Sending SpamCop reports: futile gesture, or worthwhile?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
1

I confess – I don’t get a lot of spam. Fewer than 10 messages daily, usually more like 5, sometimes none.

Nonetheless, it’s annoying. I use the free SpamCop service to send emails of rebuke to spammer ISPs. I have been for years now. And I’m starting to wonder if there’s any point.

I still get half or more of my spam from Lebanese mailing lists who want me to visit some restaurant in Beirut or join a weight loss program in Beirut or hire some Lebanese marketers who start every one of their emails with “Pulse - Always Beating.” The same few ISPs are involved in sending those to me. No matter how often I report them, they send more spam.

The other half or so of my spam is the usual stuff, trying to interest me in hot teenage nymphos or cable descramblers. Those, at least, seem to rotate ISPs; I feel like I’ve made some progress.

But I’m more and more often just deleting my spam messages unreported. I haven’t noticed a surge in spam as a result.

Is SpamCop worth my time if I don’t subscribe? Or should I just give it up and keep my Trash folder hopping?

2

If the ISP is spammer-friendly, sending a complaint just confirms the validity of your address and makes the problem worse, if anything. I only send complaints if I know the ISP isn’t a spammer ISP.

3

SpamCop reports “mung” the reciever’s address, so the ISP, in theory, shouldn’t be able to track the spam to you.

However, I’ve noticed gibberish appearing at the bottom of my spams lately. A code of some sort that could be plugged back into the spam generating program and cross-referenced with the list o’ email addresses?