Montclair Who’s Who = Spam + Scam + Photography

Here’s a chance to combine a few of my favorite topics: photography, spam fighting and exposing con artists. Mind you, the last two frequently coincide, but an opportunity to address these two peeves and photography is not to be missed. Not by me, anyway.

Here’s the spam:

I trust I need not reproduce any more of the pitch for you to get the idea? Yes, I am being “honored” with an offer to be included in this fine publication. At no cost. The reality is that they make this offer to pretty much any photographer whose email address they can get (many such spammers scrape addresses off web pages, which is technically illegal in the U.S. under the “CAN-SPAM” act, but there’s almost no way to prove that’s what they’ve done).

Then comes the sales pitch to buy a copy of the book, or "purchase a membership" as they like to euphemize it. Membership can be purchased at several levels – between $75.00 and $800.00 according to those who inquired – which basically amounts to them working out just how much money they can persuade you to part with. You will not get into the book without paying, of that have no doubt. That is how these wastes-of-otherwise-useful-protein make their money. At the bottom of this post I have a list of links to other warnings about Montclair Publishing, several of which describe the scam in detail. (There aren’t as many as you might expect because victims of this type of scam are often reluctant to speak up as it amounts to admitting to being duped.)

You’re supposed to put this tome on your book shelf to impress… well, I’m not sure. Perhaps if you’re dumb enough to fall for this you have friends dumb enough to be impressed by it. Self-selecting for gullibility makes for a powerful marketing technique, doesn’t it? Their promise that I will be listed alongside other professionals of “equal caliber” thus becomes a disincentive rather than an enticement! I for one don’t want to be listed with a group of fools.

The outfit is called “Montclair Publishing” and they print these ersatz “Who’s Who” volumes for Photographers, Collegiate Faculty (I’m on their spam list for that, too), Dentists, Nurses, Lawyers and on and on… They have a web site (which plays sound at you without asking, indicating they’re ignorant about web design and usability) that proclaims in small print at the bottom of many pages: Montclair Whos (sic) Who is proudly not associated nor related to any other Whos (sic) Who organization or publication. Get that? These cretins are proudly not associated with… the real Who’s Who*. One suspects the feeling is mutual. In fact, I bet the real Who’s Who publishers want to crawl under a rock and hide whenever the subject of Montclair Publishing comes up.

Like most of the cockroaches inhabiting the gray area between legitimate business and outright criminality, Montclair Publishing has chosen a hosting company that cheerfully tolerates spammers (as long as said spammers pay their bills). The spams trace back to an outfit called EGI Hosting (because a “bizness” like Montclair Publishing can’t afford even the smallest non-transferable IP block themselves). And EGI Hosting gets their IP space and connectivity through Hurricane Electric (he.net). Groan — he.net is a famously spam-friendly provider. In other words, there’s probably not going to be any response to spam reports (though you should report them if they spam you: “abuse” at he.net and “abuse” at egihosting.com are the appropriate addresses according to www.abuse.net).

I’m going to have to start saving the IP blocks and business names of these spam-friendly outfits for reference. Come to think of it, I could collect them all and have them printed up in a book. Egihosting.com, he.net, xo.com (home of the mwave.com spammers) and other “bulletproof” spam hosts might like to buy copies. I’m sure their friends would be impressed to see it on the shelf.

Remember — Any legitimate “Who’s Who” book will be available in major public libraries and the publishers will provide complimentary copies for those listed in the book. If someone tries to get you to pay for a book in which you’re listed it can only be because they don’t have a significant number of paying customers aside from the people listed. Which makes such a book essentially worthless.

Note: The day after filing spam complaints with both he.net and egihosting.com I received replies from both saying they were “looking into” the problem. Two days after that I received yet another spam from Montclair Publishing. Several weeks later the spams are still coming…

Update (August 2011): Word is that these people are also spamming their services under the name Sutton Who’s Who. You have been warned.