This is part 5 of “Fighting the BMW Spam Machine”
To my International guests, don’t go away quite yet. If you
are the victim of cybercrime and the perpetrator is in the USA, you can file a
complaint through the IC3 too!
Today I am going to walk you through filing an IC3
Complaint. The IC3 is the Internet Crime Complaint Center which is a
partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center. Their
Home page is at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
It’s really worth reading the information about the types of
crimes handled and the processes at http://www.ic3.gov/faq/default.aspx#item1.
Let’s get started. Today we’ll use BMW of Mt Laurel, The
Holman Automotive Group, and BMW of North America as examples in filing the
spam/harassment complaint. Holman Automotive is the Parent Company of BMW of
Mt. Laurel and appears to allow them to disregard federal laws regarding spam. BMW of North America profits
from Holman Automotive selling cars for them and do not seem to be inclined to
take away the dealership if it is operated with illegal practices.
In the picture above I am going to click on the “File a
Complaint” link. This takes me to http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx,
which I am not going to print a screen shot of. It basically says you are
telling the truth and that due to state laws your complaint may not remain
confidential. I don’t think that is an issue for me today! I’ll click the
“Accept” button.
The complaint process uses SSL to keep the information
confidential as you transmit it to the IC3. Here’s the first screen
The next screen is easy enough
And then…
The next screen is too long to post here. It includes your
contact information, specific questions about the entity you are reporting, the
evidence you may have, and many other things that are usually not too hard to
figure out.
Below is the information I submitted to the IC3 about the incident.
"On 5/19/2011 I received spam from BMW of Mt. Laurel, a
Holman Automotive Group company. I replied indicating I believed it was spam.
The opt out did not work as they require scripts that might not be safe. The
opt out page should use no scripting. The company did not respond to me. I have
a copy of my response that includes the original email and I can print it out.
On 11/21/2011 I received another spam from Holman Automotive and again on
11/29/2011. I posted a message to Facebook and received a message back on
November 30 indicating that if I sent them my email address they would remove
me. I have email copies of every thing except my comment to them on Facebook. I
have email with their reply. I sent them copies of the spam on 11/30/2011. On
12/12/2011 I received more spam from BMW of Mt. Laurel. I emailed customer
service at Holman Automotive and at BMW of Mt. Laurel and told them to remove
me from their mailing list once again. On 1/25/2012 I received more spam from
"Wendy Morgan" at BMW of Mt. Laurel. I emailed more than a dozen
employees of BMW of Mt. Laurel and Holman Automotive telling them to stop
spamming me and nobody replied. On 2/3/2012 I emailed Comcast and CC'd Holman Automotive
and BMW North America. I asked Comcast to block the spammers, but they did not.
Holman Automotive ignored the request and BMW of North America returned a form
letter telling me they appreciate my comments. I also sent a complaint with the
spam to the FTC, but no action has been taken against the spammers who
repeatedly defy the canned spam act. I sent another email to BMW of Mt. Laurel,
The Holman Automotive Group, and BMW of North America and told them all to stop
spamming me. I sent an email specifically to BMW of North America and told them
to remove my email address from their lists and have it removed from all of
their dealer's lists. I received an email the same day (2/3/12) from a
"Wendy Morgan" who assured me she would attend to it immediately and
put a "total block" on all the email addresses I previously provided.
On 2/7/ I received a reply from BMW of North America and they said "BMW of
North America, LLC is not responsible for the marketing promotions and mailings
of individual BMW centers. We suggest
contacting the marketing representative at BMW of Mt. Laurel. They will be in the best position to assist
in researching your inquiry for future mailings.". I replied indicating
the contacting BMW of Mt. Laurel doesn't work and that they should not be
supporting illegal activities by their dealers. BMW of NA responded and asked
for my phone number, which I provided. BMW of NA replied that they would
research and call me back. They did not. On 5/24/2012 I received more spam form
"Wendy Morgan" on behalf of BMW of Mt. Laurel. I replied back to BMW
of Mt. Laurel, Holman Automotive, BMW of NA and the German BMW headquarters. So
far there has been no response from BMW of Mt. Laurel, or Holman Automotive.
BMW USA said they would not put a stop to the spamming on a phone call. BMW AG
(Germany) replied they would have their IT look into it. It really is time that
BMW of Mt. Laurel and Holman Automotive cease the harassment and comply with
the canned spam act. If possible I would like criminal harassment charges
filed. I also filed another complaint with the FTC, but the FTC indicated they
do not pursue individual complaints. I again asked Comcast to stop their
customer from illegal spamming, but Comcast did not indicate that they would
take any effective action."
I have filed a complaint with the New Jersey Better Business
Bureau, however the attacker is not accredited by the BBB.
I am happy to print out and provide all relevant
correspondence.
Following this write up I am asked to provide details of
contact I made with the attacker, and any law enforcement or consumer advocacy
agencies, including the Better Business Bureau.
On the next page I confirm the information and then submit.
The last is as follows…
A couple of minutes later I received an email from the IC3
with my case number and a password.
You can use the IC3 to report all kinds of Internet crimes, you just need to know the resource is there.
My next blog on the subject will deal with how BMW of Mt. Laurel lied to the Better Business Bureau in response to my complaint, and the folks at BMW HQ who know about it. If BMW of Mt. Laurel, and or BMW North America, and/or BMW AG have any comments I'll post those as well.
Left to do... Check on the feasibility of filing suit in New Jersey, and retain a lawyer to file civil suit for CAN Spam act violations.
Part 1 - Fighting the BMW Spam Machine
http://randy-abrams.blogspot.com/2012/06/fighting-bmw-spam-machine-part-1.html
Part 2 - An Open Letter to BMW AG
http://randy-abrams.blogspot.com/2012/06/fighting-bmw-spam-machine-part-2.html
Part 3 - How to Get A the Attention of a Global Corporation
http://randy-abrams.blogspot.com/2012/06/fighting-bmw-spam-machine-part-3.html
Part 4 - Filing an Online FTC Complaint is Easy, Fun, and Socially Responsible
http://randy-abrams.blogspot.com/2012/06/fighting-bmw-spam-machine-part-4.html
Left to do... Check on the feasibility of filing suit in New Jersey, and retain a lawyer to file civil suit for CAN Spam act violations.
Part 1 - Fighting the BMW Spam Machine
http://randy-abrams.blogspot.com/2012/06/fighting-bmw-spam-machine-part-1.html
Part 2 - An Open Letter to BMW AG
http://randy-abrams.blogspot.com/2012/06/fighting-bmw-spam-machine-part-2.html
Part 3 - How to Get A the Attention of a Global Corporation
http://randy-abrams.blogspot.com/2012/06/fighting-bmw-spam-machine-part-3.html
Part 4 - Filing an Online FTC Complaint is Easy, Fun, and Socially Responsible
http://randy-abrams.blogspot.com/2012/06/fighting-bmw-spam-machine-part-4.html
©2012 Randy Abrams - Independent Security Analyst
