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| Russian Minister Andrei Korotkov is said to have
been enraged by spam |
According to reports in the Moscow Times, Russian Deputy
Communications Minister Andrei Korotkov was so enraged by the
amount of spam he was receiving he launched a counter-attack:
unsolicited phone calls.
Korotkov was annoyed after receiving 40 emails inviting him to
join an English class at the American Language Center.
"I sent them an email thanking them for the offer to teach me
English - which I already know - and asked them to stop," said
Korotkov, who oversees the Electronic Russia initiative, a
government program to use the internet for greater efficiency.
Korotkov claims that not only was he not removed from the
mailing list, but he found himself added to several more. In
response, Korotkov recorded an audio message to be played to
telephone numbers included in the spam messages.
"They wanted to joke us around, so we decided to joke them
around, too," Korotkov explained.
The American Language Center's office manager, Natalya Petrova,
reported that they were bombarded with more than 1000 automated
phone calls in a single morning.
Anyone answering the phone heard Korotkov's voice intoning: "I
want to warn you that if you continue your illegal activity, then
the necessary measures will be taken not just by me."
Efforts would be made, Kortokov's recorded voice said, "to make
it impossible for you to get in the way of email users and to make
your life complicated. Once again, I implore you, stop these
illegal activities and think of some legal ways to achieve your
goals."
The American Language Center, based near the Oktyabrskaya train
station, was forced to block telephone calls, and was forced to
post a message on its website explaining that they could not
currently be contacted by phone, and that interested parties should
use the internet to contact them instead.
"More and more people are frustrated with the amount of
unsolicited email they are receiving," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "However, this Russian minister
is not really setting a sensible example for others through his
actions. A much better solution would be to install at his email
gateway a consolidated solution to protect against the threat of
spam and viruses."
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