# What would a spammer's best subject-line hook be for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996 "2003-01-21T16:26:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bjorn240](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bjorn240](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bjorn240)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/21 "2003-01-22T16:24:41Z")
Here’s the opposite: About a month ago, I got a message with the subject, “From the President” and a man’s name in the From: field. Off to the trash, naturally. A few days later, my friend asked about the letter to all alumni from the new President of our University. I never got it, I replied. Well, he forwards it to me, and lo and behold. Seriously, someone should have alerted the nice man to that problem… - Bjorn240 ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/22 "2003-01-22T19:13:38Z")
“Give us a call right away” or something to that effect (or worse) would be deadly. Of course, if that ever happens I’ll have to follow through on my threat to become a secret, spam-fighting super hero. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/23 "2003-01-22T22:42:27Z")
I keep getting mail from female names with the subject line “Hi honey” or “I miss you”. I think they may actually be targeted towards women who read their man’s email. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/24 "2003-01-22T22:47:42Z")
I was forced to open one that used a man’s name (we’ll call him Tom) as the sender, with a subject line of “About our dinner plans”. My boss is named [Tom] and even though we didn’t have any dinner plans, I couldn’t see just trashing it. Last year, when I was ordering a lot of stuff online, something like “about your order” or “a problem with your order” would have worked on me. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/25 "2003-01-22T22:53:30Z")
Um, you all do realize that spammers _may_ actually read this thread and send out emails accordingly… Zev Steihardt ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/26 "2003-01-22T22:54:19Z")
I can’t believe I misspelled my name. Comes from typing too fast… Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/27 "2003-01-23T00:40:51Z")
‘Server problems’ would probably hook me (part of my job is IT support) ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/28 "2003-01-23T01:20:03Z")
“You’re fired. Have your desk cleared out by noon tomorrow.” I hate those. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/29 "2003-01-23T01:22:13Z")
For the livejournal addicts: Reply to your post… I’m sort of surprised no one’s doing that yet. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/30 "2003-01-23T01:27:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \* > Um, you all do realize that spammers _may_ actually read this thread and send out emails accordingly… Why do you think I cleverly disguised my boss’s name in my post? They’re not fooling _me_ twice! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/31 "2003-01-23T01:29:17Z")
“Make money at home selling non-prescription Viagra in order to refinance the mortgage on your bigger penis” ---
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/32 "2003-01-23T08:46:43Z")
“Free one-pound box of candy with first order” “Long-lost medieval literary work found” ---
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/33 "2003-01-23T08:49:06Z")
“Desperately seeking new home for cat” “Time machine invented” “Baby pictures” (I have a one-month-old niece) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/34 "2003-01-23T09:18:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scout1222 \* > \*\*I think I’d agree about the SDMB Moderator thing - pretty much anything that referred to the board would get me clicking. > > “See Guy Pearce Naked” - would also be worth a second glance. 😉 \*\* Or even **See SDMB Moderators Naked**. :eek: 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/35 "2003-01-23T12:09:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avalonian \* > I just got suckered by a subject line that said “ **we’ll be on in 5 min** ”, but mostly because it looked like it came from a friend of mine. Of course, it turned out to be a lovely shot of two lesbians getting each other ready. :rolleyes: > > I’m so damn gullible sometimes. They made you look at lovely lesbians, and you call it being suckered? 😕 Hey spammers! Sucker me! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sycorob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@sycorob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sycorob)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/36 "2003-01-24T22:12:54Z")
I got this one today, and remembered this thread. It **did** make me open it. From: Russian Slave Subject: Has it been awhile? It was just so… blatently obviously spam that I had to open it. There’s something wrong with me. ---
**Author:** ![bristlesage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@bristlesage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bristlesage)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/37 "2003-01-25T00:37:11Z")
I think something like “Free books!”, which would clearly be spam, would get me. And those innocuous ones like “Hi!” that people have mentioned are pretty sneaky. ---
**Author:** ![MadScientistMatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@MadScientistMatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadScientistMatt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/38 "2003-01-25T01:30:50Z")
Yeah, the small talk ones can be pretty insidious; I often fall for those. However, one tipoff so obvious I’ve set one of my mail accounts to filter it out all the time is when they try to guess my screen name or real name from my email address. I never use screen names that precisely match my email. Some of those spammers have sometimes really got me annoyed to think I would even be interested in their messages. I’m tempted to write an open letter to them one of these days making fun of the useless garbage they sell. Watch for it in MPSIMS sometime. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/39 "2003-01-25T02:35:58Z")
Lactation for fun and profit! ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996/40 "2003-01-25T02:42:50Z")
I can’t think of any subject line that a spammer could use that would get me to open the message. I just delete anything from an address I don’t recognize. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-spammers-best-subject-line-hook-be-for-you/149996.md?page=3)