Slacktory

Chasing @Horse_ebooks is like trying to hug smoke.

bridgefigure:

I have a cadre of Russians, so I briefed one contact on Adrian Chen’s @Horse_ebooks offer, thinking she’d put me in contact with someone grateful for an easy opportunity to make some money. I was told off instead:

Um, plenty of people could make it happen, but that address won’t lead to shit.

I thought you were using the IP address or whatnots to track him. NO ONE EVER PROVIDES THEIR REAL RUSSIAN ADDRESS ONLINE. In Russia, you still have to be registered to live in any given apartment (that is, you have to apply and have the government’s permission to live there.) No one does this. No one. Everyone just buys fake registration somewhere, and lives wherever they want. However, you do not want to be traced reporting an address that conflicts with the one on your registration.

Secondly, Ulitsa Lenina and Ulitsa Karla Marxa were arbitrarily assigned to the major cross-streets of any Soviet city. Saying you live on Lenina street is like saying you live on Main Street.

Oh, and “Kuznetsov” literally and figuratively means “Smith.”

So, basically you are looking for Joe Smith who lives on 11 Main Street, Moscow…

Sounds like an entirely genuine name for a spammer.

So, unfortunately, the lead’s a dead-end.

The @Horse_ebooks author stays secret a little longer.