# Who are these creeps that actually buy into the spam? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-these-creeps-that-actually-buy-into-the-spam/164701 "2003-03-28T03:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-these-creeps-that-actually-buy-into-the-spam/164701/21 "2003-03-29T14:11:05Z")
Spam has the opposite effect. If someone with a **X10** so much as moves in the neighborhood, I’m leaving. Not only do I DESPISE spam but I despise the products and the companies they advertise. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-these-creeps-that-actually-buy-into-the-spam/164701/22 "2003-03-29T14:38:27Z")
I figure the people who buy the penis enlargement pills are the same people who buy collector plates of Princess Di and Elvis that are advertised ad nausem in TV Guide, et al. ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-these-creeps-that-actually-buy-into-the-spam/164701/23 "2003-03-29T14:48:07Z")
ohhh I made a big reply, and I wasn’t logged in… Silly me, I lost it all… Ok, I got to make it shorter! The spam I get is almost 98% porn. So it got me wondering, what are their tactics, because you can tell it is the same companies sending the messages over and over again… Do they think I am gonna give in and finally subscribe to their porn site?! So, the other day I decided to try to “unregister” (ha, yeah right!). So I had to go into my junk folder and open those messages… WHAOOOOOOOOOO… I thought it was a dirty title, and maybe a dirty couple of words in there… Nooooo, you got big, big, ummm, big preview of what they “offer” let me tell you! I couldn’t believe it! Ok, I am a mature 27 year old, I’ll survive, but what if I was a 10 year old? They have no way of knowing (my age isn’t posted anywhere…). Isn’t it illegal that I receive Porn without wanting it… I mean, geez, it isn’t like I receive a flyer about a new car dealer here, I actually could see everything, everything, they have to offer (and how they offer it too)! ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-these-creeps-that-actually-buy-into-the-spam/164701/24 "2003-03-29T15:24:46Z")
Spammers spam because they can (easily and for free), and because they get paid to do it. There are virtually unlimited bulk mailing resources available at virtually zero cost for the spammer, and 100% cost for the e-mail recipient and proprietary network resources and mailservers that handle the mail. Untill lawmakers catch up to the technology or the internet implodes on itself…spam will remain. Some spammers spam for their own interests. Most spammers are hired. Even if a business fails, the lure of spam will probably have sucked them in while they were still kicking. Spammers make their money off of companies whether those companies make money off of the spam or not. There are also Click-through incentives. Even if a product is not purchased, companies pay fractions of pennies each time a banner ad is clicked upon. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-these-creeps-that-actually-buy-into-the-spam/164701/25 "2003-03-29T16:48:19Z")
Estimates suggest that within a year the volume of spam will have overtaken legitimate email. It’s running at 40/60 just now. At that point everyone will start getting serious and the next generation of email technology will make spam impractical, expensive and most importantly, traceable. In 5 years time spam will be a rare and in 10 it will be a distant unpleasant memory. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-these-creeps-that-actually-buy-into-the-spam/164701/26 "2003-04-16T22:53:34Z")
[This](http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=7jes6vca30nrdanhs21s29n1ikti4qef6b%404ax.com&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain) little nugget made me want to refresh this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-these-creeps-that-actually-buy-into-the-spam/164701.md?page=1)