I assume that this disclaimer is bull-pucky. Either the spammer really doesn’t think it’s spam and is about to get a rude awakening when his/her/its ISP gives him/her/it the boot, or if I am foolish enough to actually email that address, it will just result in my address being sold to a million other spammers and I shouldn’t respond at all because this person is going to get shut down soon.
Or, is this for real?
Looks like spam. Smells like spam. Is an unsolicited anonymous advertisement (acts like spam).
It’s spam. Whether or not you get more spam if you tell them not to spam you is a different question.
Or if they’re going to keep sending me spam unless I send an email to the remove address . . .
The bill referenced never passed congress – it died in committee. So the bastard is lying from the start.
To you, it is spam, and there is only one kind of spam, and we don’t like it.
But to them, there are two kinds of spam: legal, and illegal. Their claim is that because they’ve old you how to get off of their list, it is therefore legal spam. Of course, it’ll only be legal if they actually do delete names that follow those directions, and maybe they do!
Spam has an interesting property in common with certain other bland lunch meats I never eat: No matter how you slice it, it’s still spam.
From what I hear, the “Reply to remove” is a way for them to verify your address. As in they now know that someone actually reads their spam.
This usually results in you being placed on even more spam lists, since your address is “verified”. A lot of times, they’re just guessing email addresses, so a verified email address is worth even more.
I forgot to add:
The more legitimate they make the reply to remove spiel sound, the more likely some people are to try it. They WANT you to reply.
That’s why they either make up a bill or use a bill that existed but never passed. Classic con strategy. It’s like the con-man wearing a uniform to make you think he’s legit. Same idea here.
Uh, speaking of all of this, I’ve started getting SPAMMED almost daily by some company called “Network Commerce, Inc.” Horribly enough, it’s to my GOOD, CLEAN, email address. They seem to represent repsectible companies (i.e., they SPAM on behalf of others), since some of the companies I’ve dealt with before (but will never again).
Anyone ever been brave enough to try their “remove” instructions? Did it work?