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Old 04-05-2003, 11:23 AM  
CDSmith
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Industry Role:
Join Date: May 2001
Location: My network is hosted at TECHIEMEDIA.net ...Wait, you meant where am *I* located at? Oh... okay, I'm in Winnipeg, Canada. Oops. :)
Posts: 51,460
Anatomy of a spam

The problem as I see it is that spammers have themselves deluded into believing that what they are doing is moral, ethical, and the ONLY way to earn money. No, this isn't another rant about spam... that would be pointless. It is more a way to show those on the fence the insanity of the spammer's mindset.

Let's go through it together shall we?... I just received this spam 5 minutes ago....
Quote:
Dear Fellow Networker,

Let's get this straight, the only way you can make money on
the Web...Bulk E-mail. Legal, ethical, and responsible Bulk
E-mail (not spamming) can make you rich! It applies whether
you're an Australian, Asian, European or American.

Bulk Email Is Not Spam.....The Law says so. Only fear keeps
you from getting FREE, TARGETED LEADS at will.
Okay, so we've established the fact that the ONLY way to make money on the net is by spamming. Great, what the hell do I do with all these sponsor cheques that arrive every week from doing business the "other" way?
Continuing on.....
Quote:
I will show you :

* The Secrets Used By MasterCard, Polaroid, AOL
* How to Send Bulk Email Safely
Wait... there is a dangerous way of spamming??
Quote:
* Free Software to Harvest Targeted E-mails
* Free Software to Bulk Mail that will bypass your ISP
and much much more
Wait, I don't get it. Why would I need to "bypass my ISP" if this is legal, moral, ethical and responsible???

And, what's this about "harvesting"?? I thought all the respectable trendy politically correct spammers were using double-opt-ins these days!
Quote:
I seek your permission to send you the **FREE** new booklet,
"The Untold Secrets to Wealth on the Web" today.
Oh, so now he wants my *permission* to receive his spam. Wondering here why the spammer didn't just send me the booklet.
Quote:
If you're not interested, please go to the end of this email & click remove.
Riight, like I haven't fallen for that one before. Nice touch though.

*scrolls through the rest of the spam shit to bottom*...
Quote:
*We comply with proposed federal legislation regarding unsolicited commercial e-mail by providing you with a method for your e-mail address to be permanently removed from our database and any future mailings from our company.

*To remove your address, please send an e-mail message with the word REMOVE in the subject line to: [email protected]. For easy Removal, just click below:

¼ö½Å°ÅºÎ Remove áôãáËÞÜú [Deny]
If you don't want to receive this mail anymore, click here [Deny]

* This is a one time mailing and this list will never be used again.
I'm confused..... First the spammer says "we comply with PROPOSED LEGISLATION blah blah"........ proposed.... does that mean he believes there is no anti-spam legislation in place anywhere as yet? So, this spammer is telling me that he is a good spammer, a righteous spammer, because he is WILLINGLY complying with legislation that isn't even law yet, but only proposed?

And, how does one get removed from the list again? First he says I need to send him back an email with "remove-me@Hisemailaddress" in the subject line......... THEN he says to "click here" for removal..... THEN he says "this is a one-time mailing".... so why would I need to remove myself from his list if it's a one-time mailing??? These spammers are sure thorough, I'll give them that much.

I pray there will come a day when people like this guy get their basement door kicked in, followed by ten cops rushing in to confiscate their computers and arrest their sorry asses, and their parents given a stiff fine for letting their basement-dwelling offspring run amok on the net. A 2-year minimum sentence ought to keep them out of the hair of legitimate business people and teach them that there actually ARE other ways of making money online... ways that don't piss off a few million people per day.


And spare me the rationalization that "many of the top sponsors also spam" bullshit.... I am an affiliate of close to thirty of them, I have been around for over 4 and a half years now, and have rarely... rarely gotten an actual spam from any well-known programs. If you're going to try to defend spamming, know right now that you can go suck a rotten egg as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you.
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