[SC-Help] Re: Understanding SC's Reports

[Mike Easter]

antioch wrote:
> Hello to this group
> I have recently joined spamcop in hope that I might add my help to
> fight spam.

Okey dokey.

> I spent all day yesterday(well just over 10 hours) going round and
> round their site, trying to figure out what it was all about.

That is a very useful activity.

> Cant say I did very well, but at my age it takes a hell of a time to
> let info sink in.
> I managed to sort out the reporting side - chose email method -
> seemed the easiest way - sent off 8 spams.

I also 'recommend' using the webparser first for most people.  To me it
is simpler and cleaner to 'troubleshoot'.  The person needs to know how
to access the raw spam with complete headers with their mailuser agent,
and then they paste it into the webparser, and then they immediately see
the result of the parse.

Whereas emailing is a 'blackbox' concept, and if there is trouble, I
think there can be confusion about where things weren't right.

> Reports started to fly back as fast as I could send.
> I also had a try at searching those IP numbers.

I'm losing you.  I don't know what you mean.

> Having got these reports, I then spent some hours trying to find a
> way to see how to read/understand/interpret them.  Despite trying
> various words in the search facility I gave up.

Let's do something different.

Let's talk about a spam by your posting its tracking URL.  That is, you
submit a spam to the parser;  I recommend the webparser, but you can
also use email if it is working for you.  The tracker and its
environment looks like:

Here is your TRACKING URL - it may be saved for future reference:
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?id=z939018156zce3ff9ab3b5765265194cea1472a5ccez

at the top of the webparse before reporting or cancelling, which you
would copy for pasting here, or in the email that SC sends you in this
environment:

May be saved for future reference:
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?id=z939018156zce3ff9ab3b5765265194cea1472a5ccez

> It's probably there somewhere.  If anybody knows then a prod in the
> right direction would be appreciated.

I'm not sure what you are trying to find out.

When you submit a spam to the webparser, it can give you its verbose
output if you configure for that in the preferences.  That verbose
output tells you a lot about what is the parser's logic in its
processes.  If you think the faq was difficult to understand and
navigate, you'll find the parser verbose particularly confusing.  But it
too is worth getting oriented with.

> I prefer newsgroups.

Me too.

-- 
Mike Easter
kibitzer, not SC admin