Customer Support

December 2004. We have changed EZ-MailList so that the return address can only be selected from a drop down list of email addresses using a domain name assigned to your account.  This will be help ensure that the email address is spelled correctly.

While the drop down list of valid domain names should be helpful, there is another reason we are making this change.  In the last few days, several new accounts started spamming and phishing immediately after being set up.  Phishing is an attempt to steal someone’s identify and private financial information.  For more information visit http://securities-fraud.org/phishing-attacks.htm.  Within hours of establishing their account they were using EZ-MailList to send out illegal spam and were phishing for confidential information.  While we are honored that the confidence they have demonstrated in our tools, this activity must be stopped for several reasons.

• First, if EZ-NetTools is identified with a spammer, then many of the spam filters will blacklist all email messages coming from our servers.  Eventually, this would be catastrophic to all customers of EZ-NetTools.
• Second, sending out the spam consumes email computer resources, affects everyone using our email servers.
• Third, spam hurts everyone on the internet.  Everyone is frustrated with the amount of spam we receive every day, even with an effective spam filter.  Spam is an enormous waste of time and computing resources.
• Fourth, while spam is an annoyance, phishing for the identity and personal financial information causes great damage to individuals and businesses.

The security enhancement we have just implemented will do several things to combat this problem. 

• First, the return address on the email cannot masquerade as someone else, such as a bank or other financial institution.  The return address must be linked to the EZ-Nettools account and no one else.
• Second, since is takes a day or two to establish a domain name (now required to use EZ-MailList) for an EZ-NetTools member account, it will give us time to verify that the address, phone, and email information.  These criminals rely a short time line to complete their deceptions with out being detected.  For legitimate business, waiting a day or so to set up a domain name is usually done simultaneously with building the site and does not affect the opening of the web site.
• Third, if the spammer does set up a domain name, it will be one more transaction trail to help trace him down.  A spammer who is required leave a lot of tracks, will likely go elsewhere.

Eventually, all email messages on the internet will be required to have valid and traceable return email address.  The internet industry will soon make it impossible for the sender of an email message to masquerade as someone else.  So the changes we have just made are a reflection of what is happening in the internet in the future.

In summary, legitimate business are anxious for customers and business to find them.  Most business want their real domain name as part of their email addresses.  It is part of marketing.  Spammers do not.  Therefore these changes should not be a road block for any legitimate business using EZ-MailList to contact their customers.  If you find this is a problem, contact EZ-NetTools technical support and we will try to accommodate your needs.