2/29/08

Damm Spam!


I get 100s of emails a day, from Bernadine Burnette, Preston Moss, Mercan Modry and Benny Cummings. I also hear from BFFs Lois, Burt and Mae. My favorites are from Chris Biggtent. These so called Best Friends, Doctors and Colleagues promise me everything from 100 count Vicodin at the low, low price of $19.95 to a better love life with my new and improved peennie… That one always gets me because why do I want a bigger one? I don’t have one to begin so why would I contact Chris Biggtent to get one?

Spam emails. Hate them or are amused by them, they are definitely a scourge on my wide world web experience. They clog up our emails, harass us daily and even go so far as to capture our email address and send me mail that has the name of a legitimate friend as the sender. Argh!! How obnoxious is that!

I thought I would dig to see if there are any statistics out there that dissect spam emails and found this bit of information on http://www.spam-filter-review.toptenreviews.com

Email considered Spam 40% of all email
Daily Spam emails sent 12.4 billion
Daily Spam received per person 6
Annual Spam received per person 2,200
Spam cost to all non-corp Internet users $255 million
Spam cost to all U.S. Corporations $8.9 billion
States with Anti-Spam Laws 26
Email address changes due to Spam 16%

And only 8% of the population that has access to email even buys from these spammers! Wow! Only 8% determines that companies should spam and that this is good business practice. I want to find that 8% and smack them!
What makes these spam companies think in their wildest dreams that I would ever buy from them? Do they think that “If I harass her enough she will purchase?” And some of them are respected companies like Edward Jones Investments, Procter & Gamble, Hearst Communications and even Dell!

So how do you fight back? Most of us feel that if we ignore them they will go away but they still attack your email inbox daily no matter how many Spam Fighter programs you have installed they arrive in the 100s maybe in the thousands to email inboxes all day long!

By ignoring them does not solve nor does it bring to justice those evil doers of emails. You can do something. I found several sites that I have listed below.

uce@ftc.gov - The Federal Trade Commission monitors spamming trends and catching the bigger infiltrators of spam
ing enforcement@sec.gov - Forward all stock-related scams to the Securities and Exchange Commission

The
Internal Revenue Service takes tax fraud and avoidance very seriously
The United States Postal Inspection Service is always interested in chain letters, pyramid schemes, or other illegal scams that involve US Postal addresses. Also, you can forward such spams to fraud@uspis.gov

419.fcd@usss.treas.gov If you receive one of the "Nigerian bank" fraudulent emails (someone claims to have millions of dollars in a bank and they need your help

The
Food and Drug Administration is interested in health-related spams, like "herbal viagra", "enlarge your penis", "lose weight", etc.

otcfraud@cder.fda.gov is a good site for over the counter drugs that claim big results.
So here you go. Try to do your part at least once a day if you can. I am sending Chris Biggtent to the Big house someday. At least I hope I can.

Happy Spam Battling!

12 Comments:

Unknown said...

Honestly, I don't get many spams. The reason? Well, I don't give out may email address unless I want them to respond back. I also read very carefully before checking boxes not to receive ads (sometimes they change the wording to trick you!) My best trick for the sites that won't let you view without an email---I give them fake email like alreaoi@sioei.com SIMPLE!!! You won't receive the SPAM anymore! Try it

Chooch said...

I wish that would work but unfortunately all the spam comes on my Work email. We have spamfighter, avg and spybot. Argh!!

LET'S TALK said...

Hey Jude, I just had to say that! I haven't been around for a while because work has really been keeping me busy.

I love the information you link on this post and I loved the last post called "Hey God???"

Chooch said...

Thanks Let's Talk... Hey God was a very emotional post. You read about what is happening elsewhere and never expect it to be so close to home.

John said...

I know what you mean. I have been home a lot since I got disabled and if you spend much time on the web you become more vulnerable. I get cigar ads, recipes, positive thinking ads, book ads, what's on sale at all of the stores ads, forwards from tons of friends and family, newsletters, joke of the day, etc., etc. But for just plain spam, a good spam filter helps. My spam filter has kept 4685 spam emails from me in the last 30 days. Imagine if I had to actually go through all of those. Earthlink has a feature where someone can't send you an email unless you have given them access. Spam sucks!

Chooch said...

Sure does suck!! I get very little on my home AOL but at work Yikes!!

Anonymous said...

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Eggs and Spam!

Yeah, well my usual responce email to those promicing penis enlargment have always cracked me up, I simply reply telling these numb-nuts that if I wanted a bigger penis I'd just go to my nearest adult toy store and purchase one!

It usually stops them for a while.

;) Stacey ;*

Anonymous said...

Hey, Jude:

Another excellent post.

Per Wikipedia, here is a list of the top 12 countries that spread spam around the globe:

* USA - 28.4%;
* South Korea - 5.2%;
* China (including Hong Kong)-4.9%;
* Russia - 4.4%;
* Brazil - 3.7%;
* France - 3.6%;
* Germany - 3.4%;
* Turkey - 3.0%;
* Poland - 2.7%;
* Great Britain - 2.4%;
* Romania - 2.3%;
* Mexico - 1.9%;
* Other countries - 33.9% [8]

We're No. 1

So bad that you have to have Word Verification in order for us to post a comment.

Keep the up great work!

J.

Chooch said...

I would like to see Saudi Arabia's statistics. I bet they are up there a bit.

Anonymous said...

Informative post Jude. I get too much spam.

Psychotic Little Thing said...

Ah, spam. The people who send it really have no morals, some of the things that they write in spam messages are shameful, they really are!

And although this is totally the wrong type of spam, I'm terrified of the new Spam Fillets advert xD I don't know if you have anything similar in the US of A, but we have this creepy television advert of a happy family gathered around a table, eagerly tucking in to a meal of spam fillets, with the words 'Spam on!' being sung continuously over the top. Really quite frightening!

Anyway, glad you liked my post =]

Chooch said...

Ah psychotic little thing, I think you never truly lived until you taste the delicious processed saltiness of a spam and onion sandwich. But remember I am the product of parents of the depression. It is a taste that gets some getting used to!

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