Spammers hitting chess blogs?

[KeithAmmann]

I just came from Elizabeth Vicary’s blog, on which were posted the following two “comments”:

@jovana

Hi,
We at Chessboss.com strongly believe in necessity of chess to increase both knowledge and understanding. It is unfortunate that the oldest game in the world (Chess) has a very little fan base, ChessBoss.com aims to change that. We understand the importance of blogs and the information made available on them. We are working towards building a strong fan base around our FREE chess server to better increase the use of Chess online. Your blog seems to have a large viewing public and seems to hold great information which I would love to make available to my viewing public.

I have included the code for the ChessBoss.com banner within the body of this email along with textual link information. I would be pleased to offer you the ChessBoss.com featured blogger badge to post on your site, recognizeing your blog as a leading contributor to the Chess community. Thank you for your great work and dedication, we look forward to your response!Please reply me back with subject line of your Url to avoid spam and to make sure YOU get the Award.

Thank you.

@Mary

Hi,

Americachess.com is currently in the progress of choosing chess blogs/clubs to receive recognition from Americachess.com as Top Resources. This award is not meant to be anything other than a recognition that your blog/Clubs gives information about tactics that directly or in directly raise Chess awareness. Simply place the award banner code on your site and your resource will be listed as a Top CHESS Resources on Americachess.com once you place it. Americachess.com is a Private Global Chess Server which offer FREE Chess Games and Guidelines for learning chess and whose goal is to promote Chess (which game has lost his fan base) through the spread of information globally. Thank you for your dedication to your Club/blogs. Please reply me back with the subject line as your URL to avoid spam and to make sure that you only get the award banner.

Sloppy spammers . . . hitting the same site twice in one day.

Looking up the domain registration info, I got the following:

Registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.

DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (godaddy.com)
Domain Name: AMERICACHESS.COM
Created on: 27-Aug-06
Expires on: 27-Aug-10
Last Updated on: 23-Jun-09

Administrative Contact:
Private, Registration AMERICACHESS.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624-2599 Fax – (480) 624-2598

Technical Contact:
Private, Registration AMERICACHESS.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624-2599 Fax – (480) 624-2598

The info for chessboss.com was identical.

Wikipedia has the following to say about Domains by Proxy Inc.:

Domains by Proxy is an Internet company owned by Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons. It offers domain privacy services through partner domain registrars such as Go Daddy and Wild West Domains.

Subscribers list Domains by Proxy as their administrative and technical contacts in the Internet’s WHOIS database, thereby delegating responsibility for managing unsolicited contacts from third parties. Since most of such contacts originate from spammers, domain owners experience little downside other than subscription fees. The same cannot be said for the general public, however, when the domain owners being shielded are spammers.

Domains by Proxy does not offer true anonymity. In most countries they are legally obliged to collect personal information from domain owners. They also require little persuasion to release domain owners’ contact information, in some cases requiring only a phone request, certified letter to the domain owner, or a cease and desist letter.

Any other chess blogs getting this kind of junk comment?

[nolan]

I think we got similar emails at several USCF email addresses.

[xplor]

Is this spam?
Tatiana Honek Sunday, 9/20/09, 5:54 PM Promote on your website and receive a free entry to distribute as you wish It Happens Here @ Riviera Hotel/Casino Las Vegas Start Date/Time: Dec 2, 2009 at noon End Date/Time: Dec 13, 2009 at till end Location: Riviera Hotel Casino 2901 S Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas, Nevada, 89109 United States World Chess Federation, Inc. Last Chance World Chess Championship Qualifying Tournament (Rueben Fine Memorial) open to anyone in world without any required membership in any organization. $128,000 in qualifying entries into The WCF World Chess Championship Candidates Tournament (Samuel Reshevsky Memorial) which starts thereafter December 15 also at Riviera Hotel Casino Las Vegas.12 round 20/1 time control Full details and tournament rules can be found at americanchessassociation.org From: Las Vegas USA

[EnriqueHuerta]

@xplor

Is this spam?

No. It’s worse.

• Enrique

[michaeldlawson]

I have gotten Chessboss several times. The other one not really.

[ppwchess]

I got the same one from Mary. It got deleted. I don’t leave spam comments up.

[fpawn]

I also got one from Mary. I did my due diligence and also concluded it was spam.
Michael Aigner