Re: OT/advice: spam (wasRe: Klingon speaker needed in Portland, Oregon)

On Wed, May 21, 2003 at 04:22:18PM -0400, Sally Caves wrote:
> Actually, Stone, sending any response to spammers has no effect either, and
> is actually deleterious.  Some of them don't have your name (because I'm
> "scaves" to a lot of spammers,
Incidentally, that's one way of telling spam from real email; spam mail
will often be addressed to "scaves" instead of "Sally", or contain
"scaves" in the subject line, etc.. I get a lot of spam that say "hsteoh,
slow down your aging!", etc.. I should put a rule in my filter to discard
all such mail immediately, since obviously whoever sent it has no idea who
I am.

> I get advertisements for VIAGRA, Penis enlargement ads, and women
> looking to please a willing gentleman.  Responding gives them your name,
> your gender, and they can target you more specifically.  They are
> indifferent to flames.
The golden rule of spamming: NEVER, EVER respond to them, especially not
from the address the spam was sent to. It only confirms to spammers that
your email address is read by a live person. Spammers routinely engage in
tactics such as using various means of mass-generating potentially valid
email addresses, and sending spam to each address. Obviously, most will
bounce, and some may get lost on the 'net somewhere. But the 0.001% who
are naive enough to respond will end up on the Gold Confirmed Working List
of Email Addresses, which is highly valued by spammers, and is often
burned on CDs and sold to other spammers in the black market.

> And the request to "remove me from your mailing list" actually does the same
> thing.  So you're making the problem worse.
That is one of the worst ways of responding to spam. It tells them that
your address is not only live, but that you have actually read the spam,
and are gullible enough to take the time to respond. They *love* such
dedicated, promising potential customers. Do not be fooled.


T

--
You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. --
azephrahel

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