# How do I report illegal porn spam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 4, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914 "2002-09-04T04:13:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/1 "2002-09-04T04:13:57Z")
Or is it illegal? All I know is, I have an e-mail with the subject line “SEE DADDY MAKE HIS LITTLE GIRL SUCK HIS COCK!” and I think somebody in charge of something should be informed. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/2 "2002-09-04T04:16:19Z")
I didn’t open it, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/3 "2002-09-04T04:23:22Z")
It turned up in my Hotmail account along with the usual collection of porn email. I didn’t open it, so I can’t tell you whether this particular website is offshore. My experience in the past has been that the websites themselves go through a lot of redirects and are ultimately located in a country where almost nothing can be done to close down the website (they also tend to have several mirrors). Technically, the email itself probably breaches some kind of US postal or telecommunications law. Whether you can do anything except add some of the keywords to your email filter is questionable (don’t bother blocking the sender, you’ll probably get 20 copies of the same email and they’ll all originate from different email addys). ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/4 "2002-09-04T05:30:25Z")
[http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/enforcem/child.htm](http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/enforcem/child.htm) > [@](#): > > There is no easy formula for discovering and identifying a consumer or purveyor of child pornography. However, if you have information about or suspect this type of illegal activity, contact the U.S. Customs Service as soon as possible. Call 1-800-BE-ALERT. PLEASE DO NOT DOWNLOAD CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, AS THIS IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. MERE POSSESSION OF THIS MATERIAL IS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW AND MAY VIOLATE STATE STATUTES AS WELL. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/5 "2002-09-04T05:31:55Z")
Whoops, forgot this: > [@](#): > > Complaints regarding websites, individuals, servers or chat rooms trafficking in suspected Child Pornography can be forwarded to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at [www.missingkids.com](http://www.missingkids.com) and the information will be forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency for investigative action. Please include as much information as possible about the persons involved if known, to include URL addresses, their E-mail addresses, FTP site, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/6 "2002-09-04T06:05:11Z")
Thanks, **Arnold**! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/7 "2002-09-04T06:10:18Z")
Except that to forward it I’d have to open it, and I don’t want to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/8 "2002-09-04T06:45:03Z")
That’s because you didn’t pay sufficient attention to the following paragraph at my link (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > The U.S. Customs Service will pay **cash awards** pursuant to Title 19 of the U.S. Code, Section 1619 for information concerning a violation of Customs Laws if the information leads to the recovery of fines, penalties, or forfeitures. Don’t you want to retire early? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/9 "2002-09-04T07:20:15Z")
Mmm…Yeah! ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/10 "2002-09-04T07:31:00Z")
Since this is Spam, not only I doubt the mail would contain any childporn, but the site they promote most probably doesn’t, either. I doubt someone would send millions of mails to promote his illegal site. Finally, the authorities are most probably perfectly aware about this site (once again you can’t send Spam and go unoticed). However, you might want to check [www.pedowatch.org](http://www.pedowatch.org) and e-mail them to ask for advice. Anyway, it won’t harm to report this e-mail you received. As others organizations, this one strongly advise not to download anything related to child porn. I doubt opening the mail could really be an issue, since you can’t control what you receive, but you probably shouldn’t follow the link to check whether it’s actually child porn or not. And it doesn’t harm to stay on the safe side, anyway. That’s somewhat “do like I say, not like I do” since I already received similar mails, I probably opened them and I didn’t report them. Reporting spams seems to me a bit like reporting a murder you just watched broadcasted on TV. The police probably already received 34 876 calls about it, and police officers were very likely watching the same show. Plus, I don’t take porn spam very seriously. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/11 "2002-09-04T07:36:04Z")
OK…My advice about [www.pedowatch.com](http://www.pedowatch.com) wasn’t a good one, since they write in their “guide of reporting” : \*2. We don’t accept SPAM tips Many people send me links that they have received in e-mail from bulk e-mail senders. This is known as SPAM or unsolicited e-mail and we don’t accept those types of tips or follow up on them. Refer to your e-mail client documentation for ways to filter or block unsolicited e-mail. The most popular e-mail clients such as Outlook and Eudora have filtering that you can use. \* So their advice seem basically to be “just block the spammer” ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-report-illegal-porn-spam/126914/12 "2002-09-04T07:37:43Z")
> [@](#): > > SEE DADDY MAKE HIS LITTLE GIRL SUCK HIS COCK doesn’t sound like it would have to involve children. I’ve known guys who call their adult girl friends their _little girls._