# Spam email with misleading titles **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 23, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692 "2003-04-23T22:00:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/21 "2003-04-24T09:56:48Z")
I’m kind of lucky, I guess. For a long time I didn’t get any spam at all. Now that I do, it isn’t hard to dump it. The ISP I use issues adresses based on the user ID number (telephone number, actually) and then you set your own alias. Anything addressed to the alias is valid, and I’ve got a bunch of filters to sort my mail into different folders for the few people and companies I deal with via email. If the filters can’t find anyplace to put it, then it gets checked for the alias. If it ain’t there, in the shitcan it goes. No sweat. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/22 "2003-04-24T11:29:54Z")
I got a particularly sneaky spam the other day. The subject was “Re: Your job application” I’m not sending out any apps and even if I did, I wouldn’t use my generic hotmail account for that. But I can imagine there are lots and lots of folks out there who are waiting for responses in a job search. How pissed must they be when they open such an email only to find a sales pitch!! The account provided by my ISP has been drawing several emails lately with .exe files attached. I’m thinking I should forward these to the ISP and let them deal with 'em. No, I don’t run the files. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/23 "2003-04-24T13:09:56Z")
The yahoo email I’ve used for 9 years is so spammed out that I’m in the process of moving to another email account. I get several hundred spams a week; about 80% of them are knocked out by spam guard and the filters I’ve set up, but it’s still a huge pain. One of my filters takes out email with “mortgage” in the title. Recently I’ve been barraged with email concerning my “morgage”. Like I’m going to refinance with a company who can’t even spell what they sell. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/24 "2003-04-24T14:11:59Z")
My ISP filters spam, even the ones with random characters inserted into key words. For the ones that manage to still get through I zap them with Mailwasher. MW lets you bounce spams back to the offender in hopes that your email address will be thought of as invalid. I don’t know how effective it is or how many bounces actually get back to the sender since spammers are notorious for forging and spoofing email addies. Still, it’s satisfying just to be able to kill the spam before I actually download it. ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/25 "2003-04-24T15:18:55Z")
Lynn, Just _wait_ 'til the first letter comes in with “SM BD” in the title. You’ll open it; I’m sure it’ll be a punishing experience 😃 AmbushBug [sup]Banned[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/26 "2003-04-24T15:19:45Z")
LYNN BODONI\_INCREASE YOUR PENIS SIZE!!! he heh I just got 62 spams in my yahoo mail. I am not going to even check it anymore, I’ve got another e address. ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/27 "2003-04-24T15:23:51Z")
I keep getting emails promising to encrease both my bust size and my penis. At the same time. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/28 "2003-04-24T18:05:16Z")
Stop taking emails and start insisting that Dopers send you snail mail. And insist that they include at least $20 with each request. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/29 "2003-04-24T18:21:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Audrey Levins \* > **…I think my favorites, though, are the ones that use some approximation of my name, like “Auderon! This is in reply to your note” or “Audrey Parks you can earn money at home!”…** For some reason a lot of my recent spams have been refering to me as either “Cookies” or “Kramer”. Like “Cookies, make money on eBay!!! htofhuygseruis” or “Kramer, Size really duz matter!!! tedsaiuchmnd”. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/30 "2003-04-24T22:26:51Z")
WWEMD?\* Esprix [sub]What Would Ed McMahon Do?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/31 "2003-04-24T22:38:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CRorex \* > \*\*I keep getting emails promising to encrease both my bust size and my penis. > > At the same time. \*\* Transvestites are a huge market these days. These people have found their niche pparently! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/32 "2003-04-24T22:45:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*Stop taking emails and start insisting that Dopers send you snail mail. And insist that they include at least $20 with each request. \*\* Now THERE’S an idea, but I’d have to get a PO box. No WAY I’m letting y’all know where I live! ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/33 "2003-04-25T05:04:10Z")
I actually had to get a new email account because my hotmail was so bogged down with spam, I couldn’t wade through it anymore. There’d be at least 50 new emails every few hours, I kid you not. Now, whenever I sign up for anything, I give them my hotmail address, so that the spammers attack that one. I never use my legit address for anything and for the past year and a half, it’s been spam free, except for Columbia House which my b/f’s sister gave my email address to. I had to seriously restrain myself from kicking her ass when I discovered she did that… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/34 "2003-04-25T05:12:18Z")
Lynn, did you get my e-mail about opening a thread? If not, I’ll re-send the contents. ---
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/35 "2003-04-25T17:34:21Z")
Scott Adams (the Dilbert cartoonist) recently suggested an entertaining approach to spam … > [@](#): > > “Here’s a fun hobby of mine: When I get e-mail spam that includes an 800-number, I save the number for later. Then when one of the hundreds of Nigerian scam e-mails hits my e-mail box, I reply enthusiastically and give the 800-number of the spammer as my own. > I feel that people in the DNRC [Adams’ mailing list] have a responsibility to introduce A-holes to each other.” ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/36 "2003-04-26T04:31:37Z")
The ones that bug me are the ones that have “Re:” in the titles, so that they look like they’re replying to something I sent. I’m on AOL, so I’m always afraid that if I send those of to TOS they’ll say “Well, you obviously wrote to them first.” (AOL _not_ being staffed with the world’s brightest folks.) But the worst is when they come addressed to my email and the sender’s email address is MY EMAIL ADDRESS! How do they do that?? ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/37 "2003-04-26T05:03:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by interface2x \* > \*\*One time I got a message that invited me to use mine “to play baseball”. That’s pretty darn big. \*\* Hell, I got one the other day suggesting I use mine “to win at snooker”. I got the stroke down, except I’m now stuck wondering whether to go for the pink or the brown. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/38 "2003-04-26T07:24:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke \* > \*\*Since I have a Hotmail account (my work e-mail has spam filtering so strong it KOs genuine messages, so I have to have a default account), I get all kinds of spam. But a recent one really floored me. It was from a “David Underdown” and was titled, “Greg, your teacher is looking for you…” You can imagine the type of stuff that spam was peddling. > > But what floored me was that there _is_ a David Underdown whom I know. He’s a historian–who knows my academic supervisor, who I just spoke to yesterday, and who conceivably could have been trying to contact me. I know it was a freakish coincidence, but a darn compelling one. \*\* I got one a week ago from a spammer using my sister’s name, both first and last. The message body was “I’ve decided on a career as a stripper. Take a look and let me know if I have what it takes.” My sister is a 45 year old housewife so this was a bit of a shock to me. :eek: All the best. Testy ---
**Author:** ![Cavalier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Cavalier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cavalier)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/39 "2003-04-26T11:46:11Z")
I got a spam entitled “Direct E-Mail Marketing Guide” advertising spam. I get a lot of those. Cheeky bastards. The spam offering to make prank phone calls for me or telling me how great cannabis is (without trying to sell anything, even) is at least a change from natural breast enlargement. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692/40 "2003-04-26T19:43:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LifeOnWry \* > \*\*The ones that bug me are the ones that have “Re:” in the titles, so that they look like they’re replying to something I sent. I’m on AOL, so I’m always afraid that if I send those of to TOS they’ll say “Well, you obviously wrote to them first.” (AOL _not_ being staffed with the world’s brightest folks.) \*\* Yeah, I get those, too. Then again, I don’t usually send out many emails with the subject line “Your Request” (especially when they are the ones providing the service), so I sniff them out pretty quickly 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-email-with-misleading-titles/170692.md?page=3)