
SpamKiller
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Product: SpamKiller Vendor: McAfee Price: $24.95 (1-year subscription) Editor Rating: 3 1/2 stars |
Pros
+ Near perfect protection against spam
+ Lots of useful added features, such as abuse reporting.
Cons
- A bit higher priced than other products.
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a different set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
If applicable, we tested each spam filter on Outlook Express, Eudora, and Yahoo.
Installation
SpamKiller was a pain in the butt to install. The McAfee website makes use of an ActiveX installer and pop-ups. It took us awhile to figure out that we had to disable our anti-spyware tool (Webroot's Spy Sweeper - click here for a review) and our pop-up stopper before the software would install properly. However, once we got around this issue, the software installed without any further difficulties. SpamKiller detected our existing email accounts and imported our address books automatically.
Usability
Spam filtering software generally comes in two flavors. The first kind is embedded entirely within your email client. The second runs in the background and periodically polls your email server and removes spam when you find it.
SpamKiller is a hybrid. One portion of the program locates each of your email accounts and then runs in the background, removing spam. The other is embedded in your webbrowser, giving you an easy way to block spam that has made it through the filter from directly within your email client.
The user interface for Spam Killer was very pleasing. As with all of their products, McAfee devotes considerable attention to design.
Training
After installing SpamKiller for the first time, we downloaded 96 spam emails and 4 legitimate emails from our test account. It correctly quarantined all of the spam emails (100%) and allowed the legitimate emails through. This was a perfect result!
We then added our second test account to Spam Killer. This account had 291 spam emails and 15 legitimate ones as well. Spam Killer quarantined 268 of them (92%) and allowed all of the legitimate emails to pass through. These results were the second best of all the products we tested.
Other Features
SpamKiller has many additional features, including a nice reporting interface. Like Spam Inspector, Spam Killer allows you to report spammers to their ISPs, although this functionality isn’t as nice or as complete as Spam Inspector. Spam Killer also has a very easy to understand rules interface that can allow you to easily customize your filtering should you so desire.
Summary
SpamKiller provides near perfect protection against spam and many additional useful features. It is a little more expensive than Spam Inspector and the purchase price only includes a one-year subscription, but we found it to be the best alternative.
Price: $24.95
Free Trial: No
Posted by rich at 12:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 07, 2004
Spam Butcher 1.7
Product: Spam Butcher 1.7
Vendor: Spam Butcher
Price: $29.95
Editor Rating: 2 stars
Pros
+ None!
Cons
- Below average protection against spam
- Does not integrate into email client
- Minimal functionality
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a different set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
If applicable, we tested each spam filter on Outlook Express, Eudora, and Yahoo.
Installation
SpamButcher installed perfectly the first time. After we installed, it asked us for our email address and automatically configured itself. SpamButcher requires your password to auto-configure, but this information is not accessible by anyone else.
Usability
SpamButcher does not integrate into your email client. Instead, it runs in the background and periodically checks your email, removing any spam it finds. Like other spam filtering programs that utilize this approach (as opposed to direct integration into your email client), this can cause problems for you if you use the same email account from different locations, especially if you need to locate a legitimate email that was blocked accidentally.
This product had one very annoying feature. You have to click on the system tray to examine your spam, because it doesn’t appear in the task bar, nor can you alt-tab to it.
Training
After installing SpamButcher for the first time, we downloaded 96 spam emails and 4 legitimate emails from our test account. It quarantined 35 spam emails (36% accuracy) and also blocked all of our legitimate email. Not a good start.
After recovering our blocked email, we then imported an additional 291 spam email and 15 legitimate emails. SpamButcher quarantined 122 of them (42%) and allowed 11 of the legitimate emails to pass through. This wasn’t nearly as good as other products we tested.
Other Features
The product was light on features. It does not have a community feature nor some of the more advanced algorithms that our other top ranked products have.
Summary
Spam Butcher provided average protection against spam. It is a light on features and higher priced than other more effective products.
Price: $39.95
Free Trial: YES
Posted by rich at 06:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
EmailProtect 1.8
Product: Email Protect 1.8
Vendor: Content Watch
Price: $29.99
Editor Rating: 3 stars
Pros
+ "Behind the scenes" integration with your email client - no buttons or menus.
+ Better protection than most
Cons
- Leaves "blocked" messages in your inbox
- Tends to block opt-in newsletters
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a different set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
If applicable, we tested each spam filter on Outlook Express, Eudora, and Yahoo.
Installation
Installation proceeded without a hitch, but Email Protect forced us to enter an email address in order to get a trial key.
Usability
EmailProtect does not integrate into your email client. Instead, it runs in the system background and monitors incoming email. When it finds spam, it replaces it with an email indicating that it has blocked the message. You then need to open up the Email Protect interface to read it. While this approach does work, your inbox is still cluttered with blocked messages. If you purchase this program, we suggest that you set up a rule to move blocked spam into a separate folder (and we hope that Content Watch builds this functionality into the next version of their software).
Training
Of the 96 spam and 4 legitimate emails, EmailProtect blocked 60 and allowed the 4 legitimate emails (62% accuracy). 3 of the legitimate emails were passed - the one which was blocked was an opt-in newsletter.
No training options are available, so we then proceeded to filter an additional 291 spam and 15 legitimate emails, again allowing the program to run overnight. EmailProtect blocked 210 of them (72% accuracy). 84 spam made it through, but aside from a few opt-in newsletters, our legitimate email made it through. Overall, EmailProtect did a decent job.
Other Features
EmailProtect has an interesting feature called "category blocking", which allows you to pass or block spam emails in different categories (we did not test this feature to determine its effectiveness). It can also block specific email addresses or emails with forbidden words.
Like most of the products we tested, EmailProtect did not include any reporting functionality.
Summary
EmailProtect provides reasonable protection against spam and has more functionality than most products.
Price: $29.99
Free Trial: YES
Posted by rich at 04:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
SpamEater Pro
Product: SpamEater Pro
Vendor: High Mountain Software
Price: $24.95
Editor Rating: 1 stars
Pros
+ None!
Cons
- Mediocre protection against spam
- Standalone program - does not integrate with your email account
- Extremely slow – took hours to filter even a small number of emails.
- User interface very poor
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a different set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
If applicable, we tested each spam filter on Outlook Express, Eudora, and Yahoo.
Installation
SpamEater Pro installed perfectly out of the box.
Usability
Spam Eater does not integrate into your email program. Instead, to use it you open a separate program which occasionally queries your email provider and removes spam messages from your account. We found that having to run two programs (our email program and Spam Eater Pro) was cumbersome. It is also a problem if you access the same email account from two different locations, because the email that is removed can only be accessed from one location. Should Spam Eater Pro block legitimate emails, they will not be accessible from other mailboxes.
We were decidedly negative about the user interface. The status window could not be minimized or hidden, nor was there any way to cancel an update short of using ctrl-alt-delete. The primary results window did not appear in the task bar. And in the main window, each email is flagged with a cryptic icon “E” or “F” (we still aren’t sure what this means). Clicking on the column headers allows you to sort that column, as is typical in most windows applications, but the column headers were also combined with dropdown boxes. Not only is this confusing, the dropdown isn’t wide enough to read the contents. It was little things such as this that made the program feel cumbersome and difficult to use.
Training
Spam Eater did not support any type of automated training ability. Instead, you are forced to manually enter a new rule for every different type of spam email. Because of this, we couldn’t see ourselves using this product on a long-term basis.
We then attempted to login to our test email account using the product. After downloading seven emails the program hung. We stopped and started the program several times, but we were never able to complete the testing process. Finally, we started it again and allowed it to run overnight. When we returned in the morning, the program had successfully cycled through our emails.
Of the 96 spam and 4 legitimate emails, Spam Eater Pro blocked 57 and allowed the 4 legitimate emails (57% accuracy).
No training options are available, so we then proceeded to filter an additional 291 spam and 15 legitimate emails, again allowing the program to run overnight. Spam Eater Pro blocked 154 (53%) of the spam (but did allow the legitimate email through). These were among the poorest results of any of the products we tested.
Other Features
Spam Eater Pro was lacking in functionality. The only type of rule it supported was checking for literal strings of characters – spammers have long since figured out how to beat this type of filtering technology.
Another important piece of functionality that Spam Eater Pro is missing is the ability to share spam rules with other users. This dramatically increases the accuracy of spam filtering, and without it, the accuracy of the filter drops.
Summary
Spam Eater Pro provided poor protection against spam, scored poorly for usability, and was among the slowest of the products we tested. For a few dollars more, you are better off with one of our top picks.
Price: $24.95
Free Trial: YES
Posted by rich at 04:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Qurb 3.0
Product: Qurb 3.0
Vendor: Qurb
Price: $29.95
Editor Rating: 1 star
Pros
+ Simple user interface
+ Integrates directly into your email client
Cons
- Frequently quarantines legitimate email
- Poor protection against spam
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a different set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
We tested each spam filter on Outlook Express, Eudora, and Yahoo.
Installation
Qurb installed perfectly the first time. It correctly found our email clients and integrated into each one. The first time we ran Outlook Express, it popped up a helpful screen of information teaching us how to get started:
Usability
Qurb was easy to use. Like Spam Inspector, it installed a toolbar directly into Outlook Express with just two buttons, "Approve" and "Block":
Training
Immediately after installing Qurb for the first time, we downloaded 96 spam emails and 4 legitimate emails from our test account. It quarantined all 100 emails, including the legitimate ones. Qurb placed all of the emails into a new folder appropriately named “Qurb”.
We then trained the software by using the "approve" button on the legitimate emails and the "block" button on the spam and then imported an additional 291 spam email and 15 legitimate emails.
Qurb’s results were a little unexpected in that it tended to allow spam through and block legitimate email. Overall, it quarantined 74 of the emails (26%), including 13 of the legitimate emails. The only legitimate emails that it allowed to pass were ones that we had flagged in the training session.
Our tests indicate that this product is little more than an address blocker, which means that you will spend quite a bit of time going through your quarantine folder to look for legitimate email.
Other Features
Qurb has a built-in update feature, but overall it is lacking in functionality.
Summary
Qurb blocked a low percentage of spam in our tests and tended to quarantine legitimate email from senders we didn’t explicitly put in our “approved senders” list.
Price: $29.95
Free Trial: YES
Posted by rich at 04:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 06, 2004
Matador 4.1
Product: Matador 4.1
Vendor: MailFrontier
Price: $39.95
Editor Rating: 3 stars
Pros
+ Blocks most spam and allows legitimate mail through
+ Integrates into Outlook and Outlook Express
Cons
- Light functionality
- Good protection, but not as good as other products
- Higher priced than other products
Review
We test each spam filter by first sending 100 spam emails to a test account with the spam filter installed. If necessary, we then train the product, typically by pressing a button marking the email as spam. After the training process is complete, we then send a larger set of spam emails to the same account to determine the overall effectiveness of the product.
If applicable, we tested each spam filter on Outlook Express, Eudora, and Yahoo.
Installation
Matador installed perfectly the first time. It installed seamlessly into Outlook Express and asked if we wanted to import our address book the first time we started our email client.
Usability
Like other good spam filtering applications, Matador was very easy to use. It installed a toolbar directly into Outlook Express with just two buttons, “junk” and “Unjunk” (it also had an options button):
Training
After installing Matador for the first time, we downloaded 96 spam emails and 4 legitimate emails from our test account. It correctly quarantined 94 of the spam emails and allowed the legitimate emails through.
Matador didn’t need any training, so we then imported an additional 291 spam email and 15 legitimate emails. Matador quarantined 238 of them (82%) and allowed all of the legitimate emails to pass through … a respectable showing. However, it failed to stop some blatantly pornographic spam making this a risky choice if you have children.
Other Features
The product was a little light on other features. It does not have a community feature nor some of the more advanced algorithms that our other top ranked products have.
Summary
Matador 4.1 provides very good protection and stopped most of the spam email that we tested with. However, we ranked it lower because it was lacking in features and was higher priced than other more effective products.
Price: $39.95
Free Trial: YES
Posted by rich at 09:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack