12.5 million emails later ..... we got one!!

Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/12.5 million emails later ..... we got one!!

Wow

I would have thought the click rate would have been much higher than reported when spammers send out junk emails:

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/11/11/233309/spammers-make-profit-with-only-one-sale-in-every-12.5-million-messages.htm

I can safely say I have never clicked one of those "**Pharamacy, 12" ding dong, cheap Niargra pills **" links
I always delete them

Even if they were offering something I wanted I would not click the link for fear of getting more spam, Virus attacks, and whatever else these scutters get up to

GfK

I replied to one once, and now my todger drags along the floor.

See if I reply to a "have your legs amputated" spam email again. :/

dawlane

I replied to one once, and now my todger drags along the floor.

I keep getting ones for Viagra via hotmail. Now I don't need hands to open doors any more.

Wish I never replied to door-O-matic. I had to buy something just to get rid of them.

Banshee

98% of the worlds eMail are sent by just 350 people, and 300 of those live in the same US city.

In Europe we have controls against the sending of unsolicited bulk mail, it's actually a criminal offence and people have been prosecuted. The US believes spamming is "free enterprise" sadly.

Micro-payments are the only solution i've seen that "would" work, save for the fact that there's too much consumer resistence to that concept, and rightly so.

GaryV

it's actually a criminal offence and people have been prosecuted.

It is the same here in the USA.

(tu) sinu

I replied to one once, and now my todger drags along the floor.

What the hell? Quick send me the email lol

andy_mc

98% of the worlds eMail are sent by just 350 people, and 300 of those live in the same US city.

I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

Wise words from Sigourney Weaver there. I know she meant acis spitting murdering aliens, but you could argue spammers need the same treatment.

Banshee

It is the same here in the USA.

Is it really? Last I heard lobbyist had secured the future of spamming for decades. Obviously the hacking part is covered under other laws already but the act of sending spam I thought US citizens had free reign on?

Naughty Alien

..i would like to invent new sport 'lets crack, spammers leg'..i dream to see one of them in live, in front of me...that would be awesome..

andy_mc

#10

Has there been any studies to show how much quicker the net would run if there was no spam?

I'm sure if John Lennon's imagine was re-written for today, it'd include the line "Imagine there's no email spam". You could argue spam is a form of cyber terrorism in that it slows down networks.

GaryV

#11

Is it really?

Yes, and several have been prosecuted and are in prison for it. IIRC, two of the most high profile ones this year one guy was sentenced to nine years in prison and the other to seven years in prison.

One of those was overturned by the appeals court because the law was vague and prohibited legitimate types of email, not because the guy was innocent. But this was purely a Virginia state ruling. It never made it into the federal courts.

In the USA, many states have laws against spam and we have federal laws against spam and people are routinely prosecuted for violating them. Since the majority of spam originates from Russia or China, there is only so much we can do about it.

But this is the 21st century. People only have a spam issue if they want it. My server automatically deletes email from anybody who is not on my allowed list. Those who are not on the allowed list must use a secure contact form which is accepted by my filter.

FlameDuck

#12

98% of the worlds eMail are sent by just 350 people, and 300 of those live in the same US city.

Citation needed! If that was even moderately true, why are they written in such poor English?

Jim Brown

#13

why are they written in such poor English?

Speaking of which ... I love these types of emails:

Dear friend,

My greetings to you and your family and i hope this letter meets you in good health. i am Rubarb Custard, cousin of the aide to my uncles sisters late president Mosquito Sekonda (twice removed) of the capital of Diarrhoea.
now I have been informed you are reliable close fiend so I am writing to you in good faith based on your profile i received from the chamber of commerce in south Rectum, Diarrhoea
I am moved to write you this letter in confidence that the president has transferred the sum of $22million abroad to a secure location

I have been in touch with the security company abroad where the money is still lodged as family valuables. what i want you to do is to indicate your interest that you will assist me by receiving the money on my behalf.

Kindly furnish me your contact information, which is your personal telephone and fax numbers, DNA structure, favourite TV show, mental health problems, oh, and all the cash from your current account (oops!)

What a great President!! Ohbama and Brown pail in comparison

Mousey

#14

98% of the worlds eMail are sent by just 350 people, and 300 of those live in the same US city.

Citation needed! If that was even moderately true, why are they written in such poor English?

That's a good point, even if they are assembled using generator software of some kind. 99.9% of my spam e-mail subjects (I don't open them) make no sense whatsoever!

Banshee

#15

98% of spam emails are sent by people with a below average IQ?

I got the figure from a documentary I saw on telly a couple of years ago and it's just stayed with me, one of those useless facts wasting brain cells that could be better applied to figuring out how shader 2.0 works.

GaryV

#16

Rubarb Custard

That sounds so gross it makes me want to puke.

Perturbatio

#17

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7725492.stm

GfK

#18

That sounds so gross it makes me want to puke.

Roobarb and Custard is the name of a 1970's British cartoon, featuring a green dog and a pink cat. (Roobarb was the dog).

Ginger Tea

#19

and its still better than the tosh they buy in these days
perhaps its cos its from a time when writers and the public in general did alot of drugs
and you must know henerys cat *miaow

dynaman

#20

Jim Brown:
Whoever wrote the text you quoted deserves some kind of literary award, nearly spit my Dr. Pepper all over my monitor...