what's up with all the spam?

[jokabofe]

okay, i know i'm not the only person who gets all these emails for mortgages, cialis, viagra, meet singles in my area, get new software cheap, etc. etc. - but my question is what's the real purpose of it all? do the people who send this stuff out really think that people are going to find out how to get viagra from these things? do they think i'm gonna buy a new copy of windows xp from them for $15? or that they've already approved my mortgage of $200,000 - when i didn't even apply for one?

so what's the point? just to clog up email boxes around the world?

[JediMAC]

Not sure.  Maybe you should ask Philip about that.  Oh wait, you can't.  You're banned! 

I kid, I kid...

Just saw this way down in the depths of Watto's as I was doing some house cleaning here, and felt bad that no one ever replied to Dave, so I thought I'd give it a little bump here, in light of recent events. 

You guys should see our JD e-mail accounts though, if you wanna see some serious spam.  Damn!  It's crazy in there.  About a 10:1 ratio of spam to the real thing...

[CorranHorn]

Matt, I have the same problem with the FFURG e-mail, it's freaking sick.

To answer Dave's question, it's actually rather simple. Since it costs the "advertisers" almost nothing to send out the messages, they can send out millions and maybe get one or two responses and it can be considered a positive to them. Think of it this way, your a pharmaceutical group who sends out 5 million messages about your cheap price on Viagra at a cost of a couple hundred bucks. Then you get maybe 20 people who then go and by Viagra from you at a cost of say $30 a person per month (I don't know the cost of Viagra, I don't need it!  ) Well in one month's time you've made a couple hundred dollars in profit and that keeps rising.

That's my understanding anyways of how this **** works. It's certainly doesn't help us get less of the crap though.

[DSJ™]

[Deanpaul]

Well in one month's time you've made a couple hundred dollars in profit and that keeps rising.

Heh heh, you said "keeps rising". Rising rules!

[Rob]

The spam happens because it's incredibly cost-effective.  It doesn't cost a fortune to send your junk mail to thousands and tens of thousands of people in a very very short period of time.  It probably doesn't require many people to bite before you've already come out ahead.  There was talk of legislation on this kind of stuff recently... I wonder where that stuff stands...

[Angry Ewok]

My JediDefender mail gets on average 9 spam mails for every real one. It's really annoying because half of them I can't identify as spam until I've opened them.

[Matt Carroll]

My JediDefender mail gets on average 9 spam mails for every real one. It's really annoying because half of them I can't identify as spam until I've opened them.

That's nothing. My GH mail gets 1000-2000 spam messages for every real message.  It's so bad, that I've been using my personal address for just about everything board related for a while now.

[Famine]

I just got an email, ala HASBRO (in caps) mind you, and it says the following:

http://hasbro.ed10.net/t/V05N/T67C/7V/5CJLV9
 
 
***********************************************************************
 
We at HASBRO believe we are sending this e-mail with your
permission. If you feel you have received this message in
error, please click the link below, and you will be removed
from this list promptly:
http://hasbro.ed10.net/us/X49Q3/S3/T67C/5CJLV9/YW5uX2Rvd25lc0BqdW5vLmNvbQ==/
 
At HASBRO, we respect your right to privacy. To view our
Privacy Policy statement, please visit:
http://hasbro.ed10.net/t/35EG/T67C/7V/5CJLV9
 
Copyright 2005, HASBRO, Inc. All audio, visual, and textual
contents in this message (including all names, characters,
images, trademarks, and logos) are protected by trademarks,
rights, copyrights, and other rights owned by HASBRO or by
HASBRO's licensors, licensees, suppliers, and accounts.
 
Click here for more details:
http://hasbro.ed10.net/t/Y2XL/T67C/7V/5CJLV9
 
HASBRO, Inc., 200 Narragansett Park Drive, Mail Stop C-847,
Pawtucket, RI 02862-0200
 
 
 
 
 
 
[[X49Q3-T67C-5CJLV9-T]]

Is this for real? I fear clicking on the links, cause it's a .net.

Kevin

[CorranHorn]

Well in one month's time you've made a couple hundred dollars in profit and that keeps rising.

Heh heh, you said "keeps rising". Rising rules!

bahahahahahaha! I did not even realized I had said that, oh I'm a comedy genius!! 

[JediMAC]

That's nothing. My GH mail gets 1000-2000 spam messages for every real message.  It's so bad, that I've been using my personal address for just about everything board related for a while now.

Good god, that's pretty bad, Matt C. #2!

I usually use my personal e-mail addy for most site/collecting stuff for that reason as well...  Granted our JD e-mail account, IIRC, labels certain e-mail as "likely spam", so at least it sort of identifies them.  Just up to us to delete 'em.

Damned spammers!

[Matt_Fury]

Looks like Matt's getting the Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Baked Beans, Spam, Spam and Spam.  Only instead of baked beans he's getting Spam!

My yahoo mail gets a lot, but luckily, they have a decent spam filter so it all goes to a bulk mailbox.

[Imperial Outpost]

Has anyone ever thought, even in the drunkest, dumbest moments of their life - "Hmm... buying prescriptions drugs off a website I have no prior knowledge of... now there's a good idea!"