# Have you ever responded to genuine spam or know anyone who has? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 7, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686 "2011-01-07T00:18:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/1 "2011-01-07T00:18:42Z")
I’ve wondered for years what the point of spam is. When I say spam, I don’t mean the annoying notices you get from genuine, above-board retailers and other businesses that you probably signed up for somehow or bought something from. I’m talking about the real thing, the pure garbage, the junkety-junk-junk-trash marketing poop that’s obviously fake, poorly written, badly formatted, clearly crap and impossible to imagine as being effective at anything except giving spam filter developers a job to do. (Hey, wait a minute…) stuff like: > [@](#): > > Have you thought of becoming a Pharmacy Technician? > From: > Info on Pharmacy Technicians \ > Add to Contacts > To: > Step into a fast-moving industry with a Pharmacy Technician degree > [@](#): > > 0nIinePhrmaacyAapporvedBy/IsaAndMaestrCard > From: > Darbie Feltner \ > Add to Contacts > To: [rallen88@yahoo.com](mailto:rallen88@yahoo.com) > EnjjoyYouurIliifeWith\_disocuunted/Igagra. > > [http://www.arluenesalomi.com/](http://www.arluenesalomi.com/) > wwwwww mmm pppp jjjj ssssss iiii ll And of course, replica watches are evidently a HUGE industry that I would never have guessed existed - I think replica watch spam at one point made up 25% of all the spam I got, what the hell is that about? > [@](#): > > 80% Discount WatchStore. Save on Watchesfor Men & Women at Great Prices. Brand Name Styles ejpm > From: > Monika Karyn \ > Add to Contacts > To: [mrbasketball100@yahoo.com](mailto:mrbasketball100@yahoo.com) > Replica watches On Sale - Best Replica Watches Online Shop >   We offer a wide selection of cheap replica watches including Rolex, Gucci, Chanel and more. > Nobody will even know you are wearing a fake … > > Buy Best Quality Replica on our site And a day without a huge win is a day without a huge win: > [@](#): > > Winning Notification!!! > From: > Mrs Rosemary Tata \ > Add to Contacts > To: > ASIAN UNION > World Trade Organization(WTO) > > Congratulations for been chosen among our recipients. > Compliment of the day, this is to notify you that you have been chosen > by the Board of trustees of the WTO and ASIA UNION based in ASIA, as one > of the final recipients of our Grant Donation for your personal development > to mark the year 2010. > > Your email address came out among the ten recipients in the internet > category to receive US$750,000.00 (Seven Hundred And Fifty Thousand > United State Dollars) each, for uplift of your environment. > > Do contact your claims co ordinator by call or by email for confirmation, Your > identification number’s are > (Ticket Number:090-02833099-01,Serial Number:90490-0,Lucky Number:01-05-18-14-19-28 > and REF: N.EGS/2361567001/09). > > Contact Claims Co ordinator: > > Mr Jackson Pinto > [Email:jacksonpinto@inMail24.com](mailto:Email:jacksonpinto@inMail24.com) > Tel:+66882439701 > > On behalf of the Board kindly accept our warmest congratulations. > > Yours faithfully, > > Mrs.Rosemary Tata > Association Information officer. > Copyright (c) 2009 ASIA UNION Projects Association Inc Oh yes…DO contact your claims coordinator… So… who is keeping this shit alive by responding to it in 2010? (Although this was prompted by reading that spam is actually down dramatically, so obviously it’s not working as well as it used to. But really… when did it work?) In my own case, I consider it a principle not to respond because I don’t want to encourage it. If the spam seems legit (Never that I remember offhand..) I never click a link. If there’s a website, I go direct. And you? ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/2 "2011-01-07T00:36:33Z")
There are a lot of stupid people out there. There are also lots of people who barely have any idea how computers and or the internet works. AOL still exists, just as an example. Besides, the spammers don’t care. A ton of it is sent out through botnets with barely any effort. If they get even a fraction of a fraction of a percent on what they send out, it’s worth it. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/3 "2011-01-07T00:48:36Z")
It’s kind of tempting; I get offers every day to sell me Viagra at bargain rates and I get offers to sell me stuff that would make me increase in size past all belief. I think sometimes that if word got out that I had grown about three feet longer and was wired on Viagra, it might lead to something other than my incarceration. But then again, if I went to jail, I could watch the time pass on my counterfeit expensive watch. I don’t know which route to pursue first; I need advice. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/4 "2011-01-07T00:53:50Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > It’s kind of tempting; I get offers every day to sell me Viagra at bargain rates and I get offers to sell me stuff that would make me increase in size past all belief. I think sometimes that if word got out that I had grown about three feet longer and was wired on Viagra, it might lead to something other than my incarceration. But then again, if I went to jail, I could watch the time pass on my counterfeit expensive watch. I don’t know which route to pursue first; I need advice. Get Ugg boots or Jordan sneakers so your arches don’t collapse from hauling around your meat based intercontinental missile. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/5 "2011-01-07T09:34:00Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Get Ugg boots or Jordan sneakers so your arches don’t collapse from hauling around your meat based intercontinental missile. Thanks; I was thinking more in terms of a wheelbarrow. I’m so plebeian. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/6 "2011-01-07T15:29:40Z")
One of my friends had her account hacked and I got one of those “I was mugged in London and I need you to send me some money” e-mails. I should have ignored it, but I responded “BULLSHIT.” The crook apparently didn’t read the answer, because he/she thought he had a fish on the line and replied with information about where I should send the money. I answered again with “BULLSHIT.” I never heard anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Leon497](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Leon497](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leon497)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/7 "2011-01-07T17:35:22Z")
That any get taken in shows the total failure of our schools. Since they use computers, they should be teaching about scams and spam but instead waste students time reading stupid useless books like Moby Dick. Get on the schools to teach what people need to know, and that goes for getting mortgages, car loans and all that too. Check cashing places are just brick and mortar versions of spam. Yet when do schools teach anyone about all this? There is the reason some spam works. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/8 "2011-01-07T18:37:10Z")
FWIW, a similar thread on the Dope from not too long ago revealed that a Doper had, in fact, bought some kind of medicine (I think it was a legal prescription drug for which he had a legit prescription) via a spam pharmacy. He received his product in a timely manner, they billed his credit card the amount advertised (which was significantly below retail), and he had no complaints. Except for the fact that from then on he was a “mark” and his spam increased tenfold, particularly from the pharmacy from which he’d bought his stuff. I wish I could remember the right search terms, I’d try to find the thread… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-responded-to-genuine-spam-or-know-anyone-who-has/566686/9 "2011-01-08T03:47:50Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > FWIW, a similar thread on the Dope from not too long ago revealed that a Doper had, in fact, bought some kind of medicine (I think it was a legal prescription drug for which he had a legit prescription) via a spam pharmacy. > > He received his product in a timely manner, they billed his credit card the amount advertised (which was significantly below retail), and he had no complaints. > > Except for the fact that from then on he was a “mark” and his spam increased tenfold, particularly from the pharmacy from which he’d bought his stuff. > > I wish I could remember the right search terms, I’d try to find the thread… That’s why it’s smart to use a fake or throwaway email account any time you have to give out your email to people you don’t trust. The bigger problem is that they now probably have his home address, and likely phone number. SPAM in that form is much harder to stop.