[SC-Help] Re: How to contact somebody sending a complaint.

[Benoit Panizzon]

Mike Easter <MikeE at ster.invalid> wrote:
> Benoit Panizzon wrote:
> 
>> We're an ISP and Spamcop Complaints get into our Tracker System,
>> generating an Auto-Reply to the sender with an Incident ID.
> 
> That doesn't sound like a wise configuration.  Is it designed to just
> autoack spamcop complaints or is it some kind of 'generalized' autoack?
> Autoacks can cause an IP to become blocklisted.  See
> http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/329.html  Why are auto responders
> bad?

Not at all. We are a Cable ISP. All our customer's support cases get into 
that system. There are different Queues for different topics. 'Abuse' is the 
one spamcop reports get into.

Most of our customers rely on getting an Tracking ID. So if they don't get a 
reply, they can call in and ask for the status of Support Case $ID and 
whoever get's them on the phone get's all the data needed to answer that 
case.

Also if the customer replies by email and has the right ID in the Subject, 
the reply get's assigned to the right case (and even to the supporter that 
did handle that case before).

In case of portscanns etc. which also get to the abuse queue. Some reporters 
were quite happy to hear we warned the customer, or even blocked his access 
in case of repeated incidents.

> SpamCop challenges "administrators" by making them respond to an email
> to determine if they are people or robots. Only human replies which
> require action from you are forwarded to your attention by default.

Yup. I know that. But our systems sends an automated 'ack we got your 
complaint, it has tracking ID XXXX, please reply to that ID if you have 
further question' and some time later the human replies: 
'Hello, this customer has been warned and has cleaned his trojanized 
computer. Case is resolved. If you get more Spam, please tell us again'.

Well. we could turn off the first automated 'ack' email, but then the person 
sending a complaint would open a new trouble ticket for every addition as he 
can't know about the tracking ID.

> You may override this behavior if you would rather receive every reply,
> robotic or otherwise.
> </snip>

Yes, me (as somebody sending a complaint). But as the ISP Abuse-Guy trying 
to answer a complaint to somebody who has toggled his setting to drop robot 
replies and spamcop not being able to distinguish between autoreplies and 
human replies if they come from the same 'abuse' address, won't get my reply 
to the complainer.

>> Is the id at reports.spamcop.net valid even if answered from a different
>> email address or is just everything dropped once an ISP is set to
>> 'drop'?
> 
> I don't understand 'drop' in this context.  Maybe you mean blocklisted.

Maybe.

My Question is:

If abuse at example.com ist blocklisted because of the sayd auto 'ack' of 
incoming complaints. Would an reply sent from 'someotherguy at example.com' 
sent to the same ID also be blocked?

Does spamcop block the sender address 'abuse at example.com' or does it block 
everything sent to ID at reports.spamcop.net because it knows it sent that 
complaint to abuse at example.com.

-Benoit-