# Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 26, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311 "2003-11-26T03:08:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/1 "2003-11-26T03:08:19Z")
I’ve been receiving a large amount of pharmacutical spam lately. Spam of any type is annoying, spam for products that aren’t meant for you (I don’t need Xanex, who told you that I did?) is even more annoying, but, worst of all, are the fucking titles of these e-mails, which tend to go something like this: srifaesfdeawfn eafoeopf dfpjsdffasdf Buy our product! afsjndsafnja Do they honestly think I’m going to buy their shitty products with such an intellectual title as that? Worst still, the actual bodies of the e-mails tend to go segfaspdvgfbnasdvjbasd _Insert paragraph about product_ asfweafoijhsaedfbasdlfbsladbfa I keep reporting this spam to my e-mail provider, but it always comes back. Is there any hope left for us all? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/2 "2003-11-26T03:14:00Z")
No. We are doomed. Enough stupid idiots respond to spam to make it worthwhile to do. **FUCKTARDS!** ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/3 "2003-11-26T03:17:28Z")
That’s the key, there’s enough braindead fucks out there buying this shit that not only is it worth it for them, but they make SCADS of money. Incredible amounts of incredibly stupid people. It is so disheartening sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/4 "2003-11-26T03:19:57Z")
Has anyone ever actually met someone who has replied to spam mail? I mean… who would do that? Spam mail just HAS to have a negative impact. I’d immediatly stop supporting ANY company that sent them if I happened to be a customer… which isn’t likely since I don’t use viagra, haven’t had my penis enlarged and don’t pay for porn… ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/5 "2003-11-26T03:32:29Z")
**Stoneburg** - OTOH, spammers can use moral outrage like that to launch a [joe job](http://www.techtv.com/news/culture/story/0,24195,3415219,00.html) against some company they don’t like. Sorry dude - unless you live next door to a 100% confirmed spammer and own bolt cutters, the good guys can’t win. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/6 "2003-11-26T03:40:03Z")
Actually, for those who are interested, I’ve been using the Outlook Express “Message Rules” system to build some Anti-Spam rules which over the last 10 days have started to nudge 95% accuracy in deleting them. But you don’t have to buy any anti-spam software to do it. I’m happy to share my experiences. From what I can tell, there seem to be about 35 .com URL’s which are sending all this crap and I’ve been collecting their names. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/7 "2003-11-26T03:54:32Z")
I heard nonsensical subjects are designed to fool spam blockers. They just have a random string of letters/numbers instead of something that can be targeted. ---
**Author:** ![NBIT33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NBIT33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NBIT33)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/8 "2003-11-26T04:06:32Z")
People - DON’T USE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN PUBLIC. DUH! – NBIT, 18 months spam free to date following a painful e-mail address change ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/9 "2003-11-26T04:06:43Z")
A-HA! So that’s why half the text is gibberish! This means war! I’m calling an emergency Straight Dope Expeditionary Force Against Nonsensical Spammers (SDEF-ANS)! I’ll command, but who wants to join me? ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/10 "2003-11-26T04:09:56Z")
Try POPFile. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/11 "2003-11-26T04:11:44Z")
(BTW, I’m still trying to figure out how they got my e-mail address, which maybe 8 people out of 6 billion on this planet know.) ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/12 "2003-11-26T04:11:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NBIT33 \* > \*\*People - DON’T USE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN PUBLIC. > > DUH! > – NBIT, 18 months spam free to date following a painful e-mail address change \*\* I hear you, but not all of us have the luxury of going that route. In many cases, email addresses are made public via corporate websites, or ISP WHOIS information - there are a huge number of reasons why an email address can become public domain unfortunately. Not the least of which is that someone chooses to quote your email address as a free porn trial offer - the moment they do that - BAM you’re gone. Your email address goes through all the porn and viagra industries, and it was easy as somebody who doesn’t like you simply quoting YOUR email address instead of theirs when visiting a porn website. ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/13 "2003-11-26T04:18:26Z")
But I tell ya what I’d love to do… I’d love to build an anti-spam bit of software which worked at the ISP level… How I’d work it is like this… any time you get spam, forward it my special anti-spam email address. I’d build a special “email header” interrogating algorithm which analyses the true IP address and machine name and URL Domain Name and then I’d cross reference that with my “master lists of known spammers”. I’m tipping that if my “master lists” were available world over, you’d be able to build a known list of every machine name, IP address, and URL name of every fucking spammer asshole in the world in less than a month. And then you could filter them from global email traffic. It would force the spammers to constantly keep changing machines, and IP addresses and URL names. It’d fuck 'em right up I reckon. I’m happy to write it. I deal with internet software all the time as a corporate database designer. I have all the tools necessary. God knows it’s about time somebody did something. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/14 "2003-11-26T05:27:34Z")
Eh, as long as you’re working at the ISP level, just require everyone to “pay” [HashCash](http://www.hashcash.org/) before they can send you mail. You wouldn’t need to know who the spammers are. Burning a few seconds of CPU time to send each message doesn’t harm the average joe, but it does harm spammers. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/15 "2003-11-26T05:31:32Z")
A reverse Spam bot? It’s so crazy it just might work! ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/16 "2003-11-26T05:39:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoneburg \* > **Has anyone ever actually met someone who has replied to spam mail? I mean… who would do that?** The _New Yorker_ once ran a cartoon that showed a guy typing at his computer, with the caption: “Dear sirs: Thank you for your e-mail solicitation. However, at the moment I am satisfied with the size of my penis.” ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/17 "2003-11-26T05:50:08Z")
Hm. So THAT’s why my junk mail box fills up with emails with “woeirlerilxeriow” in the subject line. But I’d already figured out that the only people who send me stuff with “jxierlkkseri” in the subject line are spammers. Consequently, I delete the mails without ever opening them. Isn’t this kind of counterproductive for the spammer? I mean, I tend to figure most humans operate around a minimum level of intelligence, most of the time. Most of us don’t bother with emails from people we don’t know… but a small number do. Out of that small number, most of them won’t open an email with “wxoiesleriwop” in the subject line… but a small number do. Out of that small number, most of them won’t be interested in NASTY SLUTS GETTING BANGED or GROW YOUR MANHOOD or whatever… but a small number might. Out of that small number… well… jeez… IS there a big enough number of people this stupid, that makes it financially worthwhile to keep spamming us all? I find that concept kind of scary, really. Especially considering the insane crap I find when I DO accidentally open one of those spam emails… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/18 "2003-11-26T06:10:07Z")
They wouldn’t do it if it didn’t work. Unless the spammers are just conning the companies they do it for somehow. Considering the moral worthiness of your average spammer, though, that wouldn’t surprise me. I use Eudora 6 for my email, it has a pretty good ‘learning’ junk-mail spotting function in it, which saves a lot of trouble for me. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/19 "2003-11-26T06:39:08Z")
Is there any way to track down the _real_ e-mail addresses of a given spam organization and counter-spam them back into oblivion? And by “real”, I don’t mean the addresses they use to send the spam (which obviously must be junk accounts), but the corporate or personal email addresses of those sending it. There must be some way, right? I don’t think a defensive filter system would work; they’ll keep it coming, I"m sure. We’ve got to make them feel the pain. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311/20 "2003-11-26T07:22:52Z")
Well here’s some of what my research has uncovered thus far… The number one asshole spam company on the planet is a company called [www.alternativeemails.com](http://www.alternativeemails.com) - and THAT is an umbrella organisation for a shitload of subcompanies who send the same crap email, time and time again from about 35 different URL extensions… Here are some of their names… ‘[arrowhead.com](http://arrowhead.com)’ or ‘[importemail.com](http://importemail.com)’ or ‘[topcash.com](http://topcash.com)’ or ‘[electronicemail.com](http://electronicemail.com)’ or ‘[approachmail.com](http://approachmail.com)’ or ‘cyberspacemails’ or ‘exportemail’ or ‘cabinfevermail’ or ‘micromails’ or ‘blonktonky’ or ‘[exploremails.com](http://exploremails.com)’ or ‘[favoritemails.com](http://favoritemails.com)’ or ‘[bashfulmail.com](http://bashfulmail.com)’ or ‘[buyersemail.com](http://buyersemail.com)’ or ‘[partnermails.com](http://partnermails.com)’ or ‘[swissmailaccounts.com](http://swissmailaccounts.com)’ or ‘[createmails.com](http://createmails.com)’ or ‘[alternativemails.com](http://alternativemails.com)’ or ‘[mailsprites.com](http://mailsprites.com)’ or ‘[headsupmail.com](http://headsupmail.com)’ or ‘[variationmail.com](http://variationmail.com)’ or ‘[arrowheadmail.com](http://arrowheadmail.com)’ or ‘[valueemail.com](http://valueemail.com)’ No shit guys… that’s all just one company sending the same dumbfuck emails from different subcompanys and usernames day in, day out. Mind numbing isn’t it? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam/215311.md?page=2)