Today I received a spam for a e-mailing software called Rafale. After having contacted the company that did send me this unwanted ad, I was told that they got my mail address from a "friend of mine", and he named Mr Christian Fonck. I found out that Mr Fonck is the gentleman that is behind Flightworld. I had purchased the Geneva scenery from them somewhere in 1998/1999, and had a couple of mail exchanges with Mr Fonck end of 1999 regarding an upgrade for this scenery. What I do not know is if I am the only one whose address had been give away or if he transferred all his customers addresses. Also, I do not know if my address has been communicated to other spammers.I have written Mr Fonck about my disappointment. Let's wait for his answer.J.J.JJ StruyfBraine-L'AlleudBelgiumhttp://jdtllc.com/images/RCsupporter.jpg

What you don't know is whether the spammer in question obtained your email from Christian in a legit way. To assume he gave away your email address based on the word of a spammer isn't a stretch I'd make. It is very possible the spammer in question used spyware to harvest email addresses from unsuspecting users, or even somehow harvested the information from a discarded PC. During 99/2000, there was also the first outbreak of virus attacks which harvested email addresses from Outlook.-John

Well John, I do not know how well you are doing with non-english languages, but anyway here are Mr Fonck's recommendations that were added to the spam I received. It's in french, so if you need a translation, please ask me.J.J.Edited: forgot to paste the addendum. here it is:http://www.kiriasse.fr/images/rafale_fonck.gifJJ StruyfBraine-L'AlleudBelgiumhttp://jdtllc.com/images/RCsupporter.jpg

They did not appear in your reply--I don't speak French, so I would be curious what they say.-JohnEdit:It is interesting that their site's been closed since the beginning of the year--here's a link:http://www.flightworld.org/

It says: "I had the opportunity to use Rafale in many instances for my Direct Marketing work. I requested a few modifications from the author. I must say that I am more than pleased with Rafale, and also with the speed and quality of Mr Jean-Claude Mariotte's work. Furthermore I must admit that I prefer Rafale's HTML editor than Frontpage (no bad words about it). That feature just makes me love it. Shortly, a little jewell, not only for the professional but also for any user : sending Xmas wishes, a newsletter, information etc. It's an unmissable tool for any small company or independant worker. Thank You for giving us Rafale, Mr Mariotte. Waiting for more surprises from you. Friendly Yours.signed: Christian Fonck, http://www.eaglemarket.tk, GenevaJJ StruyfBraine-L'AlleudBelgiumhttp://jdtllc.com/images/RCsupporter.jpg

Thanks,The way it's worded, it still looks like Christian's name could have been plugged in by some type of spambot. There's a lot of deception surrounding spam. -John

Just got a mail from Christian Fonck. He confirmed being a customer of Mr Mariotte. Mr Mariotte said he got my mail address from Mr Fonck. We are now trying to separate the lies from the truth.J.J.JJ StruyfBraine-L'AlleudBelgiumhttp://jdtllc.com/images/RCsupporter.jpg

"Just got a mail from Christian Fonck. He confirmed being a customer of Mr Mariotte. Mr Mariotte said he got my mail address from Mr Fonck. We are now trying to separate the lies from the truth."Certainly makes matters more serious than. There's no excuse for any payware vendor doing this, and if Mr. Fonck did, I don't blame you for being upset. I'm upset, and I've never done business with him. I'm glad you spoke out.-John