Sick of Spam!

N/A | 10/21/03 | Mark A Sity

[logic101.net]

I am sick of spam. I have tried blocking senders, they get new acounts daily. I have tried the "unsubscribe" links, some might work, but enough don't (or are ignored) that my e-mail address is sold again and again. I have tried creating mail rules, but they keep changing the spellings and punctuation, or use on and off caps to defeat this, or they advertise a different drug.

I have gotten some spam from spam blocking sites, and am wondering if this is cost effective. The latest one I got was for "Spam Remedy 2.3" Has anyone used any of these programs and do they work? How much do they cost? Are they worth my time and trouble?

Most of the spam I get is porn, one would think that these people could be charged with "contributing to the delinquency of minors" since they don't care who they send their stuff to. Next is for perscription drugs, also illegal to just dole out to anyone. Where is the FBI in this?

Also, I just don't get where these people make money other than selling mailing lists. Do enough people go for their stuff to make up for the time and trouble? I can't see where a spamer would ever get more than 1 hit out of 5000 e-mails. And don't they ever get the hint that the other 4,999 are a waste of their time?

Personally, I'd like to see the FBI find a way to find spamer's computers, and send a single use virus to burn the hard drives out. Since much of this stuff is overseas it seems like the only option. I never had too much trouble with telemarketers; only one can call at a time. Not only that, they can't be sending children porn over the phone (ok well not so easily anyway). These spamer's are almost as disgusting and evil as Hitlery and it's "husband"!

Any advice on limiting this trash would be appreciated.

Mark A Sity

[zeugma]

What I've finally done is shunt all incoming mail except those people I'm expecting to get mail from into a spam folder that I can peruse at my leisure. The only problem is, when someone changes addresses, they can get caught in the spambox until I create a new filter for the address.

I've had the same email address for almost 7 years, so I get lots of spam.

[George Smiley]

whiteice.com offers 5MB of webspace and spam-filtering for $20 per year.

You give out the whiteice.com email address and set the address to which you want your email forwarded.

It works extremely well.

[hardhead]

I fight spam in two ways. First, none of my web pages have 'live' e-mail links - they're passive - legitimate visitors have to cut and paste.

I have come to the conclusion that spam will never be eradicated - maybe in the U.S. but those are the least of worries. Most spam comes from China, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, Brazil(?), Spain, Italy. I never respond to the 'unsubscribe' link or have any correspondence with the perp. Instead, I try to hit the bastards in the pocketbook and get their accounts cancelled. I have been using SpamCop for about a year - it is a little time-consuming but it helps shut the scum down.

I even had one guy write to me crying 'I'm not a spammer, I just want to present a valid business opportunity to you. Please contact me with your e-mail address.' Duh! No response from me.

[dix]

Save to read later.

[RS]

"I never respond to the 'unsubscribe' link or have any correspondence with the perp."

Save those unsubscribe links - We all know that they just use that info to create new lists, so try this -

When you can track down someone who benefits from the spam - the loan company , the drug outfit, whoever take THEIR email address and enter it in all the "unsubscribes" you have ! When their order address gets choked with hundreds of spam from the other spammers, they might take the hint !

[Chances Are]

Is Mailwasher for use only with Outlook (which I don't use for security reasons) or can you use it with other mail clients, like Eudora or Pegasus?

CA....

[martin_fierro]

I use Mailwasher "with" Eudora -- works just fine!

I say "with" because the two programs are actually separate:

• I have Mailwasher check my POP server to see what e-mail is waiting there for me.
• Mailwasher filters out/bounces the SPAM, but lets the good e-mail remain on the POP server.
• I then use Eudora to download the remaining "good" e-mail.

I imagine this would be the same with Pegasus.

[Billthedrill]

Do enough people go for their stuff to make up for the time and trouble?

In fact, yes. Sending spam is so close to free that they only need one or two hits per 100,000 emails to pay for the whole shebang. The fact that it's nearly free isn't really a function of the magic of the Internet so much as it is a function of the fact that the recipient pays for it. Ugh.

[martin_fierro]

Excellent source there.

[discostu]

Actually I've been having some pretty good success with the unsub links. A lot of it depends on the "legitimacy" of the spam you're getting, anything smutty forget about it the unsub link is a trap if it does anything at all. Most of the spam I was getting was finance related (the curse of Monster.com, they sell your address so fast it's frightening) and a couple of days of hitting those unsub links has dropped my spam by about 75%.

[tm22721]

The only remedy is to get a new email address periodically and inform only your personal friends and relatives.

Do not use it on the web, use a Yahoo address instead.

BUMP

[Momaw Nadon]

Block unwanted spam - CNET reviews

[Momaw Nadon]

Top Tip: Help, I'm drowning in spam!

[Momaw Nadon]

Six Spam Fighters Face Real-World Test

[Revolting cat!]

Yours is the best idea I've heard in a while (#25.) All the methods listed here and elsewhere are defensive. And none of them works! Why not go on the offensive? Everyone, including the lawmakers, talks about avoiding or punishing spammers, the hackers who send these e-mails; for some reason no one talks about penalizing their customers, the businesses selling these products and services, as if they were the innocent parties. What's up with that?

[BillF]

RS said: Save those unsubscribe links - . . . . take THEIR email address and enter it in all the "unsubscribes" you have !

That sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure how often it will work and how often it may backfire.

Clicking on the link may automatically disclose a code to the spammer, the code effectively confirming to the spammer that your email address is valid and received the spam.

I've never clicked on an unsubscribe link except where it was an email list that I had signed up for and decided to cancel at a later time.

With those reputable companies, clicking on the link sometimes automatically unsubscribes you and pulls up a web page saying "you have unsubscribed from the XYZ Corp weekly sales email" or similar message. You don't even enter your email address. If spammers sometimes use a similar system as is likely, trying the suggested strategy may backfire.

[Xenalyte]

Hint #1: do NOT use "unsubscribe" links. All that does is tell the sender that there's a human at your IP address who'll answer e-mails, and you'll never get off that particular list. Delete without opening.

[hardhead]

The problem with that is most of the time the return e-mail address is fake. They may send the junk through several servers to get to you. Also, quite often, the 'unsubscribe' link doesn't work at all - thats why I use Spam Cop to track them to their source and report their sorry a$$es to THEIR server.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Would someone please tell me why I keep getting this crap in my email? What is this language?

«Coâpeìåííûe PR-òåxíoëîãuè íà ïpegïpuÿòuè”.

Ñpîêè ïðîâegeíuÿ: 28-31 oêòÿápÿ
Ìåñòo ïðîâegeíuÿ: Îòåëü «CÏÓÒÍÈÊ», Ìîñêâà, Ëeíuíñêué ïp-ò, 38.
Íà÷aëî çàíÿòué â 10.00 ÷àc.

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Áuçíec-öeíòð «Âîcòoê-3aïàä» ïðèãëàøàåò Âaøux ñoòðóäíuêîâ ïpèíÿòü y÷àñòue â cåìèíàpå-ïpaêòuêyìe «Coâpåìåííûe PR-òeõíîëîãèu ía ïðegïðuÿòuu», êoòîðûé ñîñòîèòcÿ 28-31 îêòÿáðÿ 2003 ãîäa â Ìîcêâe ïî àgpåñy: Ëåíuíñêué ïpoñïeêò, 38, Oòåëü «ÑÏÓÒÍÈÊ».

 ïpoãpaììó ñåìèíapà âêëþ÷eíû âoïpîñû ðàçpaáîòêu è påàëuçaöuè còpaòeãuu ýôôeêòuâíûx êoðïoðaòuâíûx êoììóíèêaöèé, PR-êaìïàíèu, âíyòpèêoðïopaòèâíûõ PR-ìeðîïðèÿòué, òexíoëîãué ñoçäàíèÿ câÿçåé c oáùecòâåííîñòüþ, à òàêæå âoïðîñû, ñâÿçàííûe ñ èìugæeì pyêîâoäuòåëåé paçëu÷íûx ópîâíåé.

Ñòîèìîcòü ó÷àcòèÿ â cåìèíàpå-ïðaêòèêóìå îäíoãî ÷åëoâeêà coñòàâëÿåò 9500 ðóáëeé, âêëþ÷aÿ 20% ÍÄÑ, ÷òî âêëþ÷àeò îáó÷åíue, ðaçgàòî÷íûé ìaòeðèàë, 3-4 êoôe-ïàóçû â òe÷eíuå êàægoão ó÷eáíîãî gíÿ, oáeg, êîìïëeêò gîêóìåíòoâ, ïîgòâåðægàþùèx cïåöèàëüíóþ ïîäãîòîâêy ñëóøaòeëeé ïî gàííîé òåìe, ygocòîâepeíue ãocóäapcòâeííîão îáðaçöà. Ïðè íaïpaâëåíuu ía îáó÷eíue oò âàøeé opãaíuçàöèè äâyx è áîëåå ÷eëîâeê ìû ïðåäîcòaâuì 5% ñêègêè ía êaæäoãî y÷àñòíèêà ñeìèíaða.
Ïo âaøåé çaÿâêå ìû çaápoíèpyeì gëÿ âàc ãîcòuíuöy (ñòîèìîcòü ïpîæuâaíuÿ â oäíîìecòíoì íoìåðå â oòåëe ÑÏÓÒÍÈÊ ñîcòàâëÿåò 1600-00 â cóòêè ñ çaâòpaêoì â ðåcòîpaíå îòåëÿ).

Áógåì ðaäû âègåòü Âañ è Âàøèx ñïeöèaëuñòîâ ñpegè y÷acòíèêîâ ýòoão ìeðîïðèÿòuÿ.

Èñêpåííe æeëaeì óäà÷u è ïðîöâåòaíuÿ âaøeìy ïðågïpuÿòuþ
u âceãî íaèëy÷øåãî êaægîìó ñoòpógíuêó!

Ñäåëaòü çàÿâêó ía y÷àcòèå â ceìuíàpe âû ìoæeòe ïo òeëåôoíaì
(095) 930-6032-, 500-7864-, 930-4252-, 930-3172-.

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Áûcòpåíüêî oòêaçàòücÿ!
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[MarkL]

For what it's worth, the best thing that you can do is to have both a private and (possibly more than one) public addresses...

First off, you can give out your private address to those you trust, who will not ever give that out or make it public. Be careful about sending it to family and friends, if they have a habit of forwarding jokes.

Then, create one or more "public" addresses. Create Yahoo or Hotmail accounts, and any time you have to give out an address, use one of those. Make it a "disposable" address, so if the spam gets out of hand, you just delete the address and create a new one. An added bonus is that these are web based mail systems, so you don't actually download messages to your computer, making things a bit more virus resistant.

If you ever post to discussion groups or blogs, be sure to either use a "dummy" address (like nobody@nowhere.com ) or use one of those disposable addresses.

For the most part, this works well for me. On the average, I get fewer than 3 spam messages a day to my "real" private address, while my public addresses typically get 20 or more a day. I don't think that I'd get any spam to my private address if it wasn't for using it normally a few years ago.

Mark