# The reason spammers will never go away **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 16, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711 "2004-03-16T21:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/1 "2004-03-16T21:56:56Z")
[http://online.wsj.com/article\_email/0,,SB107930537384354969-IhjgINplaR3n5ypaX2HcKqDm4,00.html](http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB107930537384354969-IhjgINplaR3n5ypaX2HcKqDm4,00.html) Personally I despise, well loathe actually, having to go through and delete more than 200 pieces of spam junk emails a day, but this guy like spam and actually buys stuff from it so they [spammers] keep sending it out :mad: … > [@](#): > > Mr. Soto routinely comes home to some 150 e-mail pitches, and he loves getting them all. The 45-year-old grandfather opens most of them. He answers spam questionnaires. And he buys stuff pitched in spam e-mail – again and again. “Everyday people call it spam,” says Mr. Soto, who prefers calling it “unsolicited” e-mail. > [@](#): > > He buys spam-pitched aromatherapy oils for his wife and pharmaceuticals for himself. His bookcases are lined with first-edition mystery novels he bought via spam. In a corner of his two-bedroom midtown-Manhattan apartment stands an antique pinball machine bought via spam. He plays Internet bingo at five cents a game on a Web site pitched to him by spam a few weeks ago. He buys stuff via spam for himself and to resell on Web sites he sets up – a business idea he got from a spam pitch. This guy lives in Manhattan, only makes 40K a year and spends hundreds of dollars a week buying spam crap online 😕 ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/2 "2004-03-16T22:03:37Z")
Well then, hopefully it will end when he’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Alto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Alto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alto)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/3 "2004-03-16T22:13:04Z")
If he actually buys spam products, I wonder how big his penis is by now? I would say at least 90 percent of my spam concerns that issue (and I’m a girl). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/4 "2004-03-16T23:51:03Z")
I saw this article and was dumbfounded! First, why is this in the WSJ? And second, why is this nutjob buying this crap? He’s ruining it for everybody! 😃 My brother-in-law’s wife’s parents were the prototype for this guy. When they died, we tooks _TRUCKLOADS_ of worthless crap to the dump. These people ordered everything that was advertised on the TV or in the newpaper! I’ve never seen so much worthless junk. Sad thing was, they had nothing better to do with thier time/money. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/5 "2004-03-17T00:12:32Z")
I figure with all the crap he buys from spammers then he would have the lowest interest rate mortage, the largest penis, his wife would have the biggest boobs, he would have become an overnight millionare from buying real estate, have multiple associates degrees from those online schools, perfect skin and have lost tons of weight from miricle pills etc… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/6 "2004-03-17T00:54:12Z")
> [@](#): > > _per our dear Mr. Soto_ > Sometimes Mr. Soto feels sheepish about his spam habit. “You can get crazy,” he says. “You can wrap yourself up in this stuff.” Ya _think_??? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/7 "2004-03-17T01:23:13Z")
> [@LVgeogeek](#): > > I figure with all the crap he buys from spammers then he would have the lowest interest rate mortage, the largest penis, his wife would have the biggest boobs, he would have become an overnight millionare from buying real estate, have multiple associates degrees from those online schools, perfect skin and have lost tons of weight from miricle pills etc… 😃 And huts filled with cash in Nigeria. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/8 "2004-03-17T03:53:25Z")
This is geeky, but my first thought on reading the OP was, “My god, his hard drive must look like shit.” All I kept thinking of was what AdAware, Spybot and AVG Anti-Virus would pick up from his machine. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/9 "2004-03-17T05:19:43Z")
> [@LVgeogeek](#): > > have multiple associates degrees from those online schools, Not just ANY schools. Prestigious Non-Accredited Universities grlshj;wrgk ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/10 "2004-03-17T06:51:14Z")
Actually, I was reading about this on Slashdot, and apparently the person in question makes money by selling spam software. So you might want to take what he says with a grain of salt. Especially when he says “All those aphrodisiacs I bought really worked! Not to mention the breast enlargement pills.” ---
**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:** [March 17, 2004, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-spammers-will-never-go-away/234711/11 "2004-03-17T08:06:54Z")
Speaking of spam, without doubt, the most assholish spam company on the planet is a company called [www.alternativemails.com](http://www.alternativemails.com) - and what these guys do is amazingly ingenious. They keep registering new dot coms each week and keep sending out the same robotic emails to your email account - even if you specifically requested to be deleted. Their thinking? Oh, I guess they’re thinking no one will ever trace that all the dot coms are owned by the same LLC. To give you an idea of the amazing breadth and range of dot com subsidiaries these assholes have registered, I’ve created a running “Delete it” Mail Rule in my email software. After a while the emails all look familiar and you can recognise the commonality. Look at the list of dot coms you have to deal with… ‘[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)’ or ‘[renewedmails.com](http://renewedmails.com)’ or ‘[objectiveemail.com](http://objectiveemail.com)’ or ‘[optionmails.com](http://optionmails.com)’ or ‘[gabbymail.com](http://gabbymail.com)’ or ‘[refillmails.com](http://refillmails.com)’ or ‘[cinderellamail.com](http://cinderellamail.com)’ or ‘[intentionemail.com](http://intentionemail.com)’ or ‘[syncmail.com](http://syncmail.com)’ or ‘[appealmail.com](http://appealmail.com)’ or ‘[contactmails.com](http://contactmails.com)’ or ‘[maildeliverynow.com](http://maildeliverynow.com)’ or ‘[traderemail.com](http://traderemail.com)’ or ‘[transfermails.com](http://transfermails.com)’ or ‘[refreshingmails.com](http://refreshingmails.com)’ or ‘[managementmails.com](http://managementmails.com)’ or ‘[securedmails.com](http://securedmails.com)’ or ‘[modernemail.com](http://modernemail.com)’ or ‘[activationmail.com](http://activationmail.com)’ or ‘[123Greetings.com](http://123Greetings.com)’ or ‘[andromedamail.com](http://andromedamail.com)’ or ‘[apusmail.com](http://apusmail.com)’ or ‘[alligatormail.com](http://alligatormail.com)’ or ‘[bootesmail.com](http://bootesmail.com)’ or ‘[dracomail.com](http://dracomail.com)’ or ‘[antilamail.com](http://antilamail.com)’ or ‘[remixmail.com](http://remixmail.com)’ or ‘[seasonedmail.com](http://seasonedmail.com)’ or ‘[carinamail.com](http://carinamail.com)’ or ‘[standardizedmail.com](http://standardizedmail.com)’ or ‘[resourcefulmail.com](http://resourcefulmail.com)’ or ‘[skinkmail.com](http://skinkmail.com)’ or ‘[subscribedmail.com](http://subscribedmail.com)’ or ‘[hydramail.com](http://hydramail.com)’ or ‘[dividendmail.com](http://dividendmail.com)’ or ‘[checkeredmail.com](http://checkeredmail.com)’ or ‘[excite.com](http://excite.com)’ or ‘[communicationmail.com](http://communicationmail.com)’ or ‘[purposemail.com](http://purposemail.com)’ or ‘[boamail.com](http://boamail.com)’ or ‘[similarmails.com](http://similarmails.com)’ or ‘[earlybirdmail.com](http://earlybirdmail.com)’ or ‘[afterglowmailer.com](http://afterglowmailer.com)’ or ‘[clevagemailer.com](http://clevagemailer.com)’ or ‘[gartermailer.com](http://gartermailer.com)’ or ‘[sheenmailer.com](http://sheenmailer.com)’ or ‘[touchmailer.com](http://touchmailer.com)’ or ‘[scantmailer.com](http://scantmailer.com)’ or ‘[highheelmailer.com](http://highheelmailer.com)’ or ‘[leggymailer.com](http://leggymailer.com)’ or ‘[skinmailer.com](http://skinmailer.com)’ or ‘[dressymailer.com](http://dressymailer.com)’ or ‘[eyelashmailer.com](http://eyelashmailer.com)’ or ‘[stilettomailer.com](http://stilettomailer.com)’ or ‘[glitzmailer.com](http://glitzmailer.com)’ or ‘[blinkmailer.com](http://blinkmailer.com)’ or ‘[tinymailer.com](http://tinymailer.com)’ or ‘[tantalizemailer.com](http://tantalizemailer.com)’ or ‘[fashionmailer.com](http://fashionmailer.com)’ or ‘[cheekbonemailer.com](http://cheekbonemailer.com)’ or ‘[breathlessmailer.com](http://breathlessmailer.com)’