I hate spammers
I'd like to see them all tarred and feathered and put on public display so we can throw rotten tomatoes at them (theres a good use for all those salmonella tainted tomatoes!), especially the male enhancement spammers.
This thread has special meaning for me because I just went through the disintegration of my existing spam filter at work because of the sheer volume of spam my company has gotten over the past 6 months. Its about 250,000 messages a day now of which over 95% is spam. Most of it is dictionary attacks so it is deleted automatically, but about 7000 or so a day make it to the spam trap that someone (thankfully not me) has to go through. Then there are the daily NDR email attacks that I can't seem to stop totally. Every week there's a new tactic. It was becoming my full time job just to keep up with the spammers.
I finally had to throw in the towel and got approval to outsource the spam filter. We're now using Postini. I'm still setting it up, but so far, so good.
Spam is a global problem and its here to stay. As long as someone out there is willing to click on the link in some of these stupid emails, the spam will keep coming. Government won't stop it. Antispam software and services is now a big money making industry. Its good for business, just not good for the rest of us.
*Sigh* 
I remember back in the 90's when we didn't have spam. The good ol' days.
AV
Rant of the Week - Spammers (07/02/200
I had originally started to write about "changes" - enlight of the new web design. Not about the design itself per se, but more about reflection based on "changes".
However, I decided to change that last minute, and start all over from scratch and go with spam and spammers instead.
So here it is - short and sweet, with a little Grey Poupon and crackers on the side.
I know on any given day even with the best filters in place, all measures that one can take to keep spam/spammers out of their email boxes, some spam still manages to get through. I don't tend to receive very much in my main email accounts (one for work and one for family/friends), since I use alternate email addresses for things like ordering online, subscribing to newsletters and joining forum boards. Along with the alternative email addresses, I also use filters, I don't click on the "unsubscribe" link in email received (they don't need confirmation from me that yes this is a valid email address) and report anything I receive to my ISP. For me, this works at cutting down the spam received in my main accounts. I'm sure each of you have your own way of combating spam/spammers, as that really is what it is - combat but without the combat pay.
While there are *laws* (Can-Spam) that are suppose to help deter spam/spammers they are a joke.
Such as:
- Requiring an "unsubscribe" link? Yeah right, like I'm going to click on it so they know my email address is valid? Besides, I shouldn't have to click on anything, as I shouldn't have gotten that spam email to begin with.
- I bought such and such item so their third parties now have a relation with me so they can now send me spam as well? No! If I wanted your product I would have searched you out to begin with.
- Legal recourse? Yeah right, big companies may have the ability to hunt down spammers, but what about the little guy?
Spam/spammers though isn't just a problem in email, its also a problem in forum boards, chat rooms and IM's.
It's a problem that will continue as long as the money is there, as that is what it mostly boils back down to - Dollar signs. I say mostly, as some of the spam received is for other *benefits* - i.e. the girl in the chatroom trying to pick up any guy over the age of 13 who can fulfill her every fantasy. Course some of you may not consider this spam, but I do when it's unwanted and the chatroom isn't called - Fantasies-R-Us.
What more should the government(s) (yes, I said government, shame on me) be doing? How about the companies that own the forum boards, chatrooms, and IM's? How about the ISP's?
What more can *we* do about it? How do you deter spam/spammers?
Yes, I know I probably just opened up a whole bag of worms, but that's ok, I have my fishing line out and some spam sounds good tonight (with a little Grey Poupon to cover the bitter taste)
-Tammy :-)
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